The Golden Globes are the unofficial kickoff for Hollywood’s rounds of award ceremonies and are something of a tone-setter for the season. This year’s message: Old Hollywood habits die hard.
As often in the past, most of the movies nominated were by and about men. At the Globes and other awards fests, Hollywood is grappling with a complicated relationship with streaming giant Netflix. Logistics of the awards shows themselves are also in play.
In an attempt to prevent people’s interest in Hollywood pomp and circumstance from waning before the Oscars telecast arrives, Academy Award organizers moved the show up to its earliest date ever, Feb. 9.
“There’s a panic across Hollywood because of the shortened Oscar schedule,” says Tom O’Neil, editor of the awards prediction site Gold Derby, pointing out that some voters won’t have time to watch lower-profile films before the voting deadline, which could have a ripple effect. “We could see the shortened season have an impact on diversity” in nominations.
When the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Globes nominations in early December, they were met with grumbling by many filmmakers, critics and fans because critically acclaimed films by women, including Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” and Marielle Heller’s “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” had been mostly passed over. No films directed by women were among the best motion picture nominees (drama or comedy/musical categories). Nor were any women nominated for best director—a field that hasn’t featured a female director in five years. (Only one woman has ever won the award—“Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow in 2010.)
This absence stands in contrast to women’s strides in the industry last year as makers of box-office hits. Of the 113 directors behind the 100 top-grossing films of 2019, 12 (or 10.6%) were women, according to a new report by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. That is the highest percentage since the annual study began 13 years ago.
And yet, as far as awards go, female filmmakers still lag and not just at the Globes. Throughout the nine-decade history of the Academy Awards, only five women have been nominated for best director, and only Ms. Bigelow has won.
“When we think of the masters or the auteurs, we most often think of men,” says Kirsten Schaffer, executive director of the advocacy group Women in Film, citing this season’s frontrunners such as Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood.” “This year in particular there are a lot of ‘masters’ who have films in contention,” she said, “so the conversation seems to gravitate toward them.”
To highlight the accomplishments of women on both sides of the camera last year—especially for people within the industry still picking nominees for awards yet to come—Women in Film and its partner groups recently issued a mock ballot featuring only female candidates in categories ranging from writing to cinematography. Among the group’s goals: to shift perceptions of prestige that can drive momentum for certain films and the subconscious thinking of industry voters.
Ms. Schaffer says the auteur factor—along with the awards marketing campaigns that reinforce it—contributes to the challenges facing some of her favorites, including director Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” (three Golden Globe nods, including best foreign-language film) and Chinonye Chukwu’s “Clemency” (zero nominations).
Ms. Gerwig, who wrote and directed the recent adaptation of “Little Women,” is accumulating more of that Hollywood glow, thanks in part to her quick follow-up to 2018’s Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated film “Lady Bird,” says Matthew Neglia, owner and editor in chief of Next Best Picture, an awards and entertainment site.
“Once you’re in the club, you’re in,” Mr. Neglia says. Though “Little Women” was snubbed by the Globes (aside from an acting nod for Saoirse Ronan), he says the film is likely to pick up key nominations in future races, including the Oscars.
The rising influence of Netflix is causing major waves. On one hand, the tech giant has shaken the movie business by keeping its subscribers couch-bound and giving its own movies only a brief release in theaters before they start streaming. On the other hand, Netflix has lavished meaty budgets and creative freedoms on filmmakers who struggle to find those things at most Hollywood studios today. Their ranks include Mr. Scorsese, a staunch defender of cinema who made his epic “The Irishman” with the streaming company.
Netflix doesn’t participate in traditional box-office competition, so awards are a key battleground for the streamer. Last year Netflix went all out campaigning for “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón’s black-and-white period portrait of a Mexican family. The movie won best foreign language picture and best director at both the Globes and the Oscars, but failed to land the most prestigious prize, an Academy Award for best picture.
This season, Netflix releases earned three of five nominations for best drama at the Globes (“The Irishman,” “Marriage Story,” “The Two Popes”) and one for best comedy or musical (“Dolemite Is My Name”).
“Now we’re seeing Netflix doubling down, not just on one nominee, but four, and pushing all of them as equally as they pushed ‘Roma’ last year,” Mr. Neglia says.
“The question becomes will they prevail or will there be a backlash?” he adds. In other words, could Netflix’s aggressive and high-spending approach to awards campaigning prompt some voters to support alternative or underdog candidates.
Several of this season’s frontrunners seem to carry commentary about moviemaking itself. Mr. Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood,” a revision of the Manson family story, is also a loving portrait of the industry in its title. “The Irishman” is a mob picture framed by critics as a swan song for the aging heavyweights who made it, including Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. “Joker,” starring Joaquin Phoenix became the highest-grossing R-rated film ever, and controversial for its portrayal of mental illness, among other themes. And if “Joker” collects top awards this season, it will also bring a new penumbra of gravitas to the comic-book movie genre.
And then there’s “Parasite,” veteran South Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s thriller about a struggling family that insinuates itself into the life of a wealthy family. A consistent winner on the film-festival circuit, and one of the most well-reviewed movies of 2019, “Parasite” was not, as a non-English language film, eligible to compete in the best drama or musical/comedy categories at the Globes. However, a win for best director and other Globes races could boost the chances “Parasite” has for making history at the Oscars, where a foreign-language film has never won the crowning award for best picture.
Support has grown for what “Parasite” represents, both off and on screen—an indie release by an admired foreign filmmaker and a story about a slow-building clash between classes.
“It’s a revenge fantasy that’s irresistible because it’s so well done. Its appeal is to the rebel in all of us, the rage we have with authority,” says Gold Derby’s Mr. O’Neil, who recently moved “Parasite” to the No. 1 slot in his predictions for best picture at the Oscars. “It’s the one movie that actual Oscar voters seem to be evangelical about.”
Write to John Jurgensen at john.jurgensen@wsj.com
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