Golden Globes 2025 Nominees - Reaction and What We Know
The nominees for the 82nd Golden Globe Awards were announced today, and boy, is it a mess. There were a few great surprises and a lot of trash that I either predicted or was proven to be even worse. They went back to their mission statement to diversify their nominees, type shit. Hooray. Great job everyone. Oh yeah, and Emilia Pérez made history by being the most nominated movie of all time.
This is how I become the Joker.
At least we didn’t get a Ryan Reynolds for Best Actor. Yet Deadpool & Wolverine, Sing Sing, and Nickel Boys all received the same number of nominations.That should be illegal. I’m suing someone for committing a hate crime.
Let’s look at what the official Golden Globes nominees were, where I missed, and what this all means for the rest of the awards season.
OH, we were right on the money here. Though I underestimated the power of the Substance in other categories, I had an inkling that since the HFPA is made up of a large European body, anything that played at Cannes or Venice that made waves was going to round up in here. Lo and behold.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)
Amy Adams (Nightbitch)
Demi Moore (The Substance)
Mikey Madison (Anora)
Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez)
Zendaya (Challengers)
Once again, I was entirely correct.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain)
Hugh Grant (Heretic)
Gabriel LaBelle (Saturday Night)
Jesse Plemons (Kinds Of Kindness)
Glen Powell (Hit Man)
Sebastian Stan (A Different Man)
Where I Was Wrong: I predicted Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool & Wolverine, cause really, Hollywood has been putting him in these actor talk roundtables. Thank God, the Globes got tired of shit, too. Even though it is for a movie he wasn't necessarily funny in the film per se, it is refreshing to see LaBelle get some recognition for his performance. Everything else, right on the money!
BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
A Complete Unknown
The Brutalist
Conclave
Nickel Boys
September 5
Where I Was Wrong: Sing Sing getting snubbed. I am flabbergasted. Pissed even. The Golden Globe Foundation has a different body than a ton of other groups and guilds, but it baffles me that September 5 made it in that BP slot. It's one of those 'woo, journalism' movies that must have emitted serotonin to them. Took me by surprise. However, in the event that Sing Sing only achieved recognition in the acting category, what was the point in snubbing it here?
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)
Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)
Daniel Craig (Queer)
Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)
Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)
Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)
Where I Was Wrong: I predicted Paul Mescal in Gladiator II. I thought because they are growing to love Mescal, it must have been a hit for him. But alas, no complaints over Sebastian Stan getting it for The Apprentice. Another case of, if you premiered at Cannes, you get that G.G love.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Angelina Jolie (Maria)
Nicole Kidman (Babygirl)
Tilda Swinton (The Room Next Door)
Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here)
Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl)
Kate Winslet (Lee)
Where I Was Wrong: Predicting Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) and Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun).
The Frances Fisher effect is working effectively. She made Kate Winslet, her Titanic co-star, her "golden goose" to promote, and now it's spreading to other places too. Furthermore, we should not forget that the Globes goes "who can we invite" first, "then merit by performance," second?
I am astonished that Anderson was nominated for The Last Showgirl. That was a shot in the dark for my predictions, and I’m so happy she made it. It's surprising that Ronan wasn't given credit for her performance in The Outrun, which has been receiving praise since its premiere at Sundance. And they love her!
And Marianne Jean-Baptiste. UGH! The Bleeker Street word-of-mouth train has consistently made frequent stops at critics' groups and that's about it. Despite her exceptional performance this year, the Globes remains a formidable entity, despite the addition of 334 members from across the globe. That old HFPA old guards still making their voices held by keep Black actresses out of the Drama category. If it had been shown at Cannes instead of TIFF, they might have been interested in it more. I think that's the key. So hey, Black people with movies out next year. Go to Cannes. That's the hack!
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE
Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)
Ariana Grande (Wicked)
Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez)
Felicity Jones (The Brutalist)
Margaret Qualley (The Substance)
Isabella Rossellini (Conclave)
Where I was wrong: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys) and Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson). As aforementioned, whatever was at Cannes and Venice this year and played big to thunderous acclaim round up here. I should have included Qualley in The Substance, but my Nickel Boys bias kept me from doing so. And Selena Gomez, which, jesus. I…ugh. They’re not even trying, man. That Emilia Pérez got a chokehold on the organization that I can’t even comprehend anymore.
You’re telling me a Black woman couldn’t have made it here? Y’all nominated Nickel Boys for Best Picture and didn’t even decide to add the one actress of a name into the category. Were the two Emilia Pérez reps even necessary? Well, they had to have Selena Gomez in the room, right? Couldn’t leave the girlie out of the Globes fun, right?!
BEST SUPPORTING MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE
Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)
Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)
Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)
Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)
Yura Borisov (Anora)
Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)
Where I Was Wrong: Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing). I don’t know what happened here either. Is it Maclin or Borisov who stood out as the "great performance from newcomer," among the other A-listers in the room? I don’t understand Norton in A Complete Unknown. I really don’t. But everything else I’m good for, especially Jeremy Strong in The Apprentice. His performance as Roy Cohn is incredible and has been undervalued during the gamut of this awards race, so I think that’s neat.
BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)
Sean Baker (Anora)
Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)
Edward Berger (Conclave)
Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)
Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine As Light)
Where I Was Wrong: Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two), RaMell Moss (Nickel Boys), Jon M. Chu (Wicked).
Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez is always a shock, which I guess is for my personal distaste against the film. But every damn group, the French dude who just learned who Mexicans were yesterday, is going to stay for the remainder of the season. Berger for Conclave, no notes on that one. And Payal Kapadia is the most-based nominee out of the entire awards. Like I am ecstatic, her direction on All We Imagine As Light is getting the recognition it deserves.
Even so, what's up with the Moss and Villeneuve omissions? The accomplishments of both filmmakers cannot be overstated, yet their films garnered nominations for Best Picture. What, do they think they made themselves?!
BEST FILM - NON ENGLISH LANGUAGE
All We Imagine As Light
Emilia Pérez
The Girl With The Needle
I’m Still Here
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig
Vermiglio
Where I Was Wrong: Given how well Kneecap has been performing at international awards across the globe, I thought it would end up here. However, I forgot that The Girl With The Needle was a Cannes debut. Whoops.
BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED
Inside Out 2
The Wild Robot
Moana 2
Well…no notes. I was right all over. Even with goddamn Moana 2. Hooray.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
Beautiful That Way (The Last Showgirl)
Compress/Repress (Challengers)
El Mal (Emilia Pérez)
Forbidden Road (Better Man)
Kiss The Sky (The Wild Robot)
Mi Camino (Emilia Pérez)
Where I Was Wrong: Piece by Piece (Piece By Piece). I forget the organization doesn’t have to watch documentaries. Any Challengers endorsement is a plus for me.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
The Brutalist
Challengers
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
The Wild Robot
Where I Was Wrong: I predicted Wicked. I thought the Globes would like Wicked more than I thought they would. Conclave should have been included in my prediction ballot, since it has an incredible score that everyone has adored since screening it.
BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
A Real Pain
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Peréz
The Substance
Where I Was Wrong: I predicted Sing Sing but nooope! Emilia Peréz. The script is one of the weakest things about the movie. Nope, the org love it. Fuck me, right?
CINEMATIC AND BOX OFFICE ACHIEVEMENT
Alien: Romulus
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Deadpool & Wolverine
Gladiator II
Inside Out 2
Twisters
Wicked
The Wild Robot
Where I Was Wr—naur. You know what? I can care less about this category. It still makes no sense to me. It's a populist award, but hey, more than two animated reps is cool to see.
What Have We Learned?
The HFPA is still rummaging in the new Golden Globes Foundation identity.
Remember when HFPA just did not nominate Black people for their performances and got whoever that was on an A-lister board just so they can show up at their show? Well we're back to those days. That is not to negate Domingo, Zendaya, Washington, and Erivo nominations, but seeing the emphasis on Winslet over Deadwyler and Baptiste is baffling. Their identity is still a transparent excitement over which A-lister will come through to their ceremony, and it's so lame.
The new Globes is still making their voices heard, with numerous international titles receiving recognition, particularly with Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here and Payal Kapadia receiving a nomination for Best Director for All We Imagine As Light. As much as I still dislike the Globes, I do want to say, "AHHA FUCK YOU INDIAN GOVERNMENT! The movie you didn't pick to represent your country is racking up awards."
If You Went to Cannes, You Got a Cut
Nearly every movie that made its premiere at this past Cannes Film Festival had representation in the nominees. It has me thinking if they were the only films these people saw this year. It surprised me to see The Substance, a movie that's a big finger to the Hollywood system, do as well as it did. Right when I thought Wicked was going to power through,riding on recency bias, nope, it's Emilia Pérez's time. She's the undisputed musical achievement of the year....whether you like it or not. Hi, it's me. I'm the or not.
They're Not Ready For Real Black stories
Nickel Boys getting one nomination, in best picture, but none of the people behind it or in it can crack the top is like the most faux consideration I've seen. It's giving "Black square" as solidarity or changing your PFP to a picture of Spike Lee or something. Thought the Globes were working towards being diverse and yet here we are, proving, they still ain’t shit regarding that. They prefer a celebrity-based celebration of cinema over a merit-based one. And usually that means ones where we're out of the picture. Eh, fuck em.
