by Nathaniel R
On of the funniest bits had Tina defying the split screen to stroke Amy's hair
Given the restrictions placed on Hollywood's most convivial hobnobbing boozy party things went as well as you could probably expect for the 78th Golden Globe Awards. The HFPA was wise to lean into something that always works (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler paired... although this time they were on different coasts) in a year where all the other things that make Globes night so fun, weren't really going to be there to lean into...
There were only two things that you might name as technical glitches. Surprise winner Daniel Kaluuya's acceptance was almost skipped entirely -- Laura Dern began thanking everyone on Kaluuya's behalf -- until his sound suddenly kicked in and he proclaimed that the show was doing him dirty. Thankfully the editors and producers quickly cut back to him for the speech. And were Catherine O'Hara and her husband trying a joke that just didn't land with his phone making so much noise beside her drowning her speech out? Or was that a larger technical problem?
As for a glitch that isn't technical but social... the subject of a recent revelation that none of the HFPA's 87 members are black was brought up multiple times on the pre-show (very awkwardly since pre-shows are generally fluffy and don't wear seriousness well) but found the right balance on the show itself with a funny pointed ribbing from Sterling K Brown and Susan Kelechi Watson (This Is Us) "It's great to be Black... back at the Globes" as well as three figureheads of the HFPA appearing to make a corporate statement that they'll be changing... though they didn't say how. (The HFPA currently has a very unusual and super specific system whereby only one journalist can represent each country... and those foreign journalists have to be living in Los Angeles and doing work for outlets in the country they're representing)
But otherwise the show was out to amuse and was reasonably successful. Still and all, the Golden Globes have never felt so much like attending a zoom meeting with celebrities instead of friends or co-workers.
the opening monologue icymi
The only difference is you're muted and can't participate.
The cutest touch, given the necessary separations, was the little glimpses we got of "breakout rooms" in which the nominees in the next category to be announced were talking amongs themselves as we headed to commericals. It was not unlike those camera glimpses on a usual Globes show of celebrities visiting each other's tables only this time, they were forced into sitting and visiting with their category alone. Our favourite of these was the Best Actresses in a Drama Series moment where they began to show each other their pets, with Sarah Paulson holding up a beautiful small black dog.
Once again the Globes reminded Oscar what they're missing in ditching their Honorary Oscars from the main broadcast. The HFPA's Carol Burnett Award (for TV) and the Cecil B DeMille award (for movies) went to 98 year old Norman Lear and the iconic Jane Fonda. The clip reels were well-edited and entertaining. Fonda's speech was highly unusual -- for this sort of thing -- in that she barely talked about her career or herself and instead made it about inclusivity in storytelling. Activism remains her primary passion.
To vary up the comedy, SNL's Maya Rudolph and Kenan Thompson performed a quite funny 'Globe Speech gone awry' bit and Barb (Annie Mumolo) & Star (Kristen Wiig) also stopped by to rave about shopping in Hollywood.
As for the winners, the Globes never fail to shock at least once during their annual evening. This time they did so thrice and with the theme of 'Movie Actresses'; ALL THREE MOVIE ACTRESS CATEGORIES NAMED VERY SURPRISING WINNERS. Otherwise, things weren't shocking at all (unless you count Kaluuya's supporting actor win which was a mild surprise but nothing like what happened in the actress categories).
It was a 'share the wealth kind of night' with no film winning more than two prizes. On television it was a different story with The Crown thoroughly dominating the proceedings with four wins (and with them, many repeat shots of Olivia Colman's smiling broadly to her device, ecstatic for her co-workers). The final season of Schitt's Creek, which had so dominated the Emmys, had to settle for just two prizes (Series and Actress) but with The Crown and Schitt's both winning, the Globes were a bit atypical in not fully embracing any brand new show. Of the new series only Ted Lasso won a Globe.
Our DVR malfunctioned (ARGH) so we won't be doing a few of the recap things we planned but we'll discuss the speeches and what this means for the Oscars tomorrow.
For now here's the winners list.
Movies
Chloe Zhao accepting Best Director
BEST PICTURE, DRAMA Nomadland
BEST PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
BEST DIRECTOR Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
BEST SCREENPLAY Aaron Sorkin, Trial of the Chicago 7
BEST ACTRESS DRAMA Andra Day, United States vs Billie Holiday
BEST ACTOR DRAMA Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
BEST ACTRESS COMEDY/MUSICAL Rosamund Pike, I Care a Lot
BEST ACTOR COMEDY/MUSICAL Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Jodie Foster, The Mauritanian
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari wins
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Soul
BEST ANIMATED FILM Soul
BEST ORIGINAL SONG Io Si (Seen), The Life Ahead
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM Minari
Television
The Queen's Gambit took two prizes
BEST MINISERIES OR MOVIE The Queen's Gambit
BEST SERIES, DRAMA The Crown
BEST SERIES, COMEDY Schitt's Creek
BEST ACTRESS, MINISERIES Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen's Gambit
BEST ACTOR, MINISERIES Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much is True
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES Emma Corrin, The Crown
BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES Josh O'Connor, The Crown
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Gillian Anderson, The Crown
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, John Boyega, Small Axe
Did you watch? If so what was your favourite bit?