'King Richard,' 'West Side Story,' 'Pose,' and more diversity among Golden Globes winners for MLK Day

A happy and contemplative MLK Day, when I have examined diversity in visual media since 2015. I'm continuing that tradition today by looking at the diverse winners of the 2022 Golden Globes. People Magazine had the best coverage of the winning films, TV shows, and actors in Golden Globes 2022 Winners Have Been Announced!

This year's unprecedented Golden Globes are here.

On Sunday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association revealed the winners of the 79th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California, recognizing film and television from the past year.

There was no audience or nominees in attendance at the awards show following the rapid surge in COVID-19 cases as the highly-contagious omicron variant rockets through the U.S. Only "select members and grantees" were in the room as the awards were announced, according to the organization. There was no red carpet, and media was also not invited to attend.

It still skipped supporting acting winners as well as people behind the camera and the "lesser" film categories. I'll get to them after the jump as well.

Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Drama: Actor

Mahershala Ali – Swan Song as Cameron Turner
Javier Bardem – Being the Ricardos as Desi Arnaz
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank
Will Smith – King Richard as Richard Williams
Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth as Lord Macbeth

For an organization that has a bad reputation when it comes to diversity, the HFPA sure nominated a worthy and diverse field of dramatic actors. I have real trouble picking out a winner. The best I can say is that Benedict Cumberbatch may be in the best film, Denzel Washington may be in the best role, so I think he might be the favorite. On the other hand, any one of the nominees could win and I would not be surprised.

Will Smith won for his portrayal of Richard Williams in "King Richard." That makes me more optimistic about his chances at future awards shows, including two nominations at the SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role and Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Best Actor at the Critics Choice Awards. He is competing against Andrew Garfield, the winner of the comparable Golden Globe for Musical and Comedy, along with Benedict Cumberbatch and Denzel Washington, at both awards shows. His competition at the SAG Awards includes Javier Bardem, while at the Critics' Choice Awards, the field includes Nicolas Cage and Peter Dinklage. Congratulations and may the best man win.

Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy

Cyrano
Don't Look Up
Licorice Pizza
tick, tick... BOOM!
West Side Story

"Don't Look Up," "Licorice Pizza," and "West Side Story" all tie for the most nominated comedy or musical with four nominations each...I think "West Side Story" has the inside track. I've heard and read nothing but good things about it other than its disappointing box office and some quibbles about its representation of Puerto Ricans, which still makes it the most diverse among nominated comedies and musicals.

While I equivocated about Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Drama: Actor, I clearly called this category and the next. Yay! However, I completely missed Ariana DeBose winning Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture: Actress and allowed Steven Spielberg's reputation to influence my pick for Best Director over the actual winner, Jane Campion. Oops.

"West Side Story" tied for most nominations at the Critics' Choice Awards with "Belfast" at eleven. Both films are competing with each other for Best Picture along with "CODA," "Don't Look Up," "Dune," "King Richard, "Licorice Pizza," "Nightmare Alley," "The Power of the Dog," and "tick, tick... BOOM!" Like the Golden Globes, I think it's between "Belfast" and "Power of the Dog" with "West Side Story" as the spoiler. If the audience were voting, they would probably pick "Dune," as it was the only one in this field nominated at the People's Choice Awards, even though "King Richard" was eligible. As I keep writing about awards shows, electorates matter.

Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: Actress

Marion Cotillard – Annette as Ann Defrasnoux
Alana Haim – Licorice Pizza as Alana Kane
Jennifer Lawrence – Don't Look Up as Kate Dibiasky
Emma Stone – Cruella as Estella / Cruella de Vil
Rachel Zegler – West Side Story as María Vasquez

My wife and I watched both "Don't Look Up" and "Cruella" and we enjoyed "Cruella" more, including Emma Stone's range from sweet Estella to scenery chewing villiany as the title character. So did the People's Choice Award voters, who chose "Cruella" as The Drama Movie Of 2021. While I'm definitely rooting for Stone, I don't think she's the favorite. That's probably Rachel Zegler.

Congratulations to Zegler, who was the most diverse nominee as well, something I neglected to mention last week even though I did call her winning. As for her awards prospects, she's nominated for Best Young Actor/Actress at the Critics' Choice Awards, not Best Actress. I think she's a ringer and should walk away with the award.

Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture: Actress

Caitríona Balfe – Belfast as Ma
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story as Anita
Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog as Rose Gordon
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard as Oracene "Brandy" Price
Ruth Negga – Passing as Clare Bellew

I'm a big fan of Caitríona Balfe because of her role in "Outlander" and am rooting for her, but I think Kirsten Dunst is really the favorite.

I begin my reaction by recycling from 'SNL' begins 2022 with a message from Biden about the pandemic and movies.

I did not mention DeBose at all when I handicapped Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture: Actress in Politics, government, and diversity among movie nominees at the 2022 Golden Globes. If I had known that she had been an instructor for Carolina Crown when I wrote that last week, I might have paid attention to her. We drum corps folks should support each other.

I also ignored the other actresses of color nominated in this category, Aunjanue Ellis and Ruth Negga. Shame on me for doing that in a entry that I advertised as being about diversity in addition to government and politics in film. May I do better next time.

De Bose is also competing against many of the same actresses at the SAG and Critics' Choice Awards, Caitríona Balfe and Kirsten Dunst at both, Ruth Negga along with Cate Blanchett at SAG, and Aunjanue Ellis along with Ann Dowd and Rita Moreno at the Critics' Choice Awards. There seems to be less consensus about the top five supporting actresses in film than for the top five actors. Also, DeBose is the only nomination for "West Side Story" at SAG; no love for the cast or for Zegler. Just the same, congratulations and good luck!

Best Animated Feature

Encanto
Flee
Luca
My Sunny Maad
Raya and the Last Dragon

..."Encanto" is the only nominee with more than one nomination in this field, three, so I consider it the odds-on favorite.

And it won, so congratulations! It's also nominated in two categories at the Critics's Choice Awards, where I think it will be the favorite and nine at the Annie Awards, where "Raya and the Last Dragon" has ten and a better chance of upsetting "Encanto." "Flee" might have the better chance at the Critics' Choice Awards, but it's contending in a different category at the Annies.

Best Foreign Language Film

Compartment No. 6 (Finland)
Drive My Car (Japan)
The Hand of God (Italy)
A Hero (Iran)
Parallel Mothers (Spain)

Only "Parallel Mothers" has more than one nomination with the other for Best Original Score, so I would say it's the nominal favorite. However, the Motion Picture Academy did not put it on the shortlist for Best International Feature Film, so that might dull its edge. On the other hand, all the rest of the nominees did make that shortlist. Again, electorates matter.

The Motion Picture Academy leaving "Parallel Mothers" off its Oscar shortlist seems to have worked against it, as "Drive My Car" won instead. That's probably the most diverse choice, as the HFPA could have voted for a European nominee instead. Between this win and the favorable critical reception, "Drive My Car" is probably in the driver's seat to win comparable categories in future awards shows, including at the Critics' Choice Awards, where "Flee" and "The Worst Person in the World" replace "Compartment No. 6" and "Parallel Mothers" in the field.

Now for the diverse winners among the television nominees at the 2022 Golden Globes.

Best Miniseries or Television Film

Dopesick (Hulu)
Impeachment: American Crime Story (FX)
Maid (Netflix)
Mare of Easttown (HBO)
The Underground Railroad (Prime Video)

"Mare of Easttown" and "The Underground Railroad" are the Emmy nominees in this field, a contest in which I'm sure "Mare of Easttown" would have the advantage if it came down between them. However, I think the contest is really between "Mare of Easttown" and "Maid" with "Dopesick" being the spoiler. Both of the latter have more nominations, three each to two for "Mare of Easttown," but those aren't enough for me to think either is the favorite. While I consider "The Underground Railroad" to have the strongest diversity and speculative fiction content, it doesn't have the greatest political content. I think that goes to "Impeachment: American Crime Story."

Much to my surprise, "The Underground Railroad" won. Congratulations and good luck at the Critics' Choice Awards!

Best Performance in a Television Series – Drama: Actress

Uzo Aduba – In Treatment (HBO) as Dr. Brooke Taylor
Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show (Apple TV+) as Alex Levy
Christine Baranski – The Good Fight (Paramount+) as Diane Lockhart
Elisabeth Moss – The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu) as June Osborne / Offred
Mj Rodriguez – Pose (FX) as Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista

Uzo Aduba, Elisabeth Moss, and Mj Rodriguez are the three Emmy nominees in this field. Moss is also a former nominee along with Jennifer Aniston. Because of this nomination history and her strong performance in the latest season of "The Handmaid's Tale," I think Moss is the favorite, although I'm torn. I would be even more thrilled to see Christine Baranski win for "The Good Fight," but I also think I should just be happy that she's nominated.

Surprise, congratulations, and good luck at the Critics' Choice Awards!

Best Supporting Performance in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film: Supporting Actor

Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (Apple TV+) as Cory Ellison
Kieran Culkin – Succession (HBO) as Roman Roy
Mark Duplass – The Morning Show (Apple TV+) as Charlie "Chip" Black
Brett Goldstein – Ted Lasso (Apple TV+) as Roy Kent
O Yeong-su – Squid Game (Netflix) as Oh Il-nam

While Billy Crudup and Brett Goldstein are both Emmy winners, they are in a tight race with Kieran Culkin, who has been nominated for three Golden Globes and an Emmy Award for this role. He might just win.

Surprise, congratulations, and good luck at the SAG Awards!

That's it for today's entertainment coverage on a holiday. Stay tuned as I return to short posts about reality tomorrow.