Secrets from the Golden Globes

It’s Friday, Oscar-nominations voting begins today, and I’m ruminating over one of the central questions of our age: If I’m dressing to topple the patriarchy, do I have to skip the fake eyelashes?

Hello from Los Angeles, where we’re getting to know the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, taking note of Guild nominations for some caped crusaders (hi there, Wonder Woman!), and looking ahead to a very unusual Golden Globes.

CROSSING OUR FINGERS FOR YOU, SETH

A lot of people have a tricky job to do on this Golden Globes weekend: the stylists pondering how to dress their clients for a #MeToo red carpet, the E! producers figuring out how to strike the right mood on a network people watch when they want to tune out all non-Kardashian realities, and Seth Meyers, the awards show’s host, who is so aware of the limitations of a straight, white, male M.C. in our newly awakened era that his late-night program has a regular segment called “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell.” V.F.’s Laura Bradleyspoke with Meyers ahead of his big night about how he plans to address the sexual harassment and assault allegations that have rocked the entertainment industry for the last three months. “Hollywood has a lot to ask itself this year, and so we need to address that and try to find the right tone,” Meyers told Bradley. “Hopefully we can talk about it in a way that is not just drawing attention to what was a huge bummer, but rather what this moment means going forward.”

GLOBE PLOTTER

Back in December, when the studios and agencies had shut down for the holidays, I found one office in L.A. a flurry of activity—the one belonging to Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Meher Tatna, who was busy preparing for this weekend’s ceremony. “It’s like 100 weddings in one,” Tatna told me. “The Globes are like a machine . . . We have a pre-show with Facebook, a post-show with Twitter, and then we have a Chinese platform coming this year. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking, I didn’t answer this e-mail—I better get back to this person.” In our interview, Tatna, a Mumbai-born journalist who took on the H.F.P.A. leadership role in June, swatted back at some of the criticisms lobbed at the organization of 90 international entertainment journalists who pick the Globes. The idea that the H.F.P.A. nominates films and TV shows based simply on luring the biggest stars to its show? “No. Otherwise we would have had Julia Roberts this year [for Wonder],” Tatna said. That they are won over by lavish gifts from studios? “We have a rule that no gifts in excess of $95 can be given to us,” Tatna said. Read my interview to learn how Tatna feels about Jada Pinkett Smith’s criticisms of the group, Ridley Scott’s hastily arranged screening for them, and the telecast’s unusually high stakes for the H.F.P.A. this year.

GUILDED LILIES

We’ve heard from the critics, now the Guilds are starting to weigh in on their favorites of the year, and it’s suddenly looking promising for a couple of superhero films. As V.F.’s Yohana Destawrites, the Producers Guild of America elevated Wonder Woman with its nomination for producers Charles Roven,Richard Suckle,Zack Snyder, and Deborah Snyder on Friday. On Thursday, the Writers Guild gave an adapted-screenplay nomination to James Mangold’sLogan, which should inspire Academy members who haven’t already done so to dig the gritty Wolverine movie out of their screener piles. The Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Guild has announced its picks, too, giving a healthy nudge to Darkest Hour and Wonder on the film side, and rewarding Saturday Night Live in TV. Variety’s Kris Tapleybreaks down the full list.

HOT TICKETS

-BAFTA Tea: Yes, it will be a hectic weekend of Golden Globes-related revelling. But if you take scones with your gossip, a key early stop is the BAFTA tea party happening Saturday at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills.

-Busy J.J. Abrams is hosting not one, but two screening parties, this weekend: on Friday for Amazon’s The Big Sick, together with The Last Jedi’s Laura Dern, and on Saturday for Brett Morgen’s National Geographic documentary Jane.

-On Wednesday, Vanity Fair and Focus Features are throwing a party for Paul Thomas Anderson’sPhantom Thread at the Chateau Marmont. This will obviously be the place to pitch your Daniel Day-Lewis–Tiffany Haddish buddy movie.

EARBUDS TIME

In this week’s episode of V.F.’s podcast Little Gold Men,Katey Rich interviews Mudbound director Dee Rees, Rich and Richard Lawson recap Tiffany Haddish’s scene-stealing New York Film Critics Circle acceptance speech, and the duo make their fearless Golden Globe predictions.

That’s the news for this week on the Hollywood and awards beat. Tell me what you’re seeing out there. Send tips, comments, valet-line gossip, big deals you overheard at the Polo Lounge, bad vibes you picked up on at Craft, and Beverly Hilton free ladies’-room makeup to [email protected]. Follow me on Twitter @thatrebecca.

Get Vanity Fair’s HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Rebecca KeeganRebecca Keegan is a Hollywood Correspondent for Vanity Fair.

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