Netflix stumbles at final hurdle

Before the Globes, Hollywood was readying the knee cushions as it prepared to genuflect before the streaming giant, whose 34 nominations suggested it was about to do to the film industry what it has already done to TV. But they will delightedly be thrown away this morning: Netflix bagged only one of its 17 film noms (Laura Dern for best supporting actress) and one out for 17 (again) for TV (Olivia Colman for The Crown). Is this the industry quietly sticking a knife in Netflix’s ribs in the only way it can? With the platform itself under siege from Disney+, Apple TV and NBC’s Peacock, this could well be seen as the moment that the tide turned.

Big screen back on top

Conversely, the triumph for 1917 and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood means that actual cinema-going has got a shot in the arm. The Tarantino is that rarest of beasts, a non-superhero studio picture, while 1917 – featuring virtuoso cinematography from legend-of-the-game Roger Deakins – is clearly going to work best in a cinema. So maybe what Martin Scorsese calls the “communal experience” of the movie theatre isn’t dead yet.

It is what it is for The Irishman

Martin Scorsese’s elegaic mob epic was this year’s big ignoree: not only was Robert De Niro not even nominated, but the Globes looked the other way when it might have voted for Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Scorsese himself. It was in second place in the film nomination count; could its zero-award showing have been down to the Netflix effect? Or might it have got squeezed in the old comedy-v-drama divide that the Globes likes to promote?

What’s a non-music-based biopic to do?

Last year, Rami Malek won best drama actor for Bohemian Rhapsody as a warm-up for Oscar glory; the same trick for 70s glam-rock show ponies could be on again, as Taron Egerton won for Rocketman (in the slightly more realistic musical/comedy category). With Renée Zellweger picking up a Globe for her lung-busting turn as Judy Garland, it’s not hard to see the way Hollywood has been thinking over the last few months – shove a few toe-tapping songs in it, and it’s gravy. The downside: nothing for Eddie Murphy, Cynthia Erivo, Charlize Theron or Jonathan Pryce, not to mention the Pacino/Pesci combine.

Disney not so unstoppable after all

With the three highest-grossing animated films of the year – The Lion King, Frozen II and Toy Story 4 – Disney must have been pretty confident of snagging the best animated film Globe. But no – indie outfit Laika, stop-motion specialists whose past credits include Coraline, The Boxtrolls and Kubo and the Two Strings, waltzed past to nab the trophy for Missing Link, the mildly amusing Bigfoot yarn with Hugh Jackman and Zach Galifianakis. If that’s not a snub, nothing is.

Mark Zuckerberg gets it in the neck

Amid the welter of Ricky Gervais gags and impassioned pleas, the bluntest podium insult has got a little lost. So let’s give it another go. Sacha Baron Cohen, fresh from giving Facebook an epic shafting at the Anti-Defamation League, strolls up to introduce Taika Waititi’s Hitler comedy Jojo Rabbit. Reading from a piece of paper, Baron Cohen said: “The hero of this next movie is a naive, misguided child who spreads Nazi propaganda and only has imaginary friends. His name is Mark Zuckerberg.” Ouch.

Bleeding-edge indie types take a knock

The advent of Marriage Story and Little Women – from the supercool axis of Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig – looked at one stage as if it would usher in a new era of indie-maverick types taking over the mainstream. Well, it didn’t work out that way: Gerwig’s directing and writing talent didn’t even get her on the board, despite the MOR source material, while Baumbach largely struck out. Hollywood’s new generation was represented by Awkwafina, though for all its pioneering diversity, as a film, The Farewell is pretty straight-ahead stuff. Elsewhere, older-generation heavyweights ruled the roost: Brad Pitt, Tarantino, Zellweger and Sam Mendes. Joaquin Phoenix, who won for best drama actor, still retains a bit of indie-mav credibility, but Joker is about as mainstream as it gets.

Jojo Rabbit loses its bounce

After winning the people’s choice prize at Toronto last year, Taika Watiti’s film looked set fair for major awards action: after all, recent previous winners in this reliable predictor included Green Book, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and La La Land. But the Globes haven’t been kind: just two nominations and no wins. Jojo might yet follow the Green Book path to Oscar glory – critical sniffs failing to dent audience popularity – but it’s not looking good.