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Cinema Romantico retired its longstanding Who is the Golden Globes-iest Golden Globes nominee bit last year because, honestly, we thought this whole oft-enjoyable but unquestionably farcical annual excuse for Hollywood to throw its holiday office party by honoring excellence in film and television was dead. I would have sworn I saw Taylor Swift kill it with my own eyes. But no, the Globes, it turns out, are a little like college football’s Bahamas Bowl, nominally international, perpetually on shaky ground, seemingly dead and buried but then resurrected as something called the Xbox Bowl. So, welcome to the 2026 Xbox Golden Globes. And boy, did I find their nominations this year fascinating. Not from a What This Means for Award Season perspective, mind you, but from their own This is a Soiree of Celebrity perspective.
It might seem surprising that “Wicked: For More Money” was not nominated in the Best Picture Comedy or Musical category, but they did nominate its two stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in the acting categories and so the producers can cut to them throughout the broadcast and still maintain the movie’s never-ending marketing campaign which is what really matters. Glen Powell did not make the cut in one of the two Best Actor movie categories for “The Running Man,” but that’s because the Globes voters knew they could slot him in for “Chad Powers” in the TV actor category, and then that movie acting slot could be set aside for “The Smashing Machine’s” Dwayne Johnson in order to put him at a prominent table so he can laugh too hard at all the bad jokes to convey he is willing to play the game and would really, really, really like to be nominated for one of the real awards. If there is any genuine shock, it’s that Sydney Sweeney did not earn a nomination for “Christy.” But then, look who got that nomination instead: Julia Roberts for “After the Hunt.” And you’re damn right, she did.
Was she good in “After the Hunt?” I have no idea; I haven’t seen it yet; that’s not the point. The point is, the buzz on it has been bad, the reviews have been worse, no one has been discussing her as an awards contender, and yet, she finds herself with a nomination, nevertheless. Sydney Sweeney might be The Discourse Machine, but Julia Roberts is American royalty, our Princess of Wales, who is always invited to the party, irrefutably this year’s Golden Globes-iest. I’ll be happy to see her, whenever this thing airs, you can look up the date and time for the Xbox Golden Globes yourself.
