2016 Golden Globes Snubs & Surprises

Meaghan McDonough ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
With so many fantastic films coming out this year, awards season was looking like anybody’s race. This week’s Golden Globe Nomination Announcement only added to the mystique, offering many shocking nominations as well as completely snubbing some films. Here is Emertainment’s list of this years biggest snubs and surprises from the Golden Globes!
Snubs:
Arrival (Best Motion Picture – Drama)
Is the reign of big budget space dramas finally coming to an end? It seems so, with this year’s Gravity–Interstellar–The Martian follow up Arrival falling short in the Best Motion Picture – Drama category. Despite star Amy Adams earning a nod for Best Performance by an Actress in that category, the film itself seemingly couldn’t stand up to the other contenders. One can only imagine what a sore disappointment this is for Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, who has yet to break out of the film festival award circuit and into Hollywood’s hallowed award season halls.
Martin Scorsese (Best Director – Motion Picture)

It’s hard to remember a year where Scorsese hasn’t been nominated—even 2011 Hugo, his most children friendly film in his entire career, won him Best Director at the Golden Globes. With early reviews on Silence calling the film Scorcese’s passion project, it seems almost absurd that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association—who, by all accounts, love Scorsese—wouldn’t throw him a bone. What this means for the Academy Award nominations come January, only time will tell, but things aren’t looking good for Scorsese at the outset of this awards season.
Denzel Washington (Best Director – Motion Picture)
It’s not that Washington’s directing in Fences was particularly good; it’s the principal of the thing. Denzel Washington is a household name, a beloved and prolific actor who has been trying to break into directing over the course of his career with little success. Fences shows a perspective that Washington has never given before, and handles his lead acting and directorial with equal care. It’s not a huge snub, but it’s enough to make one wonder when Denzel Washington will finally be allowed to move into a new creative field.
Finding Dory (Best Motion Picture – Animated)
Pixar’s Finding Dory is 2016’s top grossing film by a landslide. It was a critical and commercial success, with beautiful animation, humorous performances, and a touching narrative that revitalized a dusty franchise. How it managed to get edged out by Illumination’s mediocre musical comedy Sing is something we’ll all be left questioning for a while. Even though Finding Dory would, like any movie in this category, most likely lose out to Moana, it still would have been nice to see the film get the acknowledgement it deserves.
The Lobster (Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy)

With Colin Farrell given the acting nod, it’s a surprise to see The Lobster not on the Musical or Comedy list, especially as they included other successful films from the summer. The Lobster was an indie darling, dealing with an unusual take on love and relationships in a fresh sort of satire. When director Yorgos Lanthimos picked up the Jury Prize at Cannes, it seemed likely that The Lobster would earn a handful of nominations this year. It just goes to show how competitive this years race is after all.
The Handmaiden (Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language)
This is probably the biggest snub of them all. Park Chan-wook’s South Korean erotic psychological thriller The Handmaiden is a masterpiece across categories, and if it must be pigeonholed into a foreign film category, it certainly deserves the nomination. Yet it is not there, lost out in favor of several French films. While many might argue that The Handmaiden would be edged out for having pornographic elements, it’s important to remember France’s Blue Is the Warmest Color got the nomination in 2013. Park Chan-wook has created several masterpieces, and it seemed fitting that this year he finally get some recognition, considering The Handmaiden’s immense critical success. Better luck next time, it seems.
Surprises:
Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominees

Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea were givens—those and La La Land are believed to be this years top contenders among the Academy—but what was left in the category came as a surprise. Hacksaw Ridge was expected to be an almost back up nomination if for some reason they couldn’t round out a list, while Hell or High Water came out way back in August. A delightful surprise though was the early success of Lion, whose only slightly warm critical reception made for an unclear award season run.
Sing Street (Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy)
This year, the Golden Globes apparently decided to truly take the category “Musical or Comedy” literally and decided to give a nod to a summer musical by allowing it to compete directly against La La Land. Sing Street was a fun, feel good follow-up for director John Carney, whose Begin Again was nominated for an Oscar in 2015. The music is upbeat and daring, with young, unknown actors giving heartwarming performances. It’s a worthy footnote, and we’re glad the Golden Globes decided to give it the recognition.
Dev Patel (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role – Drama)
This goes hand in hand with Lion being a surprise Best Motion Picture – Drama nominee, but we’re especially glad to see actor Dev Patel back in the spotlight, where we haven’t really seen him since 2008 when he broke on to the scene with Slumdog Millionaire. Even though Patel has been in movies since, he hasn’t received the same amount of attention; but Lion might just prove to be a change. Patel is older and more seasoned an actor, and it’s good he’s getting recognition for that.
Kubo and the Two Strings (Best Motion Picture – Animated)

Laika has given us wonderful stop motion animation over the years, and Kubo and the Two Strings is no exception. It was easily one of the best animated features, but it seemed unclear whether it would rack up any nominations between Pixar’s commercial success and Disney’s sheer volume of work. Even though Kubo and the Two Strings likely won’t beat out Moana, it’s still nice to see Laika get a chance to take on these much larger and more funded companies.
Deadpool & Ryan Reynolds (Best Motion Picture & Best Performance by an Actor – Musical or Comedy)
Deadpool was a Valentine’s Day superhero movie for everyone without a Valentine. It was brazen and crass but knee-jerkily funny in a way most recent superhero movies hadn’t been. Ryan Reynolds played the character brilliantly, taking his role as seriously as any method actor might in a biopic. But no one expected it to be nominated for anything; it was a movie meant to make fun of movies. Still, it seems that Deadpool spoke to critics in a way no superhero movie has yet to, and Ryan Reynolds clearly has the chops to stand up to some other pretty great nominees. If more award seasoned actors like Colin Farrell and Ryan Gosling don’t come for it quickly, Ryan Reynolds might just have a shot.
Jonah Hill (Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy)
Probably the most surprising of all the nominations was Jonah Hill appearing in any category for War Dogs, which was a relative flop from the end of Summer 2016. Jonah Hill’s performance was off the rails absurd—cringe worthy at times, but definitely funny. While it might be arguable that it was to the film’s detriment, his performance was clearly enough to win over HFPA even if the film as a whole didn’t. He doesn’t stand a chance against the other actors or films in the category, but it’s a genuine and delightful surprise nonetheless.