'Beef" and 'Past Lives' garner Golden Globe nominations

Steven Yeun and Ali Wong (Beef) and Greta Lee (Past Lives) got Golden Globe nominations.

Two films with Asian American leads were among the nominees for the 2024 Golden Globes. The movies Beef and Past Lives expand Asian American characterizations beyond the typical stereotypes.

Past Lives, which is on most critics' lists of 2023's best movies, has two chances to win a Golden Globe for Best Drama Motion Picture and Best Foreign Language Motion Picture.

The romantic movie's lead actress, Greta Lee, earned a nod in the Best Actress in a Dramatic Motion Picture category.

In addition, the film won nominations for Celine Song for Best Director and her screenplay.

Unlike the Oscars which give awards to motion pictures only, and the Emmy's which award television projects, the Golden Globes hand out trophies to both mediums.

Netflix's dark comedy Beef was nominated Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television.

 It also won nominations for its leads Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, both of whom played against type. They both played heavily flawed characters who can show anger, be angry, obsessed, unpredictable and, at times, unlikeable. 

The pair are the first Asian actors to be nominated in the limited series category.

Charles Melton (Riverdale) received a supporting actor nomination for his role  in the romance film, May December, also a breakthrough for an Asian American actor.

Joe Hisaishi won a nomination as a composer for The Boy and the Heron, an animated film from Japan. The film also won a nomination in the Best Animated Feature category.

The Hollywood Foreign Journalists Association which came under fire for its lack of diversity, used to give out the awards. That body dissolved last summer amid the criticism and a boycott by actors. The awards was taken over by DCP and Eldridge DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns The Hollywood Reporter.

The Globes' commitment to diversity has led to this year where 72 of the 90 performance nomination slots went to non-Hispanic white people. However, it yet to be seen if those nominations turn into awards recogntion.

The films receiving the most nominations were blindingly White. Barbie, which garnered nine nominations. Oppenheimer has eight nominations. In the television categories, Succession has the most with nine.

“This has been a year of exciting change for the Golden Globes,” said Helen Hoehne, the Globes new president. “Not only are we starting a new partnership with CBS network, but our voting body has grown to 300 members from 75 countries, making the Golden Globes the most culturally diverse major awards body.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

HBO developing comedy of K-Town family

Greta Lee, left, and Jason Kim are the creative minds behind the proposed HBO series Ktown.

CRAZY RICH ASIANS' critical and box office success continues to send ripples throughout Hollywood, ground zero for America's pop culture.

HBO is the latest network to jump on the bandwagon. The network is developing a dark comedy featuring all Asian American leads.

The network that is home to Game of Thrones, The Sopranos and True Detective is developing a comedy series that takes place in Los Angeles' Koreatown titled - naturally - K-town. It is the creation of Jason Kim and Greta Lee,

Lee will also play Yumi, a self-proclaimed Brentwood Barbie who has rejected her Korean roots. She is part of the Kang family, K-town's power brokers.

Lee said, “Jason and I both have a lot of experiencing working with them [HBO], it’s a very comfy place for us,” according to Vulture.Kim currently serves as a producer on HBO’s comedy series Barry. He recently was a consulting producer for “Love” on Netflix, and prior to that was an executive story editor on HBO’s Girls, where Lee and Kim met when Lee had a role as Soojin.

If HBO likes the pilot and decides to make it part of their stable, K-town would become the first  series by the network starring Asian Americans.
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