Well the Golden Globes were certainly on brand, and not for all the usual reasons. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri and Lady Bird took home the top prizes for film while Big Little Lies, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and The Handmaid’s Tale won the main TV prizes. Not only were these all critically lauded pieces of entertainment, they all revolve around complex female-driven stories.
That was certainly in keeping with the tone of the night, as host Seth Meyers addressed the sexual assault/harassment issues head on throughout his opening monologue, and representation was a running theme throughout the night’s acceptance speeches and even from the presenters—Natalie Portman flatly introduced the “all-male nominees” for Best Director. And then of course Oprah Winfrey brought the house down with her rousing Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech, which tackled the #MeToo and #TIMESUP movements in striking fashion.
So yeah, it’s impossible to talk about this ceremony and not talk about what was on everyone’s minds, and for an awards show that’s very silly (the HFPA is kind of a joke), the 75th Golden Globes was a surprisingly engaging and at times downright inspirational affair.
As for the awards, Three Billboards had a very strong showing with Best Picture – Drama, Actress (Frances McDormand), Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell), and Screenplay (Martin McDonagh) while Lady Bird won Best Picture – Comedy and Actress for Saoirse Ronan. And The Shape of Water didn’t go home empty handed, as Guillermo del Toro won Best Director (and gave a tearjerking, heartfelt acceptance speech) and Alexandre Desplat won Best Score.
Now, the Golden Globes aren’t exactly a stayed and true Oscars predictor. They have no voter overlap and are selected by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which can sometimes make some pretty odd decisions (reminder: They nominated The Tourist for Best Motion Picture Musical/Comedy). However, given the timeline, they certainly have the ability to influence the race and raise the profiles of smaller or lagging contenders—Oscar voting officially begin a few days ago, so members of the Academy will be watching and could be swayed one way or the other simply be seeing how films/performers fare and who gives memorable acceptance speeches.
So how does this affect the state of the race? I’d say McDormand’s unforgettable speech may give her an edge, and ditto to del Toro for Best Director. Call Me by Your Name and Get Out‘s shut outs at the Globes aren’t a death knell, but they definitely suffered a lack of publicity here.
This is still one of the most unpredictable Oscar races in recent memory, but if the Oscars are anything like the Golden Globes in terms of addressing real-world issues affecting both the entertainment industry and the world at large, at least we’ll be in for an interesting and potentially insightful show.
Check out the full list of Golden Globes winners below.
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Call Me by Your Name
Dunkirk
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – WINNER
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
The Disaster Artist
Get Out
The Greatest Showman
I, Tonya
Lady Bird – WINNER
Best Motion Picture – Animated
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco – WINNER
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent
Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language
A Fantastic Woman – Chile
First They Killed My Father – Cambodia
In the Fade – Germany/France – WINNER
Loveless – Russia
The Square – Sweden/Germany/France
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jessica Chastain – Molly’s Game
Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – WINNER
Meryl Streep – The Post
Michelle Williams – All the Money in the World
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Timothee Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread
Tom Hanks – The Post
Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour – WINNER
Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Judi Dench – Victoria & Abdul
Helen Mirren – The Leisure Seeker
Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird – WINNER
Emma Stone – Battle of the Sexes
via Collider