Los Angeles (AFP)

Costumes, diamonds and champagne are de rigueur Sunday in Beverly Hills for the award ceremony of the Golden Globes, which open the race for film prizes in Hollywood, with the sights on the Oscars.

With 34 nominations in total between cinema and television, the Netflix video-on-demand platform is in pole position to win the bet, with an armada of stars in the cast.

The streaming giant, which started producing original content only six years ago, aligns two heavyweights in the category of best dramatic film.

"Marriage Story", which follows the tumultuous divorce between an actress played by Scarlett Johansson and her husband director, played by Adam Driver, came first in the nominations. He is just ahead of another Netflix-stamped feature, "The Irishman" political-mafia thriller by legendary Martin Scorsese, with five nominations, including one for Al Pacino.

"Netflix has pulled out all the stops in this dramatic film category and has a good chance" of winning, said Pete Hammond, price specialist for Deadline magazine.

"It would definitely mean a lot to Netflix," he said.

Netflix is ​​still in charge with "Les Deux Papes", an imaginary encounter between Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and his successor François (Jonathan Pryce) produced by the Brazilian Fernando Meirelles, in the running in four categories.

The Warner Bros. "Joker", with the impressive Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, and "1917" from Universal Studios, complete the list in this hotly contested category.

Side comedy - unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes distinguish the two categories -, Netflix succeeds in the feat of bringing back to the screen Eddie Murphy, always so whimsical in "Dolemite Is My Name".

However, he will find on his way the last Quentin Tarantino, "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood", with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.

With five nominations in all, Tarantino's film, an ode to Hollywood and the cinema of his childhood in Los Angeles, has clearly won over the jury of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which awards the prizes.

Last year, its 90 or so members had a hollow nose: all the Golden Globe award winners in the cinema category won an Oscar, with the exception of that of film music.

- Listening to the Oscars? -

The Golden Globes are among the most coveted awards in American cinema: they are a major indicator of films and actors with a good chance of obtaining the famous golden statuette of the Oscars.

Votes for the Oscar nominations are open until Tuesday, which could prompt members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to wait to see the Golden Globes before filling out their ballots.

In total, Netflix snatched 17 nominations for cinema. The platform also dominated television nominations with 17 selections, compared to 15 for its historic rival HBO.

"The Crown", a series on the British royal family, will defend the colors of Netflix in four categories.

But "The Morning Show", a series devoted to harassment in the media and produced by Apple for the launch of its new streaming service, could give it a hard time.

This year again, the Golden Globes were criticized for not having selected any woman from the list of directors.

"We do not vote according to the genre (of the director, editor's note). We vote according to the films and their merit", defended Mr. Soria after the nominations.

France will be represented at the Golden Globes by the historic drama "Portrait of the young girl on fire" by Céline Sciamma, in the category of best foreign language film.

"Les Misérables" by Ladj Ly, jury prize at the last Cannes festival, is also in the running.

But many believe that "Parasite", from South Korean Bong Joon-ho, the big winner at Cannes, should win in this category.

© 2020 AFP