by Nathaniel R
Screenshot from the Golden Globes
Did you watch the Golden Globes Sunday night? The show was (mostly) bereft of the kind of shocks we got in the pre-reform era but in a year where crystal Oscar balls are still foggy with possibility -- seriously, which film is going to win Best Picture? -- there was still inherent drama in the opening of envelopes. At least on the film side; the TV prizes were a complete snooze fest, merely rubber-stamping September's Emmy wins! Spreading the wealth should not be such a difficult concept for awards voters but we live in an age of monopolies and oligarchs so maybe abundance it's just not a vibe for the entertainment industry these days.
Emilia Perez (4 wins) and The Brutalist (3 wins) were all the rage with Globes voters. But did anyone else get a boost heading toward Oscar nominations?
Highlight of the Night
Demi Moore winning Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. I think I speak for a lot of Gen Xers when I say that hearing Demi talk about her long career and self-corroding perceptions that she was only a "Popcorn Actress" was hugely moving. I do wonder how deeply this played (or didn't play) with younger viewers who only know Demi from her post-superstar career. I don't have to wonder if this resonated with working actors in Hollywood (particularly the ones with long careers) because it's impossible to imagine that it didn't. That win and her speech bodes very well for her chances with both SAG and Oscar voters. Actors know this struggle, even the most successful ones.
Two Beautiful Surprises
I was overjoyed that Flow managed to win Best Animated Feature since the forthcoming Oscar will surely go to a CGI Big Studio offering since it always does.
Best Actress in a Drama went to Fernanda Torres in the Brazilian Oscar finalist I'm Still Here. By a stroke of good luck I had crossed that Walter Salles picture off my list of "still to see" movies just that morning. Torres gives a wonderful performance but I have to admit I was rooting for my goddess Nicole Kidman who bounced back from a run of bad performances with one of her all-time best! I fully believed that Angelina Jolie would win and now I wonder if people just aren't that jazzed about her work or if I'm projecting since I didn't care for Maria or her star turn myself.
Best Actress on Oscar nomination morning is a nailbiter (as previously discussed). It's almost as if no one at all is locked and the nominated 5 could be literally ANY combination of these 8 talents: Baptiste, Erivo, Gascon, Jolie, Kidman, Madison, Moore, and Torres. Which three will be left out? (Adams, Anderson, Swinton, and Zendaya will probably have to settle for the Globes as the peak of their awards run this time through).
Biggest Bummer
Another way the Globes have been neutered to be more like every other show (sigh) is that they now do the Career Achievement awards off air which robs us of a Viola Davis speech. BOO!
Good Host
Nikki Glaser lost her category "Stand Up Comedy Special" but she emerged as something of a winner anyway; it's not easy hosting awards shows as many many celebrity comics and actors who've face-planted can attest. She wisely kept her jokes inbetween the action as brief levity but they were consistently funny. Best bit? Surely the quickly abandoned "Pope-ular" musical number.
Complete List of Winners
Film, Drama The Brutalist
Film, Comedy or Musical Emilia Perez
"Cinematic or Box Office Achievement" Wicked
Director Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Actress, Drama Fernanda Torres, I'm Still Here
Actress, Comedy or Musical Demi Moore, The Substance
Actor, Drama Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Actor, Comedy or Musical Sebastian Stan, A Different Man
Leading Lady in a Supporting Actress Campaign Zoe Saldana, Emilia Perez
Leading Man in a Supporting Actor Campaign, Keiran Culkin, A Real Pain
Screenplay Conclave
Score Challengers
Song "El Mal" Emilia Perez
Animated Feature Flow (Latvia)
Foreign Film Emilia Perez (France)
Series, Drama Shôgun
Series, Comedy Hacks
Limited Series Baby Reindeer
Actress, Drama Anna Sawai, Shôgun
Actress, Comedy Jean Smart, Hacks
Actress, Limited Series Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country
Actor, Drama Hiroyuki Sanada, Shôgun
Actor, Comedy Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Actor, Limited Series Colin Farrell, The Penguin (the only winner who wasn't also celebrated at the Emmys. But that's only because The Penguin wasn't eligible at September's ceremony)
Supporting Actress any Series, Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer
Supporting Actor any Series, Tadanobu Asano, Shôgun (the only winner who lost at the Emmys -- Billy Crudup from The Morning Show took the Emmy)
Stand Up Comedy Special Ali Wong, Ali Wong: Single Lady
Off Air Wins
Cecil B DeMille Award Viola Davis
Carol Burnett Award Ted Danson