The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has bestowed their lifetime achievement award– the Cecil B. DeMille Award– on Woody Allen. What does this mean? For one thing, “Blue Jasmine” is now guaranteed a nomination for their Golden Globe Best Picture in Drama. “Blue Jasmine” isn’t a comedy or musical, that’s for sure. It’s about a woman slowly losing her mind. The HFPA is certainly not going to honor Woody and not lavish “Blue Jasmine” with awards. (Of course, they’re so weird, they might.)
With “Blue Jasmine” locked in, that automatically eliminates one slot of the five for the Globes in that category. It also takes away a slot for Best Director (Woody), Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), and maybe even Best Supporting Actress (Sally Hawkins). It’s not that “Blue Jasmine” wouldn’t have gotten all that anyway. But it’s weird to know it on September 15th. Because now the move will be on grab those four spots. And the HFPA will do what it can to encourage their wooing by the studios. That’s their main occupation.
So where do those four drama slots go? “Gravity” is a cinch dead on for HFPA– it’s Sandra Bullock, George Clooney and Warner Bros. (You can bet the National Board of Review’s Annie Schulhof has already chosen “Gravity,” too.) From there it’s hard to say. “August: Osage County” will go in their comedy-musical category. “The Butler,” I’m told, they’re not so keen on (and you draw your own conclusions). “12 Years A Slave” also doesn’t seem like a Golden Globe movie. (Ahem.)
That means the HFPA is waiting to see Martin Scorsese’s “Wolf of Wall Street,” and David O. Russell’s “American Hustle.” Because of the international connection they may not be able to sidestep “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.” They might be interested in “The Fifth Estate.” And “Philomena” is a possibility, or “Labor Day.” Because they’ve given the DeMille Award to a director with a current movie, the Golden Globes will attract more attention that usual this year.
Meantime, the HFPA is a 501 c 3 and must file annual Form 990s with the IRS. So far they’re a year behind schedule. The 2011-2012 has not shown up. The last Form 990 was stamped at the IRS in November 2011 for the preceding fiscal year. Last week their accountant told me he couldn’t discuss it with me, even though by law you must turn over your 990 upon request– it’s a public document. The press rep says they’ve filed with the IRS but they didn’t have it. I’ll keep you up to date on that.
PS The other looming question is whether or not Woody Allen will come to the Golden Globes in January. He’s never gone to the Oscars. He didn’t come in 1978 when “Annie Hall” won Best Picture. He only came in February 2002 as a favor to producer Laura Ziskin because 9-11 had happened, and he did a little stand up comedy to support New York in a time of crisis. I doubt he’ll make the trek to Los Angeles for the Globes.
