Newsletter: Oscar nominations arrive on Monday

The Golden Globes are over, and Ricky Gervais is probably back in England laughing and counting his money. The Directors Guild and Producers Guild revealed their slates of nominees this week, leaving just the motion picture academy as the last unknown. And that won’t be the case for long as Oscar nominations will be announced Monday morning.

Welcome to the Gold Standard, the newsletter from the Los Angeles Times that helps guide you through the ins and outs of the awards season leading up to the Oscars.

I’m Glenn Whipp, The Times’ awards columnist and your newsletter host.

‘1917’ and ‘Once Upon a Time’ get boost from Globes

Quentin Tarantino took the stage Sunday night at the 77th Golden Globes. Bong Joon Ho also gave a speech. Shockingly, Martin Scorsese did not. And the three great filmmakers watched and applauded as Sam Mendes first won the director honor and then the best picture drama prize for “1917,” a late-arriving war movie that, in a serendipitous turn for Universal Pictures’ marketing department, opens wide in theaters this weekend.

I broke down the movies and actors that received the biggest boosts from the Globes, as well as Netflix’s shocking showing. (The streamer won just a single prize from 17 film nominations.) With acting favorites Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”), Renée Zellweger (“Judy”), Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood”) and Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) all prevailing, the Globes may well have forecast the Oscars.

DGA and PGA provide mojo for ‘Jojo’

In an awards season version of Super Tuesday, the Producers Guild further confirmed the legitimacy of “1917” and provided fuel to a resurgent “Little Women,” while Directors Guild voters nominated the usual suspects and, surprisingly, Taika Waititi, offering more good news to devoted fans of the quirky Hitler comedy “Jojo Rabbit.”

With the precursor dust now settled, three movies — “Parasite,” “The Irishman” and “Jojo Rabbit” — managed to secure nominations from the four primary guilds: producers, directors, actors and writers.

“Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” likely would have pulled off the sweep as well, but the film was ineligible for the Writers Guild Awards because Quentin Tarantino is not a member.

The 92nd Academy Awards will be held Feb. 9, the earliest date ever.

(Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)

Earliest Oscars scrambles voters

As I mentioned earlier, Oscar nominations arrive Monday, setting the stage for the 92nd Academy Awards, which will be held Feb. 9, the earliest date ever.

Times film writer Josh Rottenberg talked to academy members who spent the holidays powering through movies in order to meet the academy’s early voting deadline.

“It was very rushed this year, and it was hard to watch over the holidays while traveling,” says Australian documentary filmmaker Eva Orner, who produced 2007’s Oscar winner “Taxi to the Dark Side.” “A lot of screeners came late in the second half of December. I actually like to unplug over holidays, so it was very difficult.”

I am writing this newsletter on a break from predicting the nominees in all 24 Oscar categories and, believe me, you haven’t lived until you’ve spent 20 minutes debating whether “Joker” or “Marriage Story” will slot in that fifth and final spot for film editing. (Fingers crossed, Jennifer Lame!)

Shortly after you read this — or, depending on the always precarious effects of massive amounts of caffeine, perhaps a bit later — those Oscar predictions should be online on The Times’ website. (They’ll run in the print edition of The Times on Saturday.)

And then, I’ll be back when the week is new and I’ll bring more ideas for you. (Sorry. “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” still lingers. The academy damn well better nominate Tom Hanks.) Anyway, yes, there will be much to discuss, snubs and surprises, outrages and elation. And we’ll sift through it all together.