Despite controversy about the Hollywood Foreign Press nominating the A-list stars they want to appear at the event and voting for the ones who have lunch with them and that the whole thing is one big scam, the Golden Globes carry some weight in the showbiz awards world, second only to the Oscars in terms of prestige. Last night’s ceremony, hosted by “Tonight Show” star Jimmy Fallon.
Not many surprises in the film awards
For starters, the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture. “Moonlight” was awarded Best Motion Picture (Drama), while “La La Land” was awarded Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy).
The fact they include musicals in the name of the category suggests that the Hollywood Foreign Press have spent every year begging for a Golden Age throwback like “La La Land” to come along. Casey Affleck beat living legend Denzel Washington to Best Actor in a Drama for “Manchester by the Sea,” while Best Actress in the same category went to Isabelle Huppert for foreign Film “Elle” in favour of big Hollywood stars like Amy Adams and Natalie Portman.
“La La Land” is proving its awards buzz right already as Ryan Gosling was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, beating Hugh Grant and Colin Farrell, and Emma Stone beat awards magnet Meryl Streep to Best Actress. Also for “La La Land,” Damien Chazelle won the double whammy of Best Director and Best Screenplay.
Best Supporting Actor in a film (the Golden Globes, while separating lead acting categories into genres, incorporate all genres for supporting actors’ categories) went to “Kick-Ass” star Aaron Taylor-Johnson for “Nocturnal Animals,” while Best Supporting Actress went to Viola Davis for her latest racially-charged drama, “Fences.”
TV winners addressed #OscarsSoWhite controversy
The Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical Series went to Donald Glover for his role as Earn in his stellar urban sitcom “Atlanta,” which also won Best Comedy Series, beating out highbrow shows such as “Mozart in the Jungle” and “Veep,” as well as issues-based programming like “Transparent” and “Black-ish.” Speaking of “Black-ish,” the wonderful Tracee Ellis Ross won Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of Rainbow Johnson on the show, beating out the likes of TV royalty Sarah Jessica Parker and Emmy hoarder Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Billy Bob Thornton beat such popular TV talents as Rami Malek and Bob Odenkirk to the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his little-known Amazon Prime original “Goliath.” As for Best Actress, Claire Foy won for the expensive Netflix original “The Crown,” coming out on top when she was up against such fantastic talents as Keri Russell from “The Americans,” Winona Ryder from “Stranger Things,” and Evan Rachel Wood from HBO’s “Westworld.” Furthermore, “The Crown” also won Best Drama Series.
Unlike the Emmy Awards, “The People v. O.J. Simpson” did not dominate the Golden Globes’ miniseries categories. It did win the big daddy, Best Miniseries, and then Sarah Paulson (“American Horror Story”) took home the Best Actress in a Miniseries award. However, the acting wins for Tom Hiddleston (Best Actor), Hugh Laurie (Best Supporting Actor), and Olivia Colman (Best Supporting Actress) made their rival miniseries, espionage drama “The Night Manager” the one with the most wins.
Now for everything else
Unsurprisingly, awards-baiting Hollywood musical “La La Land” won both the Golden Globes for music: Best Original Score and Best Original Song (“City of Stars”), beating out the likes of Iggy Pop, Justin Timberlake and Stevie Wonder. “Zootopia” was named Best Animated Film, and the French film “Elle” was named Best Foreign Language Film.
