How to watch Golden Globes movies
Before the glitzy Golden Globes on Monday, watch one (or two or three) of these 14 nominated movies this weekend.
The Golden Globes are about glitz and glamour with decked out movie stars giving fawning speeches – and in a normal year, if we’re lucky, a slightly drunken speech.
Sure, it’s the awards ceremony where the winners are decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organisation with dubious ethical practices and a teeny membership with only 87 people – many of whom couldn’t actually call themselves “press”.
But the Globes’ power lies in creating momentum for a movie or actor’s Oscar campaign, so the industry still shows up with smiles on.
And they did, including Europe-based stars who zoomed in despite the unforgiving time difference.
Nomadland won Best Picture Drama and Best Director for Chloe Zhao while The Crown cleaned up in the TV categories.
Borat Subsequent Film and Sacha Baron Cohen also walked away with two gongs.
Not every movie nominated for a Globe this year has any business being anywhere near an awards list (*ahem, The Prom*) but there is still a great selection among some of the more puzzling choices.
Whether you choose to pay any attention to what the Globes are deciding to recognise is between you and your god, but what you should be paying attention to are these great movies which were in the race in at least one category come Monday.
The story of famed real-life writer Herman J. Mankiewicz and his complex relationship with media mogul William Randolph Hearst is told in stunning black-and-white in David Fincher’s masterful, exacting film. Starring Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried and Charles Dance, it’s a story about hubris and betrayal set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, but with ringing contemporary resonance.
Watch it: Netflix
With a punchy, emotional core, this seemingly gentle family drama about a Korean-American immigrant family in 1980s rural America is a deeply personal project from writer/director Lee Isaac Chung who adapted it from his own childhood experiences. A generous story about belonging and dreams, Minari is extraordinary.
Watch it: In cinemas now
The intimacy of Nomadland’s story of Fern, a woman who chooses a van life on the road after her small-town collapses in the wake of the GFC, contrasts with the vast open spaces of the American landscape in Chloe Zhao’s graceful film. It’s an honest and ruminative movie with a beautiful lived-in quality.
Watch it: Nomadland returns to cinemas from March 4
RELATED: How Chloe Zhao captured the heart of America
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Carey Mulligan is on fire as a woman seeking justice for a crime committed against a close friend in this genre-busting, pop art-coloured film by Emerald Fennell. Provocative, thrilling and unpredictable, Promising Young Woman smartly delves into the wider complicity of sexual assaults.
Watch it: In cinemas now
You can always trust Aaron Sorkin to write a compelling courtroom drama, and when he’s working from the real-life case of seven civil rights activists being stitched up by an overzealous (at best) government, you know you’re going to be glued. And then throw in jaw-droppingly good performances from Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Rylance, well, that’s game over.
Watch it: Netflix
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD
You may not have expected Armando Iannucci, the creator of The Thick Of It and Veep, to do a Charles Dickens adaptation, but after you see his effort, you’ll be convinced he should do nothing else. With Dev Patel in the titular role and a supporting cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Benedict Wong and Hugh Laurie, it’s a colourful, manic and unconventional film.
Watch it: iTunes/Google Play
RELATED: Armando Iannucci on casting Dev Patel
This adaptation of August Wilson’s stage play about Ma Rainey, the real-life musician nicknamed the Mother of Blues, is fuelled by the complex power plays of a recording session, revealing the racial dynamics of black artists and white management. But what Ma Rainey will be remembered for is Chadwick Boseman’s aching performance as Levee.
Watch it: Netflix
SOUND OF METAL
As a rock drummer losing his hearing, Riz Ahmed proves there is no role he can’t conquer. Darius Marder’s visceral film uses clever sound design to draw audiences into the experience in a way you don’t get from a conventional film. Coupled with the strong performances from Ahmed and co-star Paul Raci, Sound Of Metal is worth the buzz.
Watch it: Amazon Prime Video
In the captivating and surprising Palm Springs, Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti star as Nyles and Sarah, wedding guests who also happen to be stuck in a never-ending time-loop. The rom-com injects freshness into staid genre with a hell of a lot of cheek and a touch of quantum physics. A winning, goofy and life-affirming story.
Watch it: Amazon Prime Video
RELATED: Palm Springs’ stars on that crazy ending
Look past the headlines about Sacha Baron Cohen crashing Mike Pence’s speech and Rudy Giuliani putting his hands down his pants in front of a young woman he just met, because the real story in the Borat sequel is that it has heart, a much gooier and more tender heart than you’d ever expect. Now that’s growth.
Watch it: Amazon Prime Video
With its delectable pastel-coloured aesthetic and making rhythmic use of Jane Austen’s writing, this adaptation of the story of the rich, vain Emma Woodhouse and her meddling ways is enlivened by Anya Taylor-Joy’s central performance. Director Autumn de Wilde also embraces the novel’s comedic spirit, which makes Emma a very amusing affair.
Watch it: Binge/Foxtel Now/Amazon Prime Video
If there’s anyone in the 21st century who’s equipped to earnestly parse the meaning of life, it’s those wizards at Pixar, who have made many a grown-up bawl with no dignity. Soul will do the same with its story about a jazz musician on the verge of his big break when he winds up The Great Before and befriends an existentialist soul who has given up on living even before it did it.
Watch it: Disney+
RELATED: Pixar’s Pete Docter is a master of making adults cry
Danish director Thomas Vinterberg reunites with Mads Mikkelsen in this film about a group of four friends who decide to shake up their malaise with an experiment: Keep a blood-alcohol level of 0.05 per cent to see if they can be a better version of themselves. An emotionally astute tragicomedy, it’s one of Mikkelsen’s best performances.
Watch it: In cinemas now
The confident directorial debut from Regina King reimagines the night of Cassius Clay’s victory over Sonny Liston and the gathering of Clay and three other prominent black Americans – Sam Cooke, Jim Brown and Malcolm X – during the charged civil rights era. It smartly wrestles with ideas about the responsibilities of those with power.
Watch it: Amazon Prime Video
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