- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
- Poland charges Russian over attack on Navalny ally: prosecutors
- Man City have rest 'advantage' in Arsenal showdown: Guardiola
- Maresca has 'no doubt' in Jackson as Chelsea's number nine
- EU chief announces 35 bn euro loan plan for Ukraine before winter
- From TikTok to Hollywood, the irresistible rise of Italy's Khaby Lame
- Verstappen punished for swearing in Singapore press conference
- Sri Lanka lead by 202 in first New Zealand Test
- Brook 'not too fussed' by England's batting in heavy Australia loss
- India's Ashwin 'happy' to embrace pressure
- A modern 'Trojan Horse': two days of mayhem in Lebanon
- Third of Burundi mpox cases in children under five: UN
- Man Utd appoint Foster + Partners to develop Old Trafford 'masterplan'
- French mayor sorry for 'no one died' remark over mass rape trial
- Mohamed Al-Fayed, outsider shunned by British high society
- Lawyers say 'monster' late Harrods owner abused dozens of women
- India in box seat after Bumrah takes four against Bangladesh
Golden Globes return after Hollywood boycott
The Golden Globes -- long known as Hollywood's favorite party, but rocked by recent scandals -- will attempt to stage a celebrity-filled comeback Tuesday, as films from Steven Spielberg's "The Fabelmans" to "Top Gun" and "Avatar" sequels compete for top honors.
The Globes traditionally play a key role in kick-starting the movie awards season, but were taken off air last year amid controversy over ethical lapses and a lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the Beverly Hills gala.
This year, following efforts to reform the HFPA -- which previously had no Black members -- NBC will broadcast the 80th Golden Globe Awards on a one-off basis, and invitations have been dispatched to Tinseltown's brightest stars.
A-listers expected in the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton include Spielberg, whose semi-autobiographical film is the favorite to win best drama, and Eddie Murphy, who will receive a career achievement award.
Comedian Jerrod Carmichael will host the ceremony, and Quentin Tarantino is among the night's presenters.
But many top nominees have not yet confirmed their attendance, and Deadline awards columnist Pete Hammond expects this year's Globes to be "different" from the glitzy, hard-partying, champagne-soaked bashes seen before Covid and industry boycotts interrupted the merrymaking.
"They are going to be muted. There's no after-parties to go to. There's none of that. They're not spending big bucks, the studios, on all of this," Hammond told AFP.
Those who walk the red carpet will be peppered with questions from journalists like "Do you feel comfortable being here?" and "Are you satisfied they've made all the changes?" he predicted.
"It's not going to be exclusively 'What are you wearing?'"
- Spielberg, Cruise, Cameron -
Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes movie awards are split between "drama" and "comedy or musical" categories.
On the drama side, "The Fabelmans" is up against last year's two biggest box office hits -- the blockbuster sequel "Top Gun: Maverick" starring Tom Cruise, and James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water."
"Tar," set in the cutthroat world of classical music, and rock-and-roll biopic "Elvis" could also spring surprises.
Their respective stars -- Cate Blanchett, who plays a ruthless conductor, and Austin Butler, stepping into Presley's blue suede shoes -- are frontrunners for drama acting prizes.
But "The Whale" nominee Brendan Fraser, who alleges he was once sexually assaulted by a former HFPA president, has ruled out attending Tuesday's gala.
Cruise, a producer on "Top Gun: Maverick," is also unlikely to attend, after he returned his three Globes to the HFPA in 2021 in protest at its behavior.
"The Banshees of Inisherin" holds the most overall nominations at this year's Globes, with eight, and is a favorite to win best comedy, as well as best comedy actor for Colin Farrell.
The movie about a shattered friendship on a remote Irish island will contend with surreal, multiverse-hopping sci-fi film "Everything Everywhere All At Once," which is seeking acting prizes for Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan.
- 'Scandal' -
In years past, success at the Globes was a potential bellwether for films hoping to win Oscars, and served as a valuable marketing tool.
Indeed, Academy voters will begin casting ballots for Oscar nominations on Thursday, just days after the Globes gala.
But recent controversies have muddied the waters.
The addition of more than 100 new, more racially diverse Globes voters, who are not full HFPA members, has made it even harder to predict who the enigmatic group of foreign journalists will reward.
While movie billboards and commercials boasting of Globes nominations have returned after last year's notable absence, few nominees have publicly thanked the HFPA.
According to Hammond, some in the industry privately yearn for the old Globes to return because the show is an important "cog in the wheel of awards season" which has "been around Hollywood for 80 years."
"You can't buy tradition," he said.
But rows over diversity, alleged corruption and lack of professionalism have "lessened" the Globes' sheen when it comes to influencing the Oscars, Hammond said.
"When every (Globes) story talks about the scandal... it doesn't make it as credible, I think, to the Oscar voters," he said.
S.Pimentel--PC