Summary Hollywood's elite turned the red carpet black Sunday as they arrived at the Golden Globes.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Hollywood s elite turned the red carpet black Sunday as they arrived at the Golden Globes, the glitzy launch of the entertainment industry s awards season, with sexual harassment scandals casting a long shadow over the party.
Billed as the most raucous event in the showbiz calendar, the champagne-drenched Hollywood Foreign Press Association s annual prize-giving is a draw for filmmakers and actors looking to create some buzz ahead of the Oscars in March.
But this year s ceremony, seen as the first big opportunity for the industry to unite against a pervasive culture of sexual misconduct brought to light by the downfall of disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, may strike a more somber tone.
Actors and actresses turned out in black this year in solidarity with victims of Weinstein and numerous other figures exposed by the harassment and abuse scandal, including Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner and Dustin Hoffman.
"People are aware now of a power imbalance. It s led to abuse in our industry. (...) It s everywhere," Meryl Streep, who is vying for a Globe for her work in media drama "The Post," told E! network on the red carpet.
Streep, a three-time Oscar winner, said Hollywood s men and women now felt "emboldened to stand together in a thick, black line."
Viola Davis added: "It s all of these women just embracing their authentic voices and standing in solidarity with each other."
For Debra Birnbaum, executive editor for television at industry weekly Variety, "the deluge of sexual misconduct revelations has been the story of the year, so it s safe to predict that it will be the story of the night at the Golden Globes."
The ceremony at the Beverly Hilton -- the first for late night NBC funnyman Seth Meyers as host -- is not as reliable at predicting Oscars glory as the galas held by Hollywood s acting, producing and directing unions.
But it remains one of the most high-profile and glamorous events of the awards calendar and tends to generate more headlines for tipsy tributes and wacky one-liners.
Leading the pack this year is Guillermo del Toro s fantasy romance "The Shape of Water" with seven nominations, while "The Post" and "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" are tied for second, with six each.
Overall, 25 awards are given out -- 14 for movies and 11 for TV -- and, as usual, the 90-member HFPA has sprung more than a few surprises in the nominations, placing horror satire "Get Out" in the best comedy-musical category.
But there were no nominations at all for female filmmakers despite huge successes in 2017 for Greta Gerwig ("Lady Bird"), Patty Jenkins ("Wonder Woman"), Dee Rees ("Mudbound"), Kathryn Bigelow ("Detroit") and Sofia Coppola ("The Beguiled").
Critics interpreted the organization s nominations for Ridley Scott s kidnap drama "All the Money in the World" as implicit support for Hollywood s #MeToo social media campaign against sexual harassment.
Veteran actor Christopher Plummer ("The Sound of Music"), who was brought in as a last-minute replacement when Scott decided to expunge the disgraced Spacey from the movie, won a surprise nomination for best supporting actor.
While many fields are wide open, James Franco ("The Disaster Artist") is almost certain to win best actor in a musical/comedy movie, according to awards prediction website Gold Derby, ahead of Daniel Kaluuya ("Get Out").
The site expects Saoirse Ronan ("Lady Bird") to pip Margot Robbie ("I, Tonya") in the parallel race for best actresses for her acclaimed performance as a troubled teen.
On the small-screen, HBO s "Big Little Lies" leads with six nominations, followed by FX s "Feud: Bette and Joan," with four, and "The Handmaid s Tale," "Fargo," and "This Is Us" all picking up three nods apiece.
Gold Derby s Amanda Spears speculated that the harassment scandal could boost "Big Little Lies" star Shailene Woodley in the race for best supporting TV actress for her Emmy-nominated performance as a single mother raising a child born out of rape.
The star-studded roll call of presenters this year includes "Game of Thrones" duo Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington, as well as Penelope Cruz, "Wonder Woman" Gal Gadot, Hugh Grant and Chris Hemsworth.
