Golden Globe predictions

The 2021 Golden Globes are unlike any before

Who would have thought that things would turn out the way they did for the film industry just one year ago, but life has changed for us all. It has changed significantly for the award programmes, especially for the Golden Globes. We will look at some of the hot topics and then predict who might go home with the mini-statue at the end of the night.

Hot topics

1. Female directors - Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), Regina King (One Night in Miami) and Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) scored three of five possible nominations in the category. Fennell, King and Zhao are the first female directors nominated for a Golden Globe since Ava DuVernay in 2014. And in the almost century-long history of the Academy Awards, only five female directors have ever been nominated for the Oscar. Fennell and Zhao are also nominated in the best motion picture screenplay category.
2. Netflix nominations - Among the movie categories, the streaming service picked up 24 nominations in total, primarily spread between Mank, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. That's seven more than last year.
3. Chadwick Boseman - The Black Panther actor was nominated posthumously for his work on Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, about the life of 1920s blues singer Ma Rainey. Boseman, who died in August 2020, plays trumpet player Levee Green in the film.
4. Dual coasts broadcast - For the first time, the Globes will be hosted from America’s two coasts, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting from the Rainbow Room in the Rockefeller Centre in New York City, and Poehler hosting from the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
5. A few controversies - Music’s nomination, the snub of Da 5 Bloods and Minari only being nominated in the foriegn language category.
6. Will Mank pip the ladies at the line? Mank managed to pick up the most nominations of any movie – six in total, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actor – Drama for Gary Oldman, and Best Director for Fincher. Expect the dramatization of the writing of Citizen Kane to make regular appearances this awards season. Will it come from behind and pull off the upset?

For all of our Australian readers: Among the Australian nominees are Cate Blanchett, for her work on Mrs America, and Nicole Kidman, for the critically acclaimed HBO series, The Undoing. Both are nominated in the best actress in a miniseries or television motion picture category. The Great, written and produced by Australian producer/screenwriter Tony McNamara, is also nominated, in the best musical or comedy television series category.

The nominations and Reel Dialogue predictions - Let's see if our team go it right

Top nominees: Mank, David Fincher’s biographical drama about the life of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, is the most nominated film at this year’s Golden Globes, with six nominations. It is followed by The Trial of the Chicago 7 with five nominations. The films Nomadland, Promising Young Woman and The Father secured four nominations each.

Drama

• The Father
• Mank
• Promising Young Woman
• The Trial of the Chicago 7
• Nomadland

Preferred: The Trial of the Chicago 7 or Mank

Prediction: Nomadland

(Be sure to check out the Reel Dialogue of each film, see what you think)

Comedy or Musical

• Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
• Hamilton
• Music
• The Prom
• Palm Springs

Preferred: Hamilton

Prediction: Hamilton

Actress - Drama

• Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
• Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
• Frances McDormand, Nomadland
• Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Preferred: Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Prediction: Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Actress - Comedy or Musical

• Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
• Kate Hudson, Music
• Michelle Pfeiffer, French Exit
• Rosamund Pike, I Care A Lot
• Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma.

Preferred: Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma.

Prediction: Michelle Pfeiffer, French Exit

Actor - Drama

• Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
• Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• Anthony Hopkins, The Father
• Gary Oldman, Mank
• Tahar Rahim, The Mauritanian

Preferred: Gary Oldman, Mank

Prediction: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Actor - Comedy or musical

• Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (He should win in the supporting actor's category)
• James Corden, The Prom
• Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
• Dev Patel, The Personal History of David Copperfield
• Andy Samberg, Palm Springs

Preferred: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

WILD CARD Prediction: Dev Patel, The Personal History of David Copperfield

Animated film

• Onward
• Wolfwalkers
• The Croods: A New Age
• Soul
• Over the Moon

Preferred: Onward

Prediction: Soul

78th annual Golden Globes will air on Sunday 28 February (US) and Monday, 1 March (AUS)

Be sure to read the Reel Dialogue reviews of all of these films and more at reeldialogue.com