Comeback at Oscars for movies and stars snubbed at Golden Globes?

Bohemian Rhapsody lifted the major prizes, with actor Rami Malek winning best actor and the movie bagging best drama. PHOTO: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

LOS ANGELES - Next change: the Oscars. Could there be a backlash against, or comeback, for those who won or were snubbed at the Golden Globes?

This week, 7,902 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences cast their votes for nominees, with the Oscars to be given out on Feb 24.

Sunday's Globes ceremony was filled with upsets, with favourite A Star Is Born picking up only one trophy for best song while its stars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper were shunned for acting and directing honours.

But little-heralded Bohemian Rhapsody lifted the major prizes, with Rami Malek winning best actor and the movie bagging best drama.

According to trade publication Hollywood Reporter, with the voting for Oscar nominees starting on the day right after the Globes event, Sunday's results could sway how the Oscar decisions are made.

Could there be a swing against Bohemian Rhapsody, with its Globes triumph already drawing dissent from netizens?

Fans of Lady Gaga have threatened to "riot" after she lost to Glenn Close for best actress.

But Close's win could boost the veteran's chances, with talk that the six-time Oscar nominee could finally get her just rewards for an illustrious career in Hollywood.

Close certainly made her time on the Globes stage count when, in accepting her statuette, she reminded industry folk that she had been acting for 45 years and that her role in The Wife speaks to everyone who has lived in the shadows of other people.

Racial-issues film Green Book, which has been slammed by some as lightweight, won a Globe for best movie (musical/comedy), giving director Peter Farrelly a platform on Sunday to shut naysayers, and boost its Oscar chances.

"We all want the same things - we want love, we want happiness, we want to be treated equally. And that's not such a bad thing."

The New York Times noted that much of the awards season is about momentum, and it never hurts to be seen winning.

Academy members weighing the crowded best-actress race, for example, will have Sunday's terrific speeches from Close and Olivia Colman at the top of their minds.

British actress Colman - who won best actress in a comedy or musical - drew laughs when she said: "Cor blimey, thank you so much." Moments like those can make all the difference.

Film critic Alissa Wilkinson told the Vox portal: "So while they've probably watched the favourites by now, a Golden Globes win for an underdog might push a voter to give the film a look before submitting their ballot."

Both Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody have found more favour with audiences than with critics, which is exactly the sort of skew the Oscars would prefer.

Last summer, the academy infamously flirted with introducing an award for best popular film, an attempt to pull focus from the critically acclaimed but underseen movies that often comprise much of the best-picture lineup.

If Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody are nominated for the Oscars' top prize alongside A Star Is Born and Black Panther, the academy will be fielding its most populist slate in years.

At a time when the Oscar races often narrow, the Globes' unexpected choices have done their part to keep this season wide open.

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