Biggest Surprises and Snubs From The 2017 Golden Globe Nominations

By Josh Tarpley

The Golden Globe nominations are here and for the most part...this is a great looking batch of nominees. On one hand there is a lot of loathe towards the show, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is an obscure group (85-90) members whose Comedy/Musical categories are a point of contention every year. On the other hand,the road to an Oscar nomination is one of building buzz. Getting recognized on the second biggest televised awards show right before nominations come out is nothing to scoff at. With more categories comes opportunity to honor more great work, but also makes it harder for those who missed out on the expanded field.

Click beyond the jump to see the best surprises and worse snubs from this year’s Golden Globe nominees.

​Surprise - Christopher Plummer, Best Supporting Actor

When the unheard of news broke that Ridely Scott would be undergoing reshoots to remove Kevin Spacey from “All The Money In The World” only to replace him with Christopher Plummer, we had questions. It was obviously a smart move to separate your movie from Spacey, but is this something that would even be possible, let alone in keeping its late December release date? If these nominations mean anything, then it looks like the move was not only great for PR but hopefully Plummer’s performance adds to the overall enjoyment of the film itself. Take note that this wasn’t a token stunt nomination, the HFPA went for “All the Money in the World” in Best Actress and Best Director as well (Not enough love to get the film into Best Picture-Drama though).

Snub - “The Big Sick,” Best Picture - Comedy/Musical

The Comedy/Musical field has always been a great opportunity for smaller indies to get some more awards love (“Sing Street” and “Moonrise Kingdom” are picks that come to mind), all signs were pointing towards “The Big Sick” making a showing at the Globes. For whatever reason, the HFPA did not take to the film at all. No acting, no writing, and no Best Picture for the Michael Showalter film. As the race became crowded with heavy hitters “Lady Bird,” “I, Tonya” and “The Disaster Artist,” “The Big Sick” just couldn’t keep up the momentum to best the token musical “The Greatest Showman.”

Surprise - “Get Out,” Best Picture - Comedy/Musical

Awards pundits have been recognizing “Get Out” as a player this year for sometime now. In my piece, “The Case For ‘Get Out’ Being Nominated For Best Picture,” I argued that the critics awards would start the Oscar momentum, while the loose definition of “Comedy” gave it a great opportunity to nab some top nominations at the Globes. The awards community online came to a consensus about “Is ‘Get Out’ a comedy” some time ago, but when the confirmation came a whole new discussion broke out altogether. Fans and detractors of the film were arguing whether or not the film was a comedy, director Jordan Peele added to the conversation (some brilliant PR in my opinion), and there a real question as to whether or not the HFPA even liked the movie. It is great to see the film (and Daniel Kaluuya) get recognized here, and the path to an Oscar nomination remains in tact. Although, its miss in the screenplay category and directing is concerning...

​Snub - “The LEGO Batman Movie,” Best Animated Film

If I were filling out a ballot, there is a high probability that “The LEGO Batman Movie” would have been included in Best Picture - Musical/Comedy, but that is a conversation for another time. The lease any awards body can do is make sure the film is honored in their animated categories. Though “Coco” all but won the award before anyone even saw it, the rest of the animated field is so thin that it cause true pain not to see “LEGO Batman” present.

I mean…”The Boss Baby,” really?

Surprise - Octavia Spencer, Best Supporting Actress

During the Summer, most predictors felt it was a safe bet to include Octavia Spencer as she is a great actress in a role in one of the year’s top Oscar contenders. As the Supporting Actress field grew more crowded and Spencer began to go unnoticed by some of the critics groups, many were questioning her chances. Between the Critics Choice last week, the Globes today and (maybe) SAG this week, it is looking like Spencer is the contender we all thought she was before.

Snub - Greta Gerwig, Best Director

When it comes to the Oscars, we tend to say “the group is not a monolith,” meaning we can’t ascribe certain ideas to them because there are so many voters. With that in mind, I have no idea projecting weird motives towards the HFPA due to their low membership. So “Lady Bird” was nominated for Best Picture - Musical/Comedy, Best Original Screenplay, and Actress/Supporting Actress, yet can’t pick up a Director nomination for first-time director Greta Gerwig? At the same time, the HFPA nominated Ridley Scott for Best Director...without nominating “All The Money In The World” for Best Picture - Drama? I really do like the Golden Globes, I do. I appreciate the variety and the fun they have at the show. But sometimes a certain omission just rubs me the wrong way and it is a shame Gerwig is not in the Best Director lineup.

What do you guys think? Any other surprises or snubs that stand out to you? Let us know in the comments below! The 75th annual Golden Globe Awards will be televised on January 7, 2018.

You can follow Josh and hear more of his thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter at @JoshTarpley7