Author Archives: jjcwn

Golden Globe Award Nominations: 2025

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Best Motion Picture — Drama

Frankenstein
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Blue Moon
Bugonia
Marty Supreme
No Other Choice
Nouvelle Vague
One Battle After Another

Best Motion Picture — Non-English Language

It Was Just an Accident
No Other Choice
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sirat
The Voice of Hind Rajab

Best Motion Picture — Animated

Arco
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement

Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
KPop Demon Hunters
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning
Sinners
Weapons
Wicked: For Good
Zootopia 2

Best Director — Motion Picture

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Guillermo Del Toro, Frankenstein
Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident
Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Screenplay — Motion Picture

One Battle After Another
Marty Supreme
Sinners
It Was Just an Accident
Sentimental Value
Hamnet

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama

Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams
Oscar Isaac, Frankenstein
Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Jeremy Allen White, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama

Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Jennifer Lawrence, Die My Love
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Julia Roberts, After the Hunt
Tessa Thompson, Hedda
Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
George Clooney, Jay Kelly
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Lee Byung-Hun, No Other Choice
Jesse Plemons, Bugonia

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked: For Good
Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another
Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone, Bugonia

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
Paul Mescal, Hamnet
Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly
Stellan Skarsgard, Sentimental Value

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

Emily Blunt, The Smashing Machine
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan, Weapons
Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Original Score — Motion Picture

Frankenstein
Sinners
One Battle After Another
Sirat
Hamnet
F1

Best Original Song — Motion Picture

Avatar: Fire and Ash
KPop Demon Hunters
Sinners
Wicked: For Good
Wicked: For Good
Train Dreams

2026 Golden Globes nominations — TV categories

Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy

Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Hacks
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders in the Building
The Studio

Best Television Series — Drama

The Diplomat
The Pitt
Pluribus
Severance
Slow Horses
The White Lotus

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
Diego Luna, Andor
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Mark Ruffalo, Task
Adam Scott, Severance
Noah Wyle, The Pitt

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama

Kathy Bates, Matlock
Britt Lower, Severance
Helen Mirren, 1923
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Keri Russell, The Diplomat
Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus

Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture:

Adolescence
All Her Fault
The Beast In Me
Black Mirror
Dying for Sex
The Girlfriend

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy

Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Glen Powell, Chad Powers
Seth Rogen, The Studio
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy

Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face
Jenna Ortega, Wednesday
Jean Smart, Hacks

Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Television Series

Owen Cooper, Adolescence
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Walton Goggins, The White Lotus
Jason Isaacs, The White Lotus
Tramell Tillman, Severance
Ashley Walters, Adolescence

Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Television Series

Carrie Coon, The White Lotus
Erin Doherty, Adolescence
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Catherine O’Hara, The Studio
Parker Posey, The White Lotus
Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Jacob Elordi, The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Paul Giamatti, Black Mirror
Stephen Graham, Adolescence
Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Jude Law, Black Rabbit
Matthew Rhys, The Beast In Me

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Claire Danes, The Beast In Me
Rashida Jones, Black Mirror
Amanda Seyfried, Long Bright River
Sarah Snook, All Her Fault
Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex
Robing Wright, The Girlfriend

Best Stand-Up Comedian on Television

Bill Maher: Is Anyone Seeing This?
Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life
Kevin Hart: Acting My Age
Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts
Ricky Gervais: Mortality
Sarah Silverman: Postmortem

Amazon Prime Movie Review: Oh. What. Fun.

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The new streaming movie on Amazon Prime Video, “Oh. What. Fun.”, is a comedy about the holidays and the challenges a mother, Claire, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, faces every year to get everything ready for Christmas, along with her husband Nick, played by Denis Leary. There is the arrival of her three children, Sammy played by Dominic Sessa, Channing played by Felicity Jones, and Taylor played by Chloë Grace Moretz. An ongoing competition with her neighbor Jeanne, played by Jeanne Wang-Wasserman, over who has the best decorations both inside and especially the outside of their houses. Some scenes of this ongoing competition are funny, mainly the interactions between Claire and Jeanne as they try to top each other with decorations and Christmas gifts. One scene with Claire defying Jeanne’s request to not have giant Christmas balloons on her lawn this year was one of the better parts of this film.

The rest of this story has to do with Claire’s three children and their respective relationship problems. Taylor is a lesbian and has a major misunderstanding with her girlfriend, resulting in their breakup during their visit. Sammy was dumped by his wife, mainly over his lack of desire to ever find a job, and Channing and her husband Doug, played by Jason Schwartzman, are having ongoing marital problems during their Christmas visit.

One of the most impressive things about this above-average comedy is the long list of relevant and successful actors, most of them in relatively small parts, compared to their previous movie roles, proving again how difficult it is to get a great role and stay relevant in Hollywood. Felicity Jones hit some huge high points in her acting career with “On the Basis of Sex” (2018), and last year’s (way too long) “The Brutalist”. For Michelle Pfeiffer, this movie is one of her first leading roles in many years.

There is a “Home Alone” moment when the family was scheduled to see a local performance amnd Nick and his daughter Channing think that the other person is taking Claire in their car, and she is left behind, setting the stage for a long road trip when Claire out of anger and disgust just drives from Atlanta Georgia and winds up in Burbank California on the set of a daytime TV show, hosted by a woman named Zazzy Tims, played by Eva Longoria. This last part of this story, for the most part, does not work, and seems more like a gimmick than a logical end to a Christmas comedy movie like this.

The very low 35% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes are justified as this film misses the mark in too many areas, starting with the obvious, it’s just not funny enough. One of the harshest reviews is from Peter Travers: “Oh, What. Crap. This lump of coal in our holiday stocking entraps Michelle Pfeiffer and is flat, stilted, lazy and so stretched out with Xmas clichés that you want to scream, bah-humbug.” While I think that this is too harsh a review, unfortunately, there are too many reviews that are this negative. No comedy that is not funny enough can be recommended, so I rate this movie a solid pass.

Movie Review: Hamnet

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The new movie “Hamnet” is a fictional account of William Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, who died at age 11, and of Shakespeare’s relationship with his wife, Agnes, played by Jessie Buckley, and their three children, as the couple also had two daughters.

This story is a stark reminder of what life was like during the 1500s and 1600s, when there was very limited medical knowledge, and the majority of people lived in squalor and abject poverty – including Shakespeare and his entire family. Shakespeare’s wife gave birth without the help of any doctors, with her first birth alone in the woods. Her second birth was with a few relatives while giving birth to twins, a girl, Judith, played by Effie Linnen, and a boy, Hamnet, played by James Lintern.

The main part of this story was that William Shakespeare’s ambition to be a playwright was greater than his desire to be with his family, so Shakespeare, played by Paul Mescal, was constantly leaving for London to run his acting company. These absences became more depressing as this story continued, causing problems with his wife and especially his son, over time making Shakespeare’s constant leaving seem very cruel. Why get married and have children when you only care about writing and producing plays somewhere else? Why could Shakespeare’s family not travel with him to London? This idea was never considered in this story.

Shakespeare’s absences are speculation from the screenwriter and director Chloé Zhao, as there is no proof that Shakespeare abandoned his family for this writing and directing career in London. This is a fictional story that is well acted with powerful and emotional scenes that will very likely give actress Jessie Buckley an Oscar nomination, and, in my opinion, she will win for best actress this year.

This movie is very slow at times, and a little too long, it can be very depressing for a number of reasons, but the main reason to see this film is for the acting of Paul Mescal and mostly for Jessie Buckley. I agree with the high 86% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and give a solid recommendation for this film.