With the announcement of the 2019 Golden Globe nominees, award season is officially here, and everyone is casting their predictions about who will win, especially for Best Picture. Competition is stiff, and blockbusters will go head to head with the year’s most-loved indie films. See which indie titles are nominated for the Best Picture category, plus the actors and actresses nominated for their roles in indie films.
BLACKKKLANSMAN, Best Drama
A black man infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan. Sounds like an outrageous story, but that’s exactly what happened in the early 1970s. Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington), the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department, became the head of the local KKK chapter. His colleague, a Jewish man named Flip Zimmerman (played by Adam Driver), posed as him to attend in-person meetings. As the “Stallworth brothers,” they conspired to take down the hate group as the organization aimed to sanitize its violent message to appeal to the mainstream.
Director Spike Lee is the only visionary who could tell such a crazy, but true story — and with hints of comedy. Hear more from him and the stars in our exclusive interview.
In addition to the Best Picture, Drama, nomination, Lee is nominated for Best Director, Washington for Best Actor in a Drama and Driver for Best Supporting Actor.
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK, Best Drama
Love is the bedrock of the latest drama from Academy Award®-winning director Barry Jenkins (MOONLIGHT). Set in the racially divided 1970s, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK follows Tish (KiKi Layne), a newly engaged Harlem woman, as she races against the clock to prove her fiancé’s (Stephen James) innocence while carrying their firstborn child to term. They face a lot of hardships and injustices, but along the way, their families come together to support them. The cast shares more in our exclusive interview below.
In addition to the Best Picture, Drama, nomination, Jenkins is nominated for Best Screenplay, and Regina King, who plays Tish’s mom, is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. See IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK at AMC before the winners are announced at the Golden Globes.
THE FAVOURITE, Best Musical or Comedy
Yorgos Lanthimos, director of THE LOBSTER and THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER, brings his distinctive black comedy style to period piece THE FAVOURITE. The story, set in early 18th-century England, centers on the rivalry of two cousins competing to be court favorite of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), whose ill health and unpredictable temper make her difficult to please. Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) has been the Queen’s close friend, governing the country in her stead, until a charming new servant, Abigail (Emma Stone), shows up with a mission to take Sarah’s place and return to her aristocratic roots. Learn more about Stone’s character in our exclusive interview with the star.
The film is nominated for five Golden Globe awards, including Best Picture, Musical or Comedy; Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy (Colman); Best Supporting Actress (Weisz and Stone, competing in real life); and Best Screenplay. Get your tickets to THE FAVOURITE at an AMC near you today.
Best Actress
Indie films reign in the Best Actress, Drama, category with four nominations for roles in indie films.
Glenn Close’s performance as devoted Joan in THE WIFE is raw and understated. You understand and feel so much of what her character is feeling. (Even when she’s quiet, her eyes do the talking.)
Nicole Kidman transforms — physically and emotionally — into a broken, alcoholic, LAPD detective named Erin Bell in DESTROYER, a dramatic thriller-noir.
Melissa McCarthy showcases her serious side in CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?, based on the life and memoir of best-selling author turned forgery criminal Lee Israel.
Rosamund Pike stars as Marie Colvin, one of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time, in A PRIVATE WAR. Pike captures Colvin’s incredible life and fearless spirit on the frontlines of conflicts.
Elsie Fisher and Charlize Theron will compete with Olivia Colman (THE FAVOURITE) in the Best Actress, Musical or Comedy, category.
Newcomer Fisher stars in stand-up comedian Bo Burnham’s directorial debut, EIGHTH GRADE. She perfectly plays an introverted, awkward 13-year-old who’s about to enter high school.
Charlize Theron is an exhausted (and stubborn) mother of three, including a newborn, in TULLY.
Best Actor
Indie films also fare well in the Best Actor, Drama, category with three nominations for roles in indie films.
As we mentioned, John David Washington is nominated for his performance as Ron Stallworth in BLACKKKLANSMAN.
Lucas Hedges is also nominated in the category for BOY ERASED, in which he plays, with softness and sensitivity, a 19-year-old who’s outed to his religious parents and sent to a gay conversion therapy program.
Willem Dafoe receives the third indie film nomination for his portrayal of Vincent van Gogh in AT ETERNITY’S GATE. Dafoe is both heartbreaking and inspirational as the haunted artist.
In the Best Actor, Musical or Comedy, category, Robert Redford will compete for his role in THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN, his last film before retirement. Redford is back to his iconic gun-slingin’, smooth talkin’ self as real-life bank robber and escape artist Forrest Tucker.
