- Despite Dune: Part Two being a cinematic triumph Denis Villeneuve was shockingly snubbed for Best Director.
- The narco-thriller musical Emilia Pérez swept the nominations with 10 nods.
- Shōgun and The Day of the Jackal both earned big wins in the drama categories.
Awards season has kicked off for another year with the return of the 82nd Golden Globes this coming January. Whilst the Globes aren’t the biggest awards night of the year, they’re usually a good indicator for which titles earned the most buzz, often setting the tone for subsequent ceremonies like the Oscars, BAFTAs, and SAG Awards.
Last year’s edition saw Christopher Nolan recognised for Oppenheimer, a colossal release that earned the filmmaker his first prize after six nominations. He was joined by his leading men Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., who took home the top award for male actors in the movie categories, whilst Matthew Macfadyen and Kieran Culkin cleaned up for Succession.
What are the Golden Globes?
Considered by many to be the precursor to the Oscars, the Golden Globe Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises the best acting performances in film and television from the previous year.
For almost a century, it was presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), before controversy over representation and inclusion in 2023 led to the nonprofit organisation being dissolved, selling all assets to Dick Clark Productions. It’s still one of the rare awards shows that look at releases from both cinema and TV.
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How are Films and TV Series Nominated for the Golden Globes?
To be in the running, there’s a stringent nomination system that requires films to submit their entry forms within ten days of their official screening, while TV programs are urged to get their submissions in as early as possible.
Members – around 310 individuals from 76 countries, spanning international journalists and long-standing members – then vote for their top five choices in each category, ranking them from five points (their absolute favourite) down to one point. Titles are nominated with a majority score.
Golden Globe Nominations 2025 for Film
The nominations for this year’s Golden Globes are in, and if the instant reaction is anything to go by, you’ll never please everyone.
The biggest blunder has to be the snubbing of Denis Villeneuve for Best Actor. I waxed lyrical about my experience watching Dune 2 for the first time earlier this year. I called it a “Cinematic triumph of epic proportions”; a gut-punch of a sequel in a rich and layered sci-fi world. Villeneuve’s signature sense of scale and unique vision brought the world of Arrakis to life in a way that left me – and many others – enthralled. It earned more than $700 million USD (~$1 billion AUD) at the box office.
Josh Brolin, who reprised his role as Gurney Halleck, recently expressed his frustration over Villeneuve’s previous snub for the first Dune film. He even went so far as to say he’d quit acting if Villeneuve isn’t nominated for an Oscar this time around. If the Golden Globes are any indication, we can only hope Brolin was joking.
Netflix’s Emilia Pérez has swept the nominations this year with 10 nods for Best Picture, Screenplay, Director and a host of acting roles. Although this has yet to be released in Australia, early reviews suggest this narco-thriller musical will be one we can’t miss.
Deadpool & Wolverine was rightly recognised for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, which is basically the award for movies that made a load of cash at the ticket booth. This year, this celebrated R-rated MCU release achieved the highest-grossing opening weekend for an R-rated film and surpassed Joker as the highest-grossing R-rated film ever, with a worldwide total of $1.33 billion USD (~$2 billion AUD).
Better yet, it was hilarious. How Challengers ended up nominated in the Comedy category is beyond me – unless Luca Guadagnino’s favourite Berlin-style techno anthem somehow qualifies this raunchy racquet romp as a Musical.
Golden Globe Nominations 2025 for TV
Two of our favourite shows from the past year – Shōgun and The Day of the Jackal – are the big winners in the television categories. Both titles earned nominations for Best Drama Series, with stars Hiroyuki Sanada, Eddie Redmayne, Anna Sawai and Tadanobu Asano getting tipped for acting roles.
The Bear cleaned up last year with three Golden Globes, and although the third season took on a different pace from previous editions, the show’s consecutive nomination for Best Musical or Comedy in 2025 is a glowing review for one of the best original series on streaming. You could argue that The Bear is neither a comedy, nor a musical, but it’s still worthy of a nod.
In the same vein, The Gentlemen wasn’t a laugh-out-loud riot, but we loved delving into its world through Guy Ritchie’s now-iconic swashbuckling style. Ritchie even admitted he enjoyed the process of adapting his original idea into a series for Netflix. It had its comedic moments (from memory the brother in the chicken suit), but I wouldn’t say this was a laugh-a-minute.
I guess with previous recipients of the Comedy award, like Schitt’s Creek, Fleabag, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, seemingly put out to Hollywood pasture in recent years, we could be witnessing the twilight of truly great comedy series in this category.
