Golden Globes Snubs and Surprises 2019: Black Panther, First Man and More

The nominations for the 76th Golden Globe Awards were announced on Thursday morning, withVice leading all films with six nominations and The Assassination of Gianni Versace leading the typically spread-out TV nominations with four. The Golden Globes are, in many ways, the opening of the floodgates for awards season, with many an Oscar (or, longer term, Emmy) campaign given a boost by Globes visibility. And while no Oscar campaign is ever fully lost for being snubbed at the Globes, a surprise omission can really set a show or performance back when it comes to future awards glory.

The Globes are also, especially on the movie side, the first big cutoff point. Dozens of Oscar hopefuls show up, but only a handful actually get nominated. Many more broken hearts this morning than unbroken ones.

So who were the biggest snubs and surprises on Globe nominations morning? Some of the biggest ones:

THE SNUBS

Widows: The Viola Davis-led heist drama from 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen came up fully empty on the morning, despite the fact that many figured Davis, her co-star Elizabeth Debicki, and perhaps even the film itself to show up on the ballot (especially since the Globes drama/comedy split seemed to leave plenty of room for it).

Sam Elliott in A Star Is Born: Despite five nominations for the musical blockbuster — including a double dip for Bradley Cooper in Best Actor and Best Director — there was no room for Elliott in his small but emotionally impactful role as Cooper’s older brother.

Roma Star Yalitza Aparicio: One of the big questions about the awards-season push for Netflix’s Roma is whether it will be able to score any acting nominations, particularly for its acclaimed lead actress. The answer at this first big hurdle seems to be “not of the Globes are any indication.” Despite nominations in Foreign Film, Director, and Screenplay for Alfonso Cuaron, Aparicio couldn’t crack Best Actress.

Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan for Black Panther: In many ways, Black Panther had a great morning, with a headline-making Best Picture (Drama) nomination that bodes well for its Oscar chances, as well as two nominations in Original Song and Original Score. Still, two of the men who most made that Best Picture nomination — director Ryan Coogler and supporting actor Michael B. Jordan missed out in their respective categories.

First Man and Ryan Gosling: Two nominations — for supporting actress Claire Foy and Justin Hurwitz’s original score — were all that there were for Damien Chazelle’s one-time Oscar frontrunner about Neil Armstrong and the space program. That Gosling got edged out not just by expected Oscar contenders Bradley Cooper and Rami Malek but dark horses Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate), Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased), and John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) does not bode well at all for his Oscar chances.

First Reformed and Ethan Hawke: Despite being a major critics’ darling in the early going of awards season, the more glitz-oriented Hollywood Foreign Press Association bypassed Paul Schrader’s First Reformed entirely, including in Best Screenplay and Best Actor (for Ethan Hawke), two categories that the film really wants to make a run at with the Oscars.

The Handmaid’s Tale: Just 15 months removed from its history-making Emmy triumph, Hulu’s flagship series was left out of the Best Drama Series category (though it did score nominations for Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski).

Toni Collette: What exactly does an actress have to do to get a Golden Globe nomination for a horror movie? Toni Collette practically crawled out of her own skin in Hereditary. She levitated, she screamed, she lit herself on fire — and yet Nicole Kidman rubs some dirt on her face in Destroyer and SHE gets the nomination instead? Wrong Aussie actress, HFPA!

THE SURPRISES

Bohemian Rhapsody: While the Freddie Mercury biopic has been raking in the dough at the box-office, the reviews were savage and the reactions to the depictions of Mercury’s gayness in the movie (not to mention Bryan Singer’s authorship) have made the film a pretty hot potato. And while Rami Malek’s lead performance was always expected to contend, the nomination in Best Motion Picture: Drama was indeed a surprise.

The Good Place: Despite a well-earned Emmy nod for Ted Danson last fall, The Good Place had been consistently underrewarded in its three seasons on TV. Not this year, though, as the Globes nominated the show not just in Best TV Comedy but also gave star Kristen Bell a nomination in Best Actress. Which is extra significant since despite being one of TV’s most acclaimed actresses, Bell has never been nominated at the Globes or the Emmys — not for Veronica Mars, not for House of Lies, not anything. Until now.

The Kominsky Method: Netflix’s late-breaking comedy series about a pair of old friends and actors (Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin) scored nominations in Best Comedy as well as in lead and supporting acting categories for its stars.

A Very English Scandal, Homecoming, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel making for a big day at Amazon. Each of Amazon’s big TV series racked up 3 nods apiece in their respective categories (Drama for Homecoming, Comedy for Maisel, Limited Series for Scandal), which included acting nods for Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, Julia Roberts, Stephan James, and Emmy-winners Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein.

Kidding: Jim Carrey will get another chance to remind people what a big Emmy favorite he is — he won Best Actor two years in a row in 1998 and 1999 for The Truman Show and Man on the Moon — with a surprise nomination for his Showtime series Kidding, which also got nominated for Best Comedy.

Sacha Baron Cohen: Another old Globes fave (he won Best Actor in a Comedy in 2006 for Borat), Cohen got a shocker of a nomination for his headline-grabbing alt comedy series Who Is America?, so congrats to the HFPA for encouraging all that.

The Timmy/Lukey Wars Continue: A year after co-starring in Lady Bird as polar-opposite paramours and coming on the heels of consecutive nominations for Hedges (in Manchester by the Sea) and Chalamet (in Call Me By Your Name), the two actors most often cited as the standard bearers for their generation are Globe-nominated for their “boys in trouble” movies: Chalamet in supporting for Beautiful Boy and Hedges in lead for Boy Erased. Don’t fight, sweet boys! Enjoy your good fortune.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Going for EGGGOT: There’s no distinction for being an Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe, Oscar, and Tony winner, but Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda — who only needs an Oscar to EGOT — got a surprise Best Actor nod for his turn in Mary Poppins Returns opposite fellow nominee Emily Blunt.

Connie Britton Breaks Ground for Bravo: Watch what happened just now! With her nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series for Dirty John, Connie Britton becomes the recipient of Bravo’s first ever Golden Globe nomination.

The 76th annual Golden Globe Awards, hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg, will be handed out on January 6, 29019.