Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy aside, comic book movies are still usually considered low-brow popcorn flicks, but 2017 saw the release of two super movies that not only proved to be champions at the box office but were actually showered with praise from critics– James Mangold‘s moody, layered ‘Logan’ and Patty Jenkins‘ triumphant ‘Wonder Woman’. 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers mounted campaigns to garner awards recognition for both films, but despite their efforts, the Golden Globes snubbed them, which sadly could serve as a disappointing sign of things to come.
Voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes are broken down slightly differently from the BIG award, the Academy Award/Oscar. The Golden Globes divides the major categories into Drama and Comedy/Musical. But their picks and often winners can predict those that the Oscars recognize.
‘Logan’ was a longer-shot than ‘Wonder Woman’, but even so, many were hoping to see the illustrious Patrick Stewart recognized for his heartbroken portrayal of Charles Xavier. Lead actor Hugh Jackman might not have gotten recognition for this movie, but he was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical for a different movie, ‘The Greatest Showman’.
‘Wonder Woman’ proved to be the highest grossing movie ever by a female director so there was a lot of expectation that Patty Jenkins would at least get a directing nod, but that didn’t prove to be the case.
Other genre snubs include Andy Serkis‘ final performance as Caesar in ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ and the reviled thriller ‘mother!’, which despite massive audience hate, got strong reviews from (some) critics.
Even though his film, ‘Get Out’, was nominated, director Jordan Peele was not. Controversially, the dramatic horror film was nominated in the Best Comedy category, echoing a similar controversial nomination (and subsequent win) for ‘The Martian’ in 2015.
Fantasy ‘The Shape of Water’ did manage to earn nods for Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Director (for Guillermo del Toro), Best Performance By An Actress Drama (Sally Hawkins), Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role (Octavia Spencer), Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role (Richard Jenkins), Best Screenplay (del Toro and Vanessa Taylor) and Best Original Score (Alexander Desplat).
Though not exactly on the same level, ‘Logan’ has won Top Films from The National Board of Review, The MTV Movie + TV Awards (Best Onscreen Duo for Jackman and Dafne Keen) and The Golden Trailer Awards (for Best Music).
‘Wonder Woman’ won Movie of the Year from AFI (the American Film Institute), the Spotlight Award from the National Board of Review for Jenkins, the Rising Star Award for Gal Gadot from the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Teen Choice Awards for Best Action Movie, plus acting awards for Gadot and Chris Pine, and three Golden Trailer Awards.
Are you disappointed that these comic book epics got snubbed?
The Golden Globes Awards, hosted by Seth Myers will air on NBC on January 7th, 2018.
