NEW YORK (AP): With video nominees and remote presenters Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in different parts of the country, a 78th Social Globe Award, socially distanced, intervened amid the pandemic and a storm of criticism.
Fey took to the stage at New York’s Rainbow Room, while Poehler stayed at the Globes’ usual home at the Beverly Hilton. In their initial statements, they managed their coming and going typically well in time despite being almost 3,000 miles from each other.
“I always knew my career would end with me walking around the Rainbow Room pretending to talk to Amy,” Fey said. “I just thought it would be later.”
They appeared before the masked but starless attendees. Instead, the tables were occupied by “first assistants and essential workers,” Fey said.
In a production nightmare, but familiar during the pandemic, the first winner of the night accepted his prize while he was silent. Only after presenter Laura Dern apologized, Daniel Kaluuya, who won Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” made his speech. When he finally arrived, he pointed his finger at the camera and said, “You’re making me dirty!”
Pandemic improvisation was only part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s damage control, which puts the Globes. After The Los Angeles Times revealed that there were no black members on the HFPA’s 87-member voting body, the press association – which Ricky Gervais called last year “very, very racist” in his monologue, which he hoped for, came under increasing pressure to revise it. and better reflects the industry it occupies.
This year, none of the most acclaimed black-directed films – “Ma Rainey’s Black Background,” “A Night in Miami,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Da 5 Bloods” – were nominated for award for best film at the Globes. . With HFPA potentially fighting for its life in Hollywood, Sunday’s Globes were part of an apology tour. Fey and Poehler quickly got started on the subject.
“Look, there’s a lot of flashy garbage, but that happens,” Poehler said. “It simply came to our notice then. But a number of black actors and black-led projects were overlooked. ”
In the first half hour of NBC’s broadcast, members of the press association also appeared on stage to pledge to change. “We recognize that we have our own work to do,” said Vice President Helen Hoehne. “We need to have black journalists in our organization.”
The show, postponed two months since its usual hanger in early January, promised little of the glamor that makes the Globes one of the most sparkling and brilliant events of the year. Due to the pandemic, there was no parade of stars on the red carpet in front of the Beverly Hilton.
When on Sunday evening attendees were usually walking down the red carpet, many stars posed virtually. Regina King, shining in a dazzling dress, stood in front of her yawning dog. Carey Mulligan, nominated for “Young Promise,” said from a London hotel room that she was wearing heels for the first time in more than a year.
Circumstances led to some award anomalies. Mark Ruffalo won Best Actor in a limited series for “I Know That’s True” with his children celebrating behind him and his wife, Sunrise Coigney, sitting next to him. John Boyega, winner of the supporting actor for his performance in Steve McQueen’s anthology “Small Ax,” raised his leg to prove he was wearing sheet metal pants under his sleekest white jacket.
Other awards included Pixar’s “Soul” for Best Animated Film, Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”) for Best Actress in a Comedy Series; and Aaron Sorkin (“Trial of the Chicago 7”) for best screenplay. The film, a favorite to win Best Drama at the Globes, was sold on Netflix by Paramount Pictures last summer due to the pandemic. “Netflix saved our lives,” Sorkin said.
As show time approached, the reaction to HFPA threatened to overwhelm the balloons. Still, the Globes have persisted in popularity (the show ranks as the third most-watched awards program, after the Oscars and Grammys), for its profitability (NBC paid $ 60 million in royalties). broadcast in 2018) and because they serve as important marketing material for competing films and Oscar nominees. This may be especially true this year when the pandemic has disrupted normal buzz rhythms in a virtual awards season lacking the usual frenzy.
The Globes take place on the original date of the Academy Awards, which will be held on April 25th.
Netflix comes with 42 nominative orders, including six main head gestures for “Mank” and “The Crown,” by David Fincher, which also surpass the television nominees with six head gestures. “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” by Aaron Sorkin, also from Netflix, is also a heavyweight with five nominations.