Do Golden Globes Influence Oscars?

While both races for the Oscars® and Golden Globes® are officially underway, the second biggest awards party in the U.S., the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards Gala will be held first. The date is Sunday, 17 January 2010, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA, and broadcast live on NBC at 8:00 p.m., ET. That will be seven days before the Oscar Nomination ballots are due back at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). The Academy Awards® will be held 7 March 2010.

The Golden Globe nominations were announced in mid-December, and the final ballots were mailed to members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) the same day as the Academy Awards® Nomination ballots. Those final Globe ballots must be received in the Los Angeles offices of the accounting firm of Ernst & Young, Wednesday, 13 January.

For Golden Globe nominees and more, see previous post about the nominations and the Golden Globes Official Website. To find references in this blog, simply type "Golden Globes," or "HFPA" in the search text box at the top left, and click what looks like a magnifying glass at the end of the text box. To access the Website, click the title of this post.

Sponsored by the HFPA and produced by Dick Clark Productions, the Golden Globe Gala will be held this year, as it usually is, before the Oscar Nomination ballots are due back at PWC. Because the Academy Awards are held later than the Globes, each year there is a debate among film critics as how the Globes affect the Oscar nomination process, or if they do.

I have come to believe that the Globes have little impact on the Academy Awards®. Movie critics like to think the Globes do, and that they, the critics, greatly impact both awards, but if the truth be told, and that's what I try to do, critics matter little when it comes to awards. However, I will give them their due by noting that they do seem to have a positive, or negative impact upon the Box Office, depending upon how the majority of critics review a particular movie. Example? This year's AMELIA. A preponderance of critics immediately pummeled it even before it was released. It quickly disappeared from marquees of movie theaters across the country.

Those who vote for the Oscars and those who vote for the Globes are so very different. Therefore, the voting results in these awards are like apples and oranges, as are the ballots of each organization. The fact that the ballots for the Globes and Oscars are different is almost as important as the composition of the voting groups. For example: The members of the HFPA nominate a Best Film in two categories for the Globes, not one: (1) Drama, and (2) Musical or Comedy. There are usually five movies in each of these categories.

The Academy has two Best Film categories, too: Best Feature Motion Picture and Best Foreign Language Film. In both, all feature movies are lumped into one of the categories, regardless of genre. There are usually five nominees in each category. However, this year there will be 10 Best Feature Motion Picture nominees. Actually, the number of films in this category has varied through the years, and this is not the first year that this category will have 10 nominated pictures. It must be noted that the Best Foreign Language Film nominees remain at five nominees.

Members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) are the biggest voting block in the Academy. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association produces and votes for the Golden Globe recipients. Critics don't vote, unless they also happen to be members of the Academy and/or HFPA.

Members of SAG have a different perspective about movies than do the members of the Foreign Press Association. Therefore, as a amateur voter, I have compared the nominations between the two for years. I fill out my ballot from Entertainment Weekly according to how I think I would vote for the Oscars, if I were a member of SAG. For the Golden Globes, as if I were a member of HFPA. Hey. A girl can dream, can't she? Besides, I'm correct about 90% of the time.

Golden Globe Nominations for Film

                                                                      

The nominations for the second annual biggest party in the media electronic Universe, the Golden Globes®, were announced early this morning. The Globes are sponsored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), and honor the press association's choices for both film and television professionals at the same gala. This year, the 67th Golden Globe Awards will be Sunday, 17 January 2010, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, and broadcast live on NBC at 8:00 p.m., EST. Here is the list of nominees in film.

One advantage of the Globe broadcast is that it is leaner, cleaner, tighter and not as long as the top awards show, the Academy Awards®, a.k.a., The Oscars®. One thing I really like about the Globes is that they have two categories for the Best Picture, one in drama and one in comedy and / or musical comedy. That seems more fair, and I with that AMPAS® would do likewise as comedies and musicals often do not get the recognition they deserve. In the Oscar race, drama is everything.

The Globes are all about glitz and glam, attractive actors and actresses. The honorees are the movies the members of the foreign press liked in the current year. HFPA is mostly composed of the male gender and they tend to vote for their favorite "eye candy," both male and female, not necessarily a nominee's professional achievements and skills. Most often, beauty trumps ability.

Also, their choices are influenced upon the feedback the members get from residents of their native countries, who are their viewers, listeners, and/or readers. After all, each person associated with the press wants as many of their fellow country persons to watch the Globe gala as possible.

Unlike the Academy Awards, the voters aren't members of the industry, per sea. They are journalists and lovers of the industry. One night each year they get to show that love at the Golden Globe Gala. The Globes are no longer an event touted as something to see because they are predictors of the upcoming Oscars. The Globes now shine in their own firmament of splendor and fun.

Because the members represent the foreign press there is a much greater emphasis on who and what is "hot" at the very moment they fill out their nomination, or final ballots. However, they venerate older and more experienced actors, actresses, directors, cinematographers and writers, honoring them wherever they can.

This year, director Martin Scorsese will be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for his "outstanding contribution to the entertainment field." He has received two Golden Globe Awards as "Best Director of a Motion Picture" for THE DEPARTED and GANGS OF NEW YORK.

The Globe galas go to places the Oscars dare not go. For instance, this year the host will be Emmy / Golden Globe winner, comedian / actor Ricky Gervais. The Brit is probably best know for his appearances in the TV shows 'Extra' and 'The Office'.

Mavis Spencer, age 18, daughter of Golden Globe winner Alfre Woodard and writer/producer Roderick Spencer is this year's "Miss Golden Globe".

The special will be produced by Dick Clark Productions in association with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Philip Berk is President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Orly Adelson, president of Dick Clark Productions, and Barry Adelman will executive produce the special. Chris Donovan is the director and Dick Clark Productions’ Bob Bardo is the executive in charge of production.

Here is the complete list of nominees.