1. NETFLIX DOMINATED GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS: Streaming giant Netflix was the big winner Monday during the announcement of the nominees for the 77th Golden Globe Awards. The content provider picked-up a staggering 17 movie nominations—34 overall across TV and film—including six for Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, the most of any movie. Several other streaming services scored nominations, while notable snubs included the wildly popular Game of Thrones and, for direction, Greta Gerwig, who led the Little Women revival, which has received good reviews. In fact, women were entirely shut out of the direction category, though five male directors will be honored at the ceremony, which is set to take place on January 5, 2020 at the Beverly Hilton hotel. The New York Times: “‘The reveal here is a bias against female leadership,’ said Stacy L. Smith, an associate professor at the University of Southern California who studies the underrepresentation of women and minorities in Hollywood. The nominated directors were Quentin Tarantino, Todd Phillips, Sam Mendes, Bong Joon Ho, and Martin Scorsese.”
2. VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN NEW ZEALAND TURNED FATAL FOR SOME VISITORS: An unexpected volcanic eruption Monday on New Zealand’s White Island, which is popular with tourists, turned deadly, killing six people and wounding over a dozen others, authorities reported. The death toll is expected to rise. Slate: “Most of the people on the island at the time of the eruption were passengers on the cruise ship Ovation of the Seas… Some have already questioned why tourists were allowed access to the island, which had been experiencing an uptick in volcanic activity in recent weeks. The GeoNet agency, which monitors seismic and volcanic activity in New Zealand, raised the island’s alert level from 1 to 2 out of 5 in mid-November, according to the AP, after seeing an increase of sulfur dioxide gas and a slight strengthening of the volcanic tremor. But a raised alert has not always signaled an oncoming blast.”
3. EVENT ATTENDEES MAY SWIPE MORE THAN TOILETRIES FROM THEIR HOTEL ROOMS: Meeting and event planners losing sleep over the impact attendees will have on hotels likely will be dismayed to learn that some hotel guests are swiping much more than mini shampoo bottles and pens. A new study shows that mattresses often go missing and, in some cases, guests reportedly even have taken pieces of furniture from public areas of hotels. Travel + Leisure: “A study by Wellness Heaven revealed that about 4.2 percent of the 1,157 four and five-star hotels (634 four-star hoteliers and 523 five-star hoteliers) surveyed have reported their mattresses mysteriously going missing … But mattresses aren’t the only big ticket items that have gone missing, according to Wellness Heaven. According to the survey, in one case a grand piano was taken from a hotel in Italy.”