Everyone The 2020 Golden Globes Just Brutally Snubbed

The nominations for the 77th Annual Golden Globes are out, and with them come the first disappointments — and surprises — of the 2020 awards season. To be fair, 2019 has been a particularly good year for movies and TV, both of which the Hollywood Foreign Press Association finds itself in a position to honour. Sometimes, you just have to kill your darlings — even if they did deliver some of the most memorable performances of the past 12 months.

Still — some worrying trends do stand out this year. Namely, the HFPA’s lack of consideration for nominees of colour (and especially women of colour), who were shut out of some of the most prominent categories despite lauded performances. Women, once again, were completely overlooked in the Best Director category, including Greta Gerwig, whose adaptation of Little Women premiered over the weekend, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’s Marielle Heller, Hustlers’ Lorene Scafaria, Portrait of A Lady on Fire’s Celine Sciamma, and even Lulu Wang, whose film, The Farewell, was nominated for Best Foreign-Language Film, even though it’s about a Chinese-American woman reconnecting with her family in China in order to understand her own roots, a distinctly American story. 

Announcing the 2020 nominees were Last Man Standing’s Tim Allen, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s Dakota Fanning, and This Is Us’ Susan Kelechi Watson, who also starred in this year’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. 

Working to catch up on your picks for the 2020 awards season? You’ve got until January 5, 2020, when the ceremony, hosted by sauced Ricky Gervais and his tumbler of whiskey for the fifth time, will take place. The winners are still anyone’s guess — the only people who are sure to get time on that stage are Ellen DeGeneres, who will be receiving the Carol Burnett Award, and Father of the Nation Tom Hanks, this year’s recipient of the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award. 

Whether you want to support those who won’t be walking the red carpet, or just want to be that person who talks about their obscure interests at your Golden Globes viewing party, look to this year’s most egregious snubs and welcome surprises for inspiration. 

Little Women is the most glaring omission from this category, which is the most white male-centric it’s been in a long time. Not only are Joker and The Irishman directed by white men, they’re also distinctly about being a white man. Clemency and Just Mercy, two films with Black leads about the excesses of the criminal justice system, were notably overlooked. 

Among the biggest snubs in this category is Cats, Tom Hooper’s digital fur musical extravaganza, which will premiere later this month. The HFPA loves a good musical, especially one as big as this, but it looks like the decision to premiere in late December has worked against the film’s awards chances. But most egregious is the HFPA’s decision not to nominate Hustlers or A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, two films directed by women that earned critical acclaim and offered a new perspective on toxic masculinity. 

Do I even have to say it? For the third year in a row, the Golden Globes does not have any women nominees in this category. It’s unacceptable, especially given the kinds of films women directed this year. Ever heard of Olivia Wilde (Booksmart), Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Jennifer Kent (The Nightingale), Joanna Hogg (The Souvenir), Alma Har’el (Honey Boy), Chinonye Chukwu (Clemency) or Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)? The last woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director was Barbra Streisand in 1984....maybe it’s time?

Did the HFPA not see Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems? Was Robert Pattinson’s constant masturbation in The Lighthouse just a little too much? 

Justice for Lupita Nyong’o, who played not one, but TWO memorable characters in Jordan Peele’s Us. 

Oh my god, remember Where’d You Go Bernadette? Cate Blanchet’s nomination is a surprise, but at least it’s a mildly good one. What’s not so great is Kaitlyn Dever being snubbed for her amazing performance in Booksmart. She was just as much of a lead as Beanie Feldstein, and their delicate and hilarious chemistry is exactly why the movie works as well as it does. Her nomination for Unbelievable kind of softens the blow, but still. Ouch. 

I’m thrilled J.Lo. is on the path to winning her well-deserved Oscar, but that joy is tainted with some very real disappointments. No Florence Pugh for Little Women? No Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who killed it as Lady Reed in Dolemite Is My Name? No Zhao Shuzhen, who played Nai Nai in The Farewell?

Jamie Foxx being left off this list is pretty shocking given the kind of performance he delivers in Just Mercy. 

Another snub for Greta Gerwig and Little Women, but also for Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit and Shia LaBeouf’s Honey Boy. 

Mary Steenburgen didn’t undergo surgery and emerge a songwriter for Wild Rose to get snubbed by the HFPA! “Glasgow” has been at the top of my playlists since I saw the film this summer. 

I’m ecstatic The Farewell was nominated even though it’s a confusing category for it, but where is Mati Diop’s Atlantics, which made history as the first Black woman to contend for the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year?

Game of Thrones being shut out of this category means it truly is the end of an era. More shocking is the HFPA’s lack of regard for Euphoria, a truly game-changing TV show for 2019. Also — The Morning Show, really?

Where are you Shitt’s Creek and Russian Doll?

Breaking Bad fever is truly over: El Camino was snubbed. Even worse, so was When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s groundbreaking look at the case of the Central Park Five, which sparked a national conversation. 

I think even Succession’s Jeremy Strong would agree that his dad’s was better. 

Don Cheadle, a Globes favorite with six to his name, and Black Monday are nowhere to be found. 

Mahershala Ali and True Detective didn’t make the cut, but I’m especially aghast at Jharrel Jerome being snubbed for When They See Us, especially since he won an Emmy for the role in September. Also, did anyone really watch Catch 22, which received two nominations?

I guess if The Morning Show has to be on this list, it should be for Jennifer Aniston’s comeback performance. But if that’s the bar, then where is Sandra Oh for Killing Eve, or Regina King for Watchmen? And where, for the love of all that glitters, is Zendaya?

Does no one at the HFPA watch Schitt’s Creek? Because this has been Catherine O’Hara’s year! Also, looks like Julia Louis-Dreyfus won’t be capping off her Veep career with one last trophy. 

Unbelievable is getting the kind of love it should, and for that we rejoice. However, we mourn the omission of Kathryn Hahn (Mrs. Fletcher), Niecy Nash (When They See Us), Octavia Spencer (Truth Be Told), and India Eisley (I Am The Night). 

Peter Dinklage probably feels like I did towards the end of Game of Thrones: rRobbed. 

I guess it’s not that surprising that Emma Thompson’s performance in Years and Years was overlooked. It wasn’t as buzzy as some of the other shows on this list, but that doesn’t mean you should sleep on it! And Laura Dern gave us some of the best memes of the year as Renata in Big Little Lies, and what does she get for it? Even more shocking is Gwyneth Paltrow being left off for The Politician. Maybe this is one role she’ll actually remember.