Golden Globe nominations: Box office champs and movies with female ...

2016 Golden Globe Nominations Announced Live

Now that the Golden Globe nominees have been announced, films like Carol and Spotlight have cemented themselves as awards season frontrunners, while movies like Mad Max: Fury Road have had their awards season chances boosted by snagging major nods.

The nod for Max in the prestigious best drama category is a nomination for a mainstream movie rather than a little-seen indie Max was one of the biggest box office success stories of the year.

Meanwhile, the movies Carol, Max, and Room show the continued presence of female-led movies this awards season, something that is not always the case. Carol centers on the relationship between two women, while Room is the story of a woman and her son who are kept imprisoned. Max was praised by many for its strong female character, portrayed by Charlize Theron.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association splits movies into drama and comedy or musical categories. The movies that are contenders for the best drama prize are Carol, Spotlight, Room, The Revenant, and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Nominees for the best musical or comedy prize are Joy, The Martian, The Big Short, Spy, and Trainwreck.

Max had been selected as the best film of the year by the National Board of Review but was still viewed as more of a long shot for the Oscars than, say, Spotlight because action movies arent often nominated for, let alone win, the Best Picture prize. But the chances of Max appearing as a Best Picture nominee have certainly increased with the Golden Globes recognition.

Those behind Joy and The Martian, movies which had missed out on earlier nods like those by the Screen Actors Guild Awards, are no doubt happy to see the movies appear as best comedy or musical nominees. However, because the HFPA nominates movies in two categories, not all these movies will get a nod for Best Picture. Chances seem extremely slim, for example, that Spy or Trainwreck will appear on the Oscar Best Picture ballot.

As for the movie acting races, Bryan Cranston was nominated for Trumbo in the best actor in a drama category, as were Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant, Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs, Will Smith for Concussion, and Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl. This is almost the exact same list that was named by the SAG Awards now Smith and Johnny Depp, who was nominated by the SAG Awards for Black Mass, may be vying for the last slot in this category for the Oscars.

The list for the best actress in a drama race was a bit different than that for the SAG Awards. Cate Blanchett was nominated for Carol, as was Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn, Rooney Mara for "Carol," Alicia Vikander for "The Danish Girl," and Brie Larson for Room." For the SAG Awards, Carol actress Mara and Girl actress Alicia Vikander were nominated in the supporting category, but those behind the Globes put them in the lead actress category.

As for the comedy/musical acting races, the contenders for the best actor in a comedy or musical prize are "The Big Short" actors Christian Bale and Steve Carell, Al Pacino of "Danny Collins," Matt Damon in "The Martian," and Mark Ruffalo in "Infinitely Polar Bear." The actress contenders for a comedy or musical are "Trainwreck" actress Amy Schumer, Maggie Smith of "The Lady in the Van," "Grandma" actress Lily Tomlin, Jennifer Lawrence in "Joy," and "Spy" actress Melissa McCarthy.

For the Globes, the best supporting actor race for drama, musicals, and comedy are combined. For best supporting actress, Kate Winslet was nominated for Steve Jobs, as were Vikander for Ex Machina, Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight, Helen Mirren for Trumbo, and Jane Fonda for Youth.

Other than Winslet, the nominees in this category were completely different than those for the SAG Awards. Vikander was nominated in the SAG category but for a different movie (The Danish Girl), and Leigh and Fonda were nowhere to be seen. Rachel McAdams was nominated for a SAG Award for Spotlight but is missing for the Globes.

Those who earned nods in the best supporting actor category were Idris Elba for Beasts of No Nation, Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies, Michael Shannon for 99 Homes, Sylvester Stallone for Creed, and Paul Dano for Love and Mercy.

Elba, Rylance, and Shannon seem like sure things for this race after receiving SAG and Golden Globes nods, while Stallone and Danos nods are crucial after having missed out on a SAG nomination.

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2015/1210/Golden-Globe-nominations-Box-office-champs-and-movies-with-female-protagonists-lead-the-way