Without a runaway favorite for this year’s top Academy Award, a handful of key contenders will be looking to Sunday night’s 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards for a little traction on the road to the Oscars.
Among the nominees with the most to gain from a best-picture win when the Globes are handed out in Beverly Hills, California, are “Mad Max: Fury Road,” ‘'The Revenant“ and ”Spotlight“ in the drama category, and ”The Big Short“ and ”The Martian” in the comedy category.
The five films are the only Globe best picture nominees in either category to also appear on the Producers Guild of America’s list of 10 best picture nominees announced this past week. There has never been an Oscar best picture winner that hasn’t also been on the PGA’s list of best picture nominees since the guild started handing out awards in 1990.
Other nominees in the Globes’ top two categories this year are the dramas “Carol” and “Room,” and “Joy,” ‘'Spy“ and ”Trainwreck” in the comedy category. None were among the PGA’s top nods.
Also not appearing on the PGA list and conspicuously absent from this year’s Globes nominees is J.J. Abrams’ galactic juggernaut “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which on Wednesday, became the highest-grossing movie of all time in North America. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Golden Globes, announced its nominees a few days before the first industry screening of “Star Wars” in mid-December.
