The Highs and Lows of the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards
This year’s Golden Globes was quite a mixed bag. On the one hand, it appears to finally be time for the HFPA to end their Ricky Gervais experiment. On the other hand, the winners were overall much better than last year. As I have written at length about what the Globes are and the nuances of this year’s races in all 25 categories, I will dive right in to my recap. I start with discussing the winners and then move on to reviewing the highs and lows of the telecast.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE FILM WINNERS
- 1917 is now a major player. Sam Mendes’s WWI epic doesn’t even get officially released in theaters until this coming Friday and it was one of the final films to be screened for critics and Hollywood insiders. Although it has been in the award conversations from early on due to its pedigreed cast and crew and its strong buzz, it was largely a question mark until recently. Now it has thrust itself into frontrunner status with big wins for Best Motion Picture — Drama and Best Director (Sam Mendes). This is especially impressive given how stacked the Best Director category was, with legends like Martin Scorcese and Quentin Tarantino and red hot Korean auteur Bong Joon-Ho. It will be interesting to see if the Academy follows the Globes in going gaga for 1917.
- The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, and The Two Popes had a really bad night … and Parasite and Marriage Story didn’t fare much better. The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, and The Two Popes combined had 11 nominations (including Best Picture nominations for each) yet went home entirely empty handed. That doesn’t bode well for their Oscar chances. If The Irishman gets similarly shut out at the Screen Actors Guild Awards it looks like it will be an Oscar also-ran (although it will surely get a bevy of nominations). Jojo Rabbit and The Two Popes, however, are on the fence and a win or two here could have gone a long way to raising their profile for Oscar voters (who are on their fourth day of their six-day voting period). The night’s nomination leader, Marriage Story, didn’t have a particularly great night, either. It went 1-for-6, winning only Best Supporting Actress for Laura Dern. And although Parasite won Best Foreign Language Film it lost the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards that could have raised its profile at a critical time.
- It’s looking like a 2017 redux with four predictable acting winners: Renee Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix, Laura Dern, and Brad Pitt. In 2018, we had competitive races in 3 of the 4 acting categories, with Rami Malek v. Christian Bale in Best Actor, Glenn Close v. Olivia Colman v. Lady Gaga in Best Actress, and Regina King v. Amy Adams in Best Supporting Actress. That was in stark contrast to 2017 when Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, and Allison Janney had the four acting categories locked down seemingly before awards season started. It looks like 2019 will be more like 2017, with Renee Zellweger (Judy), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Laura Dern (Marriage Story), and Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) starting with Globes wins and sweeping through Oscar night. They were deemed by many to be the four frontrunners and the lack of upsets tonight only strengthened that narrative.
- Taron Egerton and Awkwafina (as well as their respective films) got a major boost. Taron Egerton and Awkafina’s Golden Globes wins for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, respectively, were inspired choices and richly deserved wins. The wins gave a much needed boost to their films, Rocketman and The Farewell, which received great critical acclaim and overperformed at the box office when they were released in early summer but are hardly slam dunks for major Oscar nominations. Wins like this are also a strong argument for the Globes continuing to divide out the lead acting categories. Even though it creates endless category fraud (The Farewell is definitely more of a drama than a comedy) it allows the HFPA to highlight films and performances that they otherwise might not.
- A striking lack of diversity. Much ado was made about the complete lack of women in the Best Director and Best Screenplay categories when the nominations were announced. The winners tonight are going to do little to change this narrative of lack of inclusivity. Of all the winners, only Akwafina is a person of color (in fact, she is the first woman of Asian descent to win her category). Even Bong Joon-Ho lost Best Director, which many favored him to win. As usual, it was very white and very male. Hopefully the Academy can freshen things up a bit by giving Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Lulu Wang (The Farwell), Lupita Nyong’o (Us), and others some love.
[Note: Of the 14 film categories, I predicted 10 correctly, double my dismal showing of 5 from last year. I’m back, baby!]
NOTES ON THE TELEVISION WINNERS
The only two predictable things about the Golden Globe television awards is that the voters love fresh, new shows and the winners are almost always profoundly random. This year did not deviate much from that pattern. Here are some scattered thoughts:
- Fleabag and Chernobyl continue their domination. Both Amazon’s Fleabag and HBO’s Chernobyl dominated the Comedy and Limited Series categories at the Emmys last September and both continued their streak tonight, each winning the series award and an acting trophy. Let’s see if they can continue this streak at the SAG awards later this month.
- Succession is a real phenomenon. The buzz for HBO’s dark satire/family drama Succession has been building for months and it appears to have culminated in big wins in the Best Television Series — Drama and Best Actor in a Television Series — Drama for Brian Cox. It will be interesting to see if this trend translates into Emmy glory in September.
- Olivia Colman and Patricia Arquette are bona fide Golden Globes darlings. With 3 wins in the last 4 years across film and television categories (not to mention her epic Oscar upset last year), Olivia Colman has established herself as an awards season darling. Ditto for Patricia Arquette, who has 3 wins in the last 6 years across film and television categories. I wouldn’t have necessarily predicted either of them for this distinction, but here we are.
- A-listers aren’t the Globes magnet they used to be. Not only did Colman and Arquette triumph again, but they beat the likes of Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Helena Bonham Carter, and Toni Collette. This continues a recent trend of the Globes resisting their longstanding urge to throw gold at every A-lister they can find and anoint lesser-known character actors and up-and-comers. Although I would have loved to see Jennifer Aniston and Meryl Streep to triumph tonight, I am loving this trend.
- Ramy got a nice boost. Before tonight I had never heard of the Hulu comedy Ramy. I suspect I’m not the only one. The lead actor trophy for its star Ramy Youssef likely is going to go along way in raising the show’s profile. It’s always nice to see an underdog win.
[Note: Of the 11 television categories, I predicted 7 of the winners, correctly. This is up from 5 last year and given how the Globes television awards are notoriously scattershot, I am decently pleased with my performance.]
REVIEWING THE TELECAST
The Host. In each of his first four turns at hosting, Ricky Gervais was irreverent, offensive, and did not hold back at attacking the deepest hypocrisies of Hollywood directly to a room filled with its most powerful people. Sometimes it works better than others, but it was always entertaining. Until tonight. Rather than looking like a gleeful, mischievous little imp ready to rustle some feathers, Gervais looked bored, defensive, and highly irritated. Some of his jokes worked, but most covered overly predictable subject matter and went more for shock value than actual humor. The audience was clearly not amused and — for once — I wasn’t either. It’s time for the HFPA to end this experiment … and hopefully bring back Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
The Presenters. The Globes always have the biggest A-list presenters of all of the awards shows and tonight was no exception. As usual there were the puzzling moments (of all people, Pierce Brosnan presented twice?), questionable pairings (Kerry Washington and Ted Danson are not exactly the most natural pair), and the much-needed comic relief (Will Ferrell and Tiffany Haddish are always such a delight). None were really knockouts but awkward banter and “Wait, who is that?” moments were thankfully few and far between.
The Winners’ Speeches. Michelle Williams followed up her powerful speech at the Emmys with another impassioned plea for gender equality that was by far the night’s dramatic high point. Amusing speeches came from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Olivia Colman, and Brad Pitt. And weird speeches came from Renee Zellweger (who looked a bit uncomfortable being back in the spotlight after her long absence), Quentin Tarantino (who at least looked less hyped up on drugs than usual), and Joaquin Phoenix (seriously, if I have to sit through his speeches for the next few weeks I am going to pull my hair out).
The Lifetime Achievement Awards. It’s hard to believe that Tom Hanks has not won the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in film. But nevertheless, it took until tonight for him to get it. After a beautiful introduction by a poised-as-always Charlize Theron (whom Hanks gave one of her first acting jobs on his directorial debut That Thing You Do!), a truly astonishing clip package was shown that reminded anyone who had forgotten what an amazing big screen legacy he has. He then took the stage to give a lengthy but highly entertaining speech that paid tribute to his family, colleagues, and his role in film history. He also did a wonderful job of highlighting the many important women in front of and behind the camera who shaped his career and life. (Other Hollywood men take note, this is what being a supporter for women in Hollywood looks like.)
The second annual Carol Burnett Award for lifetime achievement in television went to Ellen DeGeneres, a recipient that is also hard to disagree with. After an impressive run on the stand-up circuit, she had a wildly popular 1990s sitcom that made history when she became the first lead on a television series to come out as gay, and has had a hugely popular daytime talk show since 2003. Ellen increasingly has a bit of a complicated legacy, as she continues to make tone deaf comments that show how out of touch she is with much of the fanbase that made her famous and as allegations that the workplace environments she creates are not nearly as friendly as she would lead you to believe. Nevertheless, she is a brilliant comedienne and a pioneer who changed the television landscape. This was highlighted beautifully during her introduction by Kate McKinnon, the openly lesbian Saturday Night Live star, who recounted the profound impact that DeGeneres had on her personally and professionally. Unfortunately, DeGeneres’s speech wasn’t quite the slam dunk it needed to be, as it featured great comic timing and appropriate humility, but was largely impersonal.
Well that’s it for now. Stay tuned as I blog throughout the rest of this incredibly hectic, condensed awards season.
*** FULL LIST OF WINNERS ***
THE MOTION PICTURE CATEGORIES
Best Motion Picture — Drama: 1917
Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama: Renee Zellweger, Judy
Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy: Awkwafina, The Farewell
Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy: Taron Egerton, Rocketman
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Director — Motion Picture: Sam Mendes, 1917
Best Screenplay — Motion Picture: Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Original Score — Motion Picture: Hildur Guonadottir, Joker
Best Original Song — Motion Picture: Elton John and Bernie Taupin, “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” Rocketman
Best Motion Picture — Animated: Missing Link
Best Motion Picture — Foreign Language: Parasite
THE TELEVISION CATEGORIES
Best Television Series — Drama: Succession (HBO)
Best Actress in a Television Series — Drama: Olivia Colman, The Crown (Netflix)
Best Actor in a Television Series — Drama: Brian Cox, Succession (HBO)
Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy: Fleabag (Amazon)
Best Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag (Amazon)
Best Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy: Ramy Youssef, Ramy (Hulu)
Best Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Chernobyl (HBO)
Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon (Fx)
Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Russell Crowe, The Loudest Voice (Showtime)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: Patricia Arquette, The Act (Hulu)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: Stellan Skarsgard, Chernobyl (HBO)
Check out my articles about the following Golden Globe nominated shows and films:
