ERIC DEGGANS, HOST:
Tomorrow, CBS will air the Golden Globe Awards, hosted by comic Nikki Glaser, who joked in a promo ad for the network about controlling seating arrangements for the events.
(SOUNDBITE OF AD)
NIKKI GLASER: I think the Wild Robot should sit up front. No, I'm sorry, not the cast. I meant Nicole Kidman after a couple of champagnes.
DEGGANS: The ceremony, which will be the first award show in a succession of contests which culminates with the Oscars in March, is still rebuilding its image after past controversies. Now, here to talk about all the issues raised by this year's Golden Globes are Wilson Morales from BlackFilmandTV.com, and my colleague at NPR, film critic Bob Mondello. Welcome, guys.
WILSON MORALES: Hey.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: Hey.
DEGGANS: So, Wilson, I wanted to start with you. Let's talk a little bit about the past controversies that the Golden Globes have faced and how or why they have ended up airing on CBS.
MORALES: Well, you know, some time back before and around the pandemic, the Globes have taken a lot of flack because of the - you know, who were there nominating and who was being left off. And they started to get a backlash, and, you know, changes had to be done within management. And over the years, they've taken out some members, added in new members, placed in the restrictions. And, you know, they were on the brink of, like, OK, you know, it's becoming too old to watch anymore.
DEGGANS: Right. In fact, the organization that put on the Globes used to be called the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. That voting body had a lot of controversies. It came out that they didn't have any Black members.
MORALES: Yeah.
DEGGANS: And they had a lot of problems in 2022. It's since been sold. And, Bob, I know you're a Golden Globes doubter.
MONDELLO: Yeah. The Golden Globes, as far as I'm concerned, they never really ought to have existed. I give you the Oscars, right? I think the Oscars are maybe a worthwhile awards thing. The rest of them are sort of hangers-on. You don't need most of them, and it's - I don't really agree with critics groups giving these kinds of awards. I think it's kind of silly. And just as a full disclosure, I am a member of the Critics Choice Association. We write reviews. We talk about these things in advance. I - the notion of people competing in art doesn't make any sense - as if they were racehorses. I'm not convinced that all of this makes sense as an artistic endeavor in any way. On top of which, they've got million-dollar gift bags. What kind of...
DEGGANS: I think this is what really upsets Bob.
MONDELLO: Can you really take it seriously?
DEGGANS: Well - and, Wilson, I - you know, I wanted to bring it back to you, because you've said some interesting things about why this telecast is on CBS and what CBS hopes to gain by featuring this awards in the first place.
MORALES: Well, the thing I said is that, you know, the Globes have been around for over 50 years. No other network has a bigger audience from the age range of 35 and older that stays loyal than CBS. So when you think about the Globes, as old as it may be, there are people who still want to see those celebrities.
DEGGANS: So, Wilson, what films do you think are going to be big contenders? Who do you expect to come out on top here?
MORALES: I think the five pictures in contention, there really are is "Anora," "The Brutalist," "Emilia Perez," "Wicked" and "Conclave." Keep in mind that because it's the Golden Globes, a majority of their members are from other countries. And the three films that played well at Cannes this past year was "Anora," "Emilia Perez" and "The Substance." So you have to think about, like, who are the voters? They're foreign voters. They're not Americans. Over the last few years, the foreign vote has gotten stronger, especially when it comes to Oscar nominations.
DEGGANS: Well, that's one thing, Bob, I wanted to turn to you for, because, again, the original idea, I think, behind the Golden Globes was that because it was put on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, these awards would help people focus more on international films. Is there any validity to that idea that this might be a way to get people to think about films that are outside of Hollywood as the award season begins?
MONDELLO: I suppose it might be. See, I'm so dyspeptic about it. There's nothing about the nominations this year that suggests to me that they are a broader version of the Oscars, for instance. I mean, you have 10 nominees in each of the acting categories, so there are going to be a few more people in there, but it still managed to be awfully white. Some of my favorite movies weren't nominated at all.
DEGGANS: What are some of the movies that got left out that you would like to have seen?
MONDELLO: Well, I thought "Piano Lesson" was really well done. It's just a beautiful film, and it has an all-Black cast, and it's a really interesting picture. Danielle Detwiler is just amazing in it. And also, "Hard Truths" is a gorgeous movie. Mike Leigh directed. It's about a woman who is extremely unhappy in life. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is fantastic in it. I mean, I think she's the best actress of the year, hands down, without any qualifications. She's not nominated.
DEGGANS: So this whole discussion about, you know, what is successful and why it's successful and how it comes to Hollywood sort of brings up the idea of talking about Hollywood in general. And so I wanted to ask both of you what you think the challenges may be for the film industry in 2025. And I want to start with Wilson.
MORALES: Well, you ought to keep in mind that 2024 is coming off the year where there was a strike, and so there were less films of big magnitude being released. Now that we're into 2025, you know, I think things will get back into full swing, but a lot of it has to do with marketing. Now that we have streamers and films are no longer being released in theaters for three months at a time, you know, the window is smaller for films to make as much money as possible. Everything is going to streamers right away. And then there's the politics of it all.
You know, the more you spend on the marketing, the more exposure a film can get. You know, you had - like, you mentioned "The Piano Lesson," OK, it's on Netflix. You know, question is, how many people saw it? How many people talked about it? There are a lot of good films out there that doesn't always get talked about because they don't have the visibility or the marketing.
DEGGANS: So, Bob, I wanted to ask you, what do you see as the challenges? And I'm wondering if there's any films that you're looking forward to in the year to come.
MONDELLO: If you go online and you look for the 25 most-anticipated movies of 2025, you'll get a list of sequels and prequels and remakes, right? I mean, it's just - of course, those are the ones that everybody's looking for. So we're going to have 40 prequels and sequels and remakes. But there are some other movies that I think sound interesting. Steven Soderbergh has a film called "Black Bag" coming out. It's a spy film with Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett. Anything by Bong Joon-ho is interesting, and "Mickey 17" looks like it's interesting and apparently had a huge budget. You know, Yorgos Lanthimos has a new picture. So what I'm looking forward to is the smaller stuff that will not get nominated for next year's Golden Globes.
DEGGANS: That was NPR movie critic Bob Mondello, and Wilson Morales of BlackFilmandTV.com. Guys, thanks for joining us.
MONDELLO: This was great. Thanks.
MORALES: Appreciate it. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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