Groves, Glaser… Glory? – Los Angeles Times

The new year is just two days away, and we’re already having the “best day ever.” (At least according to the Rose Parade). It can’t go all the way downhill from here, right? Well, the Golden Globes are on Sunday, so…maybe?

I’m Glen Whip. He is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of the Envelope’s Friday newsletter.

Today is Friday, right? Just checking.

The Golden Globe Awards are on Sunday. Are you watching?

I’m watching it. In fact, I’m going to watch it live and have a written conversation. — during a ceremony with my old friend, Times columnist Mary McNamara. Anything interesting? Fingers crossed. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been disbanded, but the Golden Globe Association has been newly established. There are still reliability issues. An award is as noteworthy as the group that gave it. And this group is notable for the wrong reasons.

But the Globes have a television broadcast partner. So while winners chosen from a vast pool of nominees will have a prime-time moment to shine and promote their films, films aimed at adults still face an uphill climb at the box office. This is nothing because it is.

Comedian Nikki Glazer will be the host and will be the first woman to perform solo. I’m not optimistic that she can match the sharp humor that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler brought to the show as hosts. Judging by her performance and this interview we recently published, it seems like she looks to Ricky Gervais as a host for inspiration, but she also has some from Poehler and Fey. I received some advice.

“When I heard their advice, I felt like this advice could only come from two mothers,” Glaser said. “I’m so happy to have them co-sign because this is a really big social event. It’s the first of the year. It’s the first of awards season and everyone is meeting each other after a long Christmas break where they had plastic surgery. .”

Again…not optimistic. But join Mary and I on Sunday night for more coverage. Since this is the first time it will be aired on television, the content will be wide-ranging. And the show has to be better than last year’s train wreck, even if it can’t be the best day ever because it’s already happened.

Oscar predictions for supporting actress and actor

One month before the December awards voting, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association will launch a group email thread where members can claim their favorite films and standouts. The idea is to help everyone fill in the gaps in our viewing when we’re wading through screeners and links in a desperate attempt to see everything before voting.

Sometimes the discussion moves to other areas, often focusing on whether certain performances should be considered leading or supporting. Who is the real star of Emilia Perez? Carla Sofia Gascón, who plays Emilia Perez, the character who drives the story, or Zoe Saldaña, who gets the most screen time as the lawyer who helps her? Or are you a co-leader? Netflix doesn’t think so, and is running a campaign in support of Saldaña, led by Gascón. (Please note that these decisions are made by the actors and their teams.)

Some would argue that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande should also be considered as co-stars in Wicked. But the musical is actually Elphaba’s story, with Grande’s Glinda accompanying her as her biggest frenemy. So it doesn’t seem like a terrible thing for Universal to push Erivo as lead and Grande as support.

and The Odd Couple Road, in which Kieran Culkin and his two cousins, played by Culkin, and the film’s writer/director Jesse Eisenberg travel to Poland to visit his late grandmother’s childhood home. What about going to support the movie A Real Pain? Culkin’s screen time is about the same as Eisenberg’s, but the story is told from Eisenberg’s character’s perspective. (The same goes for Saldaña, which is why her placement may raise some eyebrows.)

In the LA Film Critics Poll, Culkin came very close to making it to the final round, working first on his lead performance. Then came the supporters, and it quickly became clear that even those who thought Culkin was the lead were not deterred from voting for him, and Culkin won the award along with Yura Borisov for “Anora.” Then a friend of mine in public relations sent me the following email: “That’s where Culkin is. If you give him a lead, you’re saying he’s trying to get some speed by going to support.”

It’s up to Oscar voters to decide where he belongs, and he doesn’t have to follow the placement suggested by the studio. And in rare cases, this is not the case. The Weinstein Company cast Kate Winslet as a supporting actress in The Reader at the 2009 Oscars to avoid competition with the lead actress in Revolutionary Road opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. did. The Golden Globes and SAG Awards nominated Winslet for Best Supporting Role, but members of the Motion Picture Academy chose her for the lead role. And Winslet ended up winning an Oscar. (She did not thank Weinstein in her acceptance speech.)

It’s hard to imagine voters will make a category shift like Culkin, Saldaña or Grande this year. Who might join the category of supporting them? We took a look at recent columns. There was a bit of intrigue in the supporting actress category at Sunday’s Globe Awards, where Saldaña and Grande were almost neck and neck. (I think Saldaña accepts that.)

Zoe Saldaña, a standout in “Emilia Perez.”

(Jason Almond/Los Angeles Times)