<p>Hollywood's award season kicks off Sunday at a very different Golden Globes, with a mainly virtual ceremony set to boost or dash the Oscars hopes of early frontrunners like "Nomadland" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7."</p>.<p>Usually a star-packed, laid-back party that draws Tinseltown's biggest names to a Beverly Hills hotel ballroom, this pandemic edition will be broadcast from two scaled-down venues in California and New York, with frontline and essential workers among the few in attendance.</p>.<p>Deprived of its usual glamour, the Globes -- which also honor the best in television -- remain a coveted prize, and a high-profile source of momentum in the run-up to the season-crowning Oscars, which were pushed back this year to April.</p>.<p>"Nomadland," Chloe Zhao's paean to a marginalized, older generation of Americans roaming the West in rundown vans, has long been viewed as a frontrunner for the Globes' top prize.</p>.<p>But it will face stiff competition from Aaron Sorkin's "Chicago 7," a courtroom drama about the city's anti-war riots in 1968 with a mouth-watering ensemble cast including Mark Rylance, Eddie Redmayne and Sacha Baron Cohen.</p>.<p>Both films are fueled by their timely themes of protest and joblessness.</p>.<p>"I think that it's likeliest between them," said The Hollywood Reporter's awards columnist Scott Feinberg.</p>.<p>"And then the spoiler, if something were to come out of left field, would probably be 'Promising Young Woman,' which is just unlike anything else in recent memory."</p>.<p>Its star Carey Mulligan -- playing a revenge-seeker who lurks at bars, feigning drunkenness to lure men into revealing their own misogyny -- is tipped by many to win best actress.</p>.<p>She will have to fend off Frances McDormand's grounded and nuanced turn alongside a cast of non-actors in "Nomadland," and Viola Davis' portrayal of a legendary 1920s crooner in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."</p>.<p>The other films vying for best drama, the night's final and most prestigious prize, are "Mank" -- David Fincher's ode to "Citizen Kane," which topped the overall nominations with six -- and "The Father" starring Anthony Hopkins.</p>.<p>Hopkins, who has never won a competitive Globe despite seven previous nominations, has been showered with praise for his harrowing portrayal of the onset of dementia.</p>.<p>But he is up against sentimental favorite Chadwick Boseman, the "Black Panther" star who died last August from cancer at age 43.</p>.<p>Boseman is nominated for his kinetic performance as a tragic young trumpet player opposite Davis in "Ma Rainey."</p>.<p>"This is his best part, and the backstory is that he knew this might be his last performance -- so that's kind of hard to resist," said Variety awards editor Tim Gray.</p>.<p>The race will be closely watched by groups including Time's Up, which this week slammed the Globes-awarding Hollywood Foreign Press Association for failing to admit a single Black member.</p>.<p>"Old news. New energy. #TimesUpGlobes," tweeted Black director Ava DuVernay.</p>.<p>The HFPA released a statement recognizing the need to "bring in Black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds."</p>.<p>The organization has voted for just one woman as best director -- and only ever nominated five women in the category before this year -- but "Nomadland" director Zhao could buck that trend.</p>.<p>The race to emulate Barbra Streisand's 1984 win for "Yentl" has two other contenders: Emerald Fennell ("Promising Young Woman") and Regina King ("One Night in Miami").</p>.<p>"This is a year when women have strong movies... that is good news, and deserving," said Deadline awards columnist Pete Hammond.</p>.<p>"But we'll see how it goes -- in the end, David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin, two white guys, may win."</p>.<p>Unlike the Oscars, the Globes split most movie categories into drama and "musical or comedy," with Baron Cohen's "Borat" sequel and the Disney+ film of hit musical "Hamilton" leading the latter fields.</p>.<p>Baron Cohen also has a best supporting actor nod for "Chicago 7," while the Globes offer "Hamilton" its best shot at film honors after the Oscars declared the taping of Broadway shows ineligible.</p>.<p>The A-list audience and nominees are expected to largely remain at home, accepting awards via videolink -- similar to the format of September's widely praised Emmys.</p>.<p>Comedian Tina Fey said that she and co-host Amy Poehler -- who will be on opposite coasts -- want to make the night "a fun hangout for people at home."</p>.<p>"It doesn't seem like a venue for political jokes," Fey said in a podcast hosted by journalist Jill Rappaport.</p>.<p>"The Life Ahead" director Edoardo Ponti told AFP he would be watching from his California home, while his mother and leading lady Sophia Loren remains in Switzerland.</p>.<p>"As soon as I know something, whatever happens, I'll communicate the news to her," Ponti said.</p>.<p>Their movie competes for best foreign language film, in a category featuring acclaimed Korean-American family drama "Minari," which is viewed by some as an outside Oscar best picture candidate.</p>.<p>The Globes ceremony is being held just five days before Oscars voting begins.</p>.<p>"Those wins will be fresh," said Gray.</p>.<p>"If you win a Golden Globe... it's a notice to Oscar voters -- you'd better see this film before you vote, because it's worth looking at."</p>
<p>Hollywood's award season kicks off Sunday at a very different Golden Globes, with a mainly virtual ceremony set to boost or dash the Oscars hopes of early frontrunners like "Nomadland" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7."</p>.<p>Usually a star-packed, laid-back party that draws Tinseltown's biggest names to a Beverly Hills hotel ballroom, this pandemic edition will be broadcast from two scaled-down venues in California and New York, with frontline and essential workers among the few in attendance.</p>.<p>Deprived of its usual glamour, the Globes -- which also honor the best in television -- remain a coveted prize, and a high-profile source of momentum in the run-up to the season-crowning Oscars, which were pushed back this year to April.</p>.<p>"Nomadland," Chloe Zhao's paean to a marginalized, older generation of Americans roaming the West in rundown vans, has long been viewed as a frontrunner for the Globes' top prize.</p>.<p>But it will face stiff competition from Aaron Sorkin's "Chicago 7," a courtroom drama about the city's anti-war riots in 1968 with a mouth-watering ensemble cast including Mark Rylance, Eddie Redmayne and Sacha Baron Cohen.</p>.<p>Both films are fueled by their timely themes of protest and joblessness.</p>.<p>"I think that it's likeliest between them," said The Hollywood Reporter's awards columnist Scott Feinberg.</p>.<p>"And then the spoiler, if something were to come out of left field, would probably be 'Promising Young Woman,' which is just unlike anything else in recent memory."</p>.<p>Its star Carey Mulligan -- playing a revenge-seeker who lurks at bars, feigning drunkenness to lure men into revealing their own misogyny -- is tipped by many to win best actress.</p>.<p>She will have to fend off Frances McDormand's grounded and nuanced turn alongside a cast of non-actors in "Nomadland," and Viola Davis' portrayal of a legendary 1920s crooner in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."</p>.<p>The other films vying for best drama, the night's final and most prestigious prize, are "Mank" -- David Fincher's ode to "Citizen Kane," which topped the overall nominations with six -- and "The Father" starring Anthony Hopkins.</p>.<p>Hopkins, who has never won a competitive Globe despite seven previous nominations, has been showered with praise for his harrowing portrayal of the onset of dementia.</p>.<p>But he is up against sentimental favorite Chadwick Boseman, the "Black Panther" star who died last August from cancer at age 43.</p>.<p>Boseman is nominated for his kinetic performance as a tragic young trumpet player opposite Davis in "Ma Rainey."</p>.<p>"This is his best part, and the backstory is that he knew this might be his last performance -- so that's kind of hard to resist," said Variety awards editor Tim Gray.</p>.<p>The race will be closely watched by groups including Time's Up, which this week slammed the Globes-awarding Hollywood Foreign Press Association for failing to admit a single Black member.</p>.<p>"Old news. New energy. #TimesUpGlobes," tweeted Black director Ava DuVernay.</p>.<p>The HFPA released a statement recognizing the need to "bring in Black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds."</p>.<p>The organization has voted for just one woman as best director -- and only ever nominated five women in the category before this year -- but "Nomadland" director Zhao could buck that trend.</p>.<p>The race to emulate Barbra Streisand's 1984 win for "Yentl" has two other contenders: Emerald Fennell ("Promising Young Woman") and Regina King ("One Night in Miami").</p>.<p>"This is a year when women have strong movies... that is good news, and deserving," said Deadline awards columnist Pete Hammond.</p>.<p>"But we'll see how it goes -- in the end, David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin, two white guys, may win."</p>.<p>Unlike the Oscars, the Globes split most movie categories into drama and "musical or comedy," with Baron Cohen's "Borat" sequel and the Disney+ film of hit musical "Hamilton" leading the latter fields.</p>.<p>Baron Cohen also has a best supporting actor nod for "Chicago 7," while the Globes offer "Hamilton" its best shot at film honors after the Oscars declared the taping of Broadway shows ineligible.</p>.<p>The A-list audience and nominees are expected to largely remain at home, accepting awards via videolink -- similar to the format of September's widely praised Emmys.</p>.<p>Comedian Tina Fey said that she and co-host Amy Poehler -- who will be on opposite coasts -- want to make the night "a fun hangout for people at home."</p>.<p>"It doesn't seem like a venue for political jokes," Fey said in a podcast hosted by journalist Jill Rappaport.</p>.<p>"The Life Ahead" director Edoardo Ponti told AFP he would be watching from his California home, while his mother and leading lady Sophia Loren remains in Switzerland.</p>.<p>"As soon as I know something, whatever happens, I'll communicate the news to her," Ponti said.</p>.<p>Their movie competes for best foreign language film, in a category featuring acclaimed Korean-American family drama "Minari," which is viewed by some as an outside Oscar best picture candidate.</p>.<p>The Globes ceremony is being held just five days before Oscars voting begins.</p>.<p>"Those wins will be fresh," said Gray.</p>.<p>"If you win a Golden Globe... it's a notice to Oscar voters -- you'd better see this film before you vote, because it's worth looking at."</p>