Awards watch

Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons in “The Power of the Dog.” Netflix image via IMDB

Monday's Golden Globes nominations signaled that we're in the home stretch of awards season.

Strangely, it feels like the more movies I see, the behinder I get.

It was also a reminder of how silly the awards – all of them – are in the first place.

A recent exposé in The Washington Post followed an exposé in the Los Angeles Times last winter revealing that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the group responsible for bestowing the Golden Globes is, um, a sham. 

Originally formed of foreign journalists covering America's film industry, its membership is under 100 (as compared to the 5,000 members of the Motion Picture Academy who vote on the Oscars). And of the 100, a lot of them aren't exactly real journalists, but more like freelancers for marginal publications who make ends meet with the first-class airfare, luxe hotel accommodations and freebies liberally dispensed to curry their favor.

Not to say the freebies work, but the Post cited two examples – a junket to the Las Vegas casino owned by the billionaire husband of young actress Pia Zadora, and a junket to Paris to visit the set of “Emily in Paris” – which resulted in wins for both nominees.

It didn't matter. For years the Globes were a more fun-loving affair than the stodgier Academy Awards, thanks to Jack Nicholson in his Ray-Bans in the front row. The Globes included TV shows as well as movies in the voting categories, and  took place in the Beverly Hilton ballroom with an open bar.

What finally got the HFPA busted weren't the exposés, but the group's lack of diversity in these oh so sensitive times. The association has spent the last year recruiting as many new members of color as it could find, and enlisted Snoop Dogg – not best known as a movie guy – to announce the nominees this year.

In the meantime, NBC isn't televising the ceremony next January.

Movie awards are, bottom line, about the bottom line. Those gold statues translate, at some point in the process, to increasing a movie's earning power. The Oscars have considerably more credibility than the Globes, which may be why millions of dollars are spent on marketing campaigns each year to sway Academy voters. 

Being part the Hawaii Film Critics Society (HFCS), whose membership is a tiny fraction of the Hollywood Foreign Press, is why I'm getting the all the screener links and DVDs for the reviews I'm sharing in this space. The HFCS gives year-end awards, which are a bigger deal to studio marketing departments than to anyone else.

But hey, this film reviewing business isn't as easy as it looks. Whenever anyone asks me if a movie is great, my first response is, “I'd have to know you better to answer that question …”

Nevertheless … 

What industry awards purport to be about is quality. At least they get that right. Even from this midway point in awards season, there's been a lot more quality on screens than in recent years.

Another thing you notice looking at the Globe nominations and Oscar forecasts is their resemblance to a hall of mirrors. A tiny group of people is getting all the work. Different movies, same actors, each role nothing like the one before. 

Last week's blog alluded to Andrew Garfield's lead roles in two current contenders, as a struggling musical composer in “Tick, tick … BOOM!” and televangelist Jim Bakker “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” … not that he got either one exactly right.

Tammy Faye herself, Jessica Chastain, picked up a Golden Globe nomination for that role, and another for “Scenes From a Marriage” on TV. Her husband in that mini-series, Oscar Isaac, got his own nomination, and also stars in “Dune” and “The Card Counter” on the big screen.

A short list of others in the double-play club includes Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog” and “The Electrical Life of Louie Wain”); Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley” and “Don't Look Up”) and Frances McDormand (“The French Dispatch” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”)

Willem Dafoe in "Nightmare Alley." Fox Searchligt image via IMDB

Meanwhile, Willem Dafoe gets our nod for the hardest working man in the movie biz for showing up in award hopefuls “The French Dispatch,” “ The Card Counter” and “Nightmare Alley,” besides the newest “Spider-Man” opening this week.

Personal favorites so far in the Golden Globes field – each well worth checking out – are “Power of the Dog” and “Belfast” for best drama; “Power of the Dog's” Jane Campion for best director; Chastain and Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) for best actress; Caitriona Balfe (“Belfast”), Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”), Annjanue Ellis (“King Richard”) and Ruth Negga (“Passing”) best supporting actress; Cumberbatch and Will Smith (“King Richard” ) with Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos) right behind, for best actor; “Belfast's” Jamie Dornan and Ciaran Hinds for best supporting actor; and Jane Campion again, for best screenplay.

There's plenty more yet to come, with “Don't Look Up” topping my can't-wait-to-see list.

Stay tuned.