All about Oscar

The Butler didn't do it: Golden Globe nominations sort out Oscar favorites

The Golden Globe nominations were announced early Thursday, and you know what that means, right?

No, not that snobbish film critics will start making jokes about the taste and intelligence of Hollywood Foreign Press Association members. (Truth to tell, we snooty cineastes never stop making jokes about that less-than-illustrious group – even though, I suspect, precious few of us would ever turn down an offer of membership.) Rather, it’s time for the pre-season prognostications to end, and the dead-serious Academy Award handicapping begins.

Let’s face it, when it comes to selecting the best and brightest of cinematic achievements in any given year – it’s always all about Oscar.

Because, let’s face it, when it comes to selecting the best and brightest of cinematic achievements in any given year – it’s always all about Oscar. Golden Globes doubtless matter a great deal to the folks who actually receive them. And even if they don’t, hey, the awards are nifty door prizes at what I’ve been told is a pretty wild and crazy, loose and boozy party. (You can judge for yourself when the Golden Globes show airs Jan. 12 on NBC.)

But for film critics, nonaffiliated showbiz journalists, and other Oscar handicappers on the outside looking in, the Globes serve primarily as portents to be analyzed during the protracted trudge toward the Academy Awards (which won’t be given out until – gasp! – March 2).

What follows are a few purely random and utterly subjective observations regarding this year’s Golden Globe nominations, all informed (if that’s the right word) by my years of experience as a semi-respectable film critic, and my decades as an unrepentant Golden Globes show viewer. (Yes: I am old enough to remember when Pia Zadora won an award, the Globes lost some of their luster.) And speaking of viewing: In addition to honoring cinematic excellence, the HFPA voters also honor achievements in television. But since the Golden Globes have demonstrated little or no influence on Emmy Awards – really, who cares?

LEADERS OF THE PACK: 12 Years a Slave dominated the Drama categories with seven nominations, while American Hustle grabbed an equal number of nods in the Comedy or Musical division. I think it’s reasonably safe to say that we now know at least two of the titles that will figure into the Best Picture mix when Academy Award nominations are announced Jan. 16.

BEING NOMINATED IS AN HONOR ALL BY ITSELF: Since the major Golden Globes are divided into separate categories for Drama and Musical or Comedy, requiring at least five nominees in each category – well, just say that, sometimes, it’s easy to spot the filler. For example: In the Drama division, Rush has been nominated for Best Picture, and co-star Daniel Bruhl received honorable mention as Best Supporting Actor. No, really.

PRIVILEDGED VIEW: It’s an open secret in the movie industry that some film critics’ organizations insist on announcing their year-end awards as early as possible, so they can claim bragging rights for influencing the Oscar race – by anointing early front-runners and/or turning dark horses into true contenders — and even “predicting” eventual Oscar winners. This season, however, there has been great weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth on the part of those reviewers who have had to cast their ballots without seeing The Wolf of Wall Street, which Martin Scorsese reportedly completed too late for Paramount to provide screenings (or DVD screeners) for critics in most major cities. (Before you ask: Houston critics won’t get their first look at the flick until next week.)

That The Butler was snubbed in all categories might suggest that members of the Hollywood Foreign Press aren’t terribly interested or sympathetic when it comes to embracing and/or rewarding a tale about the civil rights movement in America.

It’s obvious, however, that members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association got a sneak peek: Both Wolf and lead player Leonard Di Caprio scored Globe nominations in the Comedy or Musical category. Perhaps this might encourage some of those critics’ organizations to consider waiting just a tad longer next year?

THE BUTLER DIDN’T DO IT: Can’t say I was an enormous fan of Lee Daniels’ sincere yet facile historical pageant. But given the critical accolades it received in other quarters – and, yes, given Harvey Weinstein’s reputation for full-court-press awards-season politicking – I expected at least a few acting nominations. That The Butler was snubbed in all categories might suggest that members of the Hollywood Foreign Press aren’t terribly interested or sympathetic when it comes to embracing and/or rewarding a tale about the civil rights movement in America. On the other hand, it’s equally plausible that they just didn’t like the movie very much.

CONSPICUOUS BY THEIR ABSENCES: The HFPA voters also overlooked such other Oscar-buzzing options as August: Osage County (a no-show as Best Picture, despite acting nods for Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts), Martin Scorsese (absent from the Best Director finalists, even though his late-screening Wolf of Wall Street nabbed a Best Picture, Comedy or Musical nomination), Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer of Fruitvale Station -- and Best Actor nominee (for Captain Phillips) Tom Hanks, who couldn’t double-dip by also landing a Supporting Actor nomination for playing Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks.

ON THE OTHER HAND: Robert Redford’s Oscar prospects for All is Lost, viewed by some as dimming after the Screen Actors Guild shutout earlier this week, appear to have been revived by his Golden Globe nod. Likewise, Bruce Dern’s own Oscar campaign can only be helped by his Golden Globe nomination for Nebraska. Not so long ago, some “experts” were none-too-subtly suggesting that Dern should narrow his sights, and aim for consideration as a Supporting Actor hopeful. Dern rejected those suggestions. Events of recent days – he got a SAG nomination and an L.A. Film Critics Award as well as the Globe honor – indicate Dern took the right path.

COMEDY GOLD: Tina Fey will be back co-hosting the Golden Globes (along with Amy Poehler) next month. But she was not nominated for her work in the final season of 30 Rock. (A mere TV show, to be sure, but quite a popular one, I understand.) How many jokes about that do you think we’ll hear during the Jan. 12 awards telecast?

Emma Thompson, left, scored a Best Actress nomination for Saving Mr. Banks.

Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks

Fact.co.uk

Emma Thompson, left, scored a Best Actress nomination for Saving Mr. Banks.

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Music feature

Texas country star Cody Johnson's new album goes to 'Banks of Trinity'

Photo by Cameron Powell

Cody Johnson.

There's a moment at every Cody Johnson show where the Texas-born-and-bred country star asks the crowd, “How many of you tonight are watching me and this band live for the very first time?” he told The Associated Press. “And every night, I would say at least 80% of the crowd raises their hands.”

It's not the kind of reaction most veteran artists receive. “And I’m thinking, you know, 20 years is a long time to work for something. But when you see that … What’s the next 20 years look like?” he asks.

The rancher, rodeo competitor, and onetime prison guard started his two-decade career playing honky tonks and dive bars. That led to slow and steady growth for the country traditionalist, but in the last few years, something has shifted. He landed his fifth career No. 1 song with “The Fall.” He was named Entertainer of the Year at the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards, the show's highest honor. That was a month after he headlined Stagecoach Music Festival. For an artist with legions of fans, it looked like he was accessing new heights.

“I feel like I’m closing a book and I’m opening another one and it’s all blank pages,” he says of this period. “Let's get to the next chapter." On June 26, that new era began with the release of his latest album, Banks of the Trinity.

Traveling to the Banks of the Trinity
It hasn't been an easy road. Last fall, Johnson had to cancel a bunch of tour dates after upper respiratory and sinus infections caused a burst eardrum that required surgery — an intimidating medical procedure for anyone, but especially nerve-wracking for a musician. “I was scared,” he said simply. But “in a roundabout way, it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

It forced him to take three months off, which allowed him to be home during the birth of his son. It also rejuvenated his approach in the studio. Before the incident, he thought the album was complete. It was not. The additional time resulted in the inclusion of a few songs that now feel inextricable from the record: “Thank Somebody Country,” “Take Me Back (Leave Me There),” “Cricket on a Hook,” and the resilient “I Have” among them.

“What a blessing to have that kind of song fall in your lap when you’re kind of up against the ropes,” he says of the latter. “I mean, we thought we had the record done. It wasn’t done.”

A title track with real resonance
At the heart of Banks of the Trinity is its title track, which recalls Eagles' cover of “Seven Bridges Road” meets bluegrass and Southern gospel.

Lyrically, it's an ode to Johnson's childhood. “I grew up on the banks of the Trinity [River.] Fishing for catfish, not so much out of pleasure or sport but for necessity to put food in the freezer. Deer season for me was not a trophy thing,” he said.

And while that track inspires a feeling of nostalgia within the listener, he doesn't consider this album a throwback collection. He says it's about showcasing his evolving sonic diversity.

"The rest of the album for me is a musical journey from track one to track 16,” he said. “There’s a little bit of a flavor for everybody. It does kind of hit Motown. It does kind of hit bluegrass. It does hit progressive country. It does it old country. It does a little rock here and there.”

It's the result of a new kind of freedom, one that is at least partially due to his recent accomplishments, including taking home the top prize at the ACM Awards.

“I just did the thing that I’ve aspired to do in my career my entire life,” he says. “A really good place is a really good way to describe where I am.”

And now that the album is out, he's ready to take a breather.

“I will be shirtless with no shoes on a beach at an undisclosed location,” he jokes about the days after record release. “'Cause I have already done all the prep work. I've been working on this album for two years. I’ve done all of the interviews. I’ve shook all the hands. Me and my wife and kids are gonna disappear for 10 days and I’m gonna become, I guess, every Kenny Chesney song ever.”

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