Cheney biopic Vice leads Golden Globe nominations with six nods

Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic “Vice” seized control of the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards with a leading six nominations, narrowly edging Bradley Cooper’s tear-jerking revival “A Star Is Born,” the interracial road-trip drama “Green Book” and the period romp “The Favourite.”

“Vice” topped all contenders Thursday, in nominations announced at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, including best picture, comedy and best actor nominations for Christian Bale’s nearly unrecognizable performance as the former vice-president. It also earned nominations for Amy Adams’ supporting role as Lynne Cheney, Sam Rockwell’s George W. Bush and both the screenplay and direction by McKay, the veteran comedy filmmaker who once skewered politicians as a “Saturday Night Live” writer.

For even the often-quirky selections of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a collection of 88 mostly less-known freelance film journalists, the strong support for “Vice” (which arrives in theatres on Dec. 25) was a surprise. Even its categorization of the film — a highly critical portrait of Cheney as a power-hungry, behind-the-scenes tyrant — as a comedy raised some eyebrows, just as Globes recent comedy selections “Get Out” and “The Martian” did.

But it was far from a runaway win for “Vice” as the press association typically spread its awards around. Oscar front-runners “A Star Is Born,” ”Green Book“ and ”The Favourite“ trailed close behind with five nominations each.

Curiously, the Hollywood Foreign Press doesn’t consider foreign-language films for best film, so Alfonso Cuaron’s acclaimed Netflix drama “Roma” was left out of the Globes’ top category. It was still nominated for best screenplay, best director and best foreign language film.

Joining “A Star Is Born” in the best picture, drama category was Ryan Coogler’s superhero sensation “Black Panther,” Spike Lee’s urgent white nationalist drama “BlacKkKlansman,” the Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Barry Jenkins’ James Baldwin adaption “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

All earned nods in other categories, too, including Rami Malek’s prosthetic tooth-aided performance as Mercury and the leading turn by John David Washington (son of Denzel) in “BlacKkKlansman.”

Up for best picture comedy alongside “Vice” are Yorgas Lanthimos’ wild palace power struggle “The Favourite,” Peter Farrelly’s divisive crowd-pleaser “Green Book,” the upcoming Disney sequel “Mary Poppins Returns” and the rom-com hit “Crazy Rich Asians.”

Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong biopic “First Man,” which has seen its awards hope wane in recent weeks, failed to liftoff, scoring neither a best film nod, nor one for Ryan Gosling’s leading performance. (It did land nominations for Claire Foy and its score.)

Also left out, to gasps heard across social media, was Ethan Hawke’s performance as an anguished pastor in “First Reformed” and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Polish stunner “Cold War,” his follow-up to the Oscar-winning “Ida.” (The nominees for best foreign language film alongside “Roma” were “Capernaum,” ”Girl,“ ”Never Look Away“ and ”Shoplifters.“)

But the Globes also handed nominations toward some up-and-comers, including Lucas Hedges (“Boy Erased”), Timothee Chalamet (“Beautiful Boy”) and Elsie Fisher, the 15-year-old star of the coming-of-age tale “Eighth Grade.”

And it also made room for some old favourites: Robert Redford, in what he has said may (or may not) be his final acting performance, received his 10th Globe nomination for “The Old Man & the Gun.” He was given the group’s Cecil B. DeMille achievement award in 1994.

The nominees for best animated film were: “Incredibles 2,” ”Isle of Dogs,“ ”Mirai,“ ”Ralph Breaks the Internet“ and ”Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.“

The ratings for last January’s broadcast, hosted by Seth Meyers and graced with an impassioned speech by Oprah Winfrey, dipped 5 per cent with approximately 19 million viewers. As the first major award show following the Harvey Weinstein revelations and subsequent launch of the #MeToo movement, the usually more frivolous ceremony had an atypical edge of seriousness. In a demonstration organized by the then-just-founded Time’s Up, many women wore black on the red carpet.

Whether this year will return the Globes to their more lighthearted celebrations will rest partly with its unexpected pairing of Andy Samberg and “Killing Eve” star Sandra Oh, who on Thursday was nominated for best actress in a TV series drama. They were announced as hosts to the Jan. 6 ceremony, to be broadcast live on NBC.

Here are the full list of nominees:

Film

Best motion picture, drama

"Black Panther"

"BlacKkKlansman"

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

"If Beale Street Could Talk"

"A Star is Born"

Best actress in a motion picture, drama

Glenn Close, "The Wife"

Lady Gaga, "A Star is Born"

Nicole Kidman, "Destroyer"

Melissa McCarthy, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

Rosamund Pike, "A Private War"

Best actor in a motion picture, drama

Bradley Cooper, "A Star is Born"

Willem Dafoe, "At Eternity's Gate"

Lucas Hedges, "Boy Erased"

Rami Malek, "Bohemian Rhapsody"

John David Washington, "BlacKkKlansman"

Best motion picture, musical or comedy

"Crazy Rich Asians"

"The Favourite"

"Green Book"

"Mary Poppins Returns"

"Vice"

Best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy

Christian Bale, "Vice"

Lin-Manuel Miranda, "Mary Poppins Returns"

Viggo Mortensen, "Green Book"

Robert Redford, "The Old Man and the Gun"

John C. Reilly, "Stan and Ollie"

Best actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy

Emily Blunt, "Mary Poppins Returns"

Olivia Colman, "The Favourite"

Elsie Fisher, "Eighth Grade"

Charlize Theron, "Tully"

Constance Wu, "Crazy Rich Asians"

Best motion picture, animated

"Incredibles 2"

"Isle of Dogs"

"Mirai"

"Ralph Breaks the Internet"

"Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse"

Best motion picture, foreign language

"Capernaum," Lebanon

"Girl," Belgium

"Never Look Away," Germany

"Roma," Mexico

"Shoplifters," Japan

Best supporting actress, any motion picture

Amy Adams, "Vice"

Claire Foy, "First Man"

Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"

Emma Stone, "The Favourite"

Rachel Weiss, "The Favourite"

Best supporting actor, any motion picture

Mahershala Ali, "Green Book"

Timothee Chalamet, "Beautiful Boy"

Adam Driver, "BlacKkKlansman"

Richard Grant, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

Sam Rockwell, "Vice"

Best director, motion picture

Bradely Cooper, "A Star is Born"

Alfonso Cuaron, "Roma"

Peter Farrelly, "Green Book"

Spike Lee, "BlacKkKlansman"

Adam McKay, "Vice"

Best screenplay, motion picture

Alfonso Cuaron, "Roma"

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, "The Favourite"

Barry Jenkins, "If Beale Street Could Talk"

Adam McKay, "Vice"

Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly, "Green Book"

Best original score, motion picture

Marco Beltrami, "A Quiet Place"

Alexandre Desplat, "Isle of Dogs"

Ludwig Goransson, "Black Panther"

Justin Hurwitz, "First Man"

Mark Shaiman, "Mary Poppins Returns"

Best original song, motion picture

"All the Stars," "Black Panther"

"Girl in the Movies," "Dumplin'"

"Requiem for a Private War," "A Private War"

"Revelation," "Boy Erased"

"Shallow," "A Star is Born"

Television

Best television series, drama

"The Americans"

"Bodyguard"

"Homecoming"

"Killing Eve"

"Pose"

Best actor in a television series, drama

Jason Bateman, "Ozark"

Stephan James, "Homecoming"

Richard Madden, "Bodyguard"

Billy Porter, "Pose"

Matthew Rhys, "The Americans"

Best actress in a television series, drama

Caitriona Balfe, "Outlander"

Elisabeth Moss, "The Handmaid's Tale"

Sandra Oh, "Killing Eve"

Julia Roberts, "Homecoming"

Keri Russell, "The Americans"

Best television series, musical or comedy

"Barry"

"The Good Place"

"Kidding"

"The Kominsky Method"

"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"

Best actress in a TV series, musical or comedy

Kristen Bell, "The Good Place"

Candice Bergen, "Murphy Brown"

Alison Brie, "Glow"

Rachel Brosnahan, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"

Debra Messing, "Will & Grace"

Best actor in a TV series, musical or comedy

Sasha Baron Cohen, "Who is America"

Jim Carrey, "Kidding"

Michael Douglas, "The Kominsky Method"

Donald glover, "Atlanta"

Bill Hader, "Barry"

Best limited series or motion picture made for television

"The Alienist"

"The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story"

"Escape at Dannemora"

"Sharp Objects"

"A Very English Scandal"

Best actress in a limited series or motion picture made for TV

Amy Adams, "Sharp Objects"

Patricia Arquette, "Escape at Dannemora

Connie Britton, "Dirty John"

Laura Dern, "The Tale"

Regina King, "Seven Seconds"

Best actor in a limited series or motion picture made for TV

Antonio Banderas, "Genius: Picasso"

Daniel Bruhl, "Alienist"

Darren Criss, "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story""Escape at Dannemora"

Benedict Cumberbatch, "Patrick Melrose"

Hugh Grant, "A Very English Scandal"

Best supporting actor in a series, limited series or motion picture made for television

Alan Arkin, "The Kominsky Method"

Kieran Culkin, "Succession"

Edgar Ramirez, "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story"

Ben Whishaw, "A Very English Scandal"

Henry Winkler, "Barry"

Best supporting actress in a series, limited series or motion picture made for television

Alex Bornstein, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"

Patricia Clarkson, "Sharp Objects"

Penelope Cruz, "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story"

Thandie Newton, "Westworld"

Yvonne Strahovski, “The Handmaid’s Tale”