The 81st Golden Globes kicked off Hollywood’s awards season on Sunday in chaotic and sloppy fashion, with host Jo Koy delivering a derailed monologue, winners appearing to take the ceremony seriously or not at all, and the awards were going to stop. a wide range of movies and television shows.
“Oppenheimer,” which entered the ceremony with eight nominations, emerged as the film to beat in the upcoming Oscar race, winning five Globes, including best drama, direction by Christopher Nolan and performance by Cillian Murphy. “Barbie,” “The Holdovers” and “Poor Things” also won major film awards.
These are the other main conclusions:
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The most nominated film, “Barbie,” which received mentions in nine categories, won two Globes, including best picture and box office achievement, a newly created award. Their other win was for best song.
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HBO’s “Succession” was the top television winner, as expected. The show picked up Globes for best drama, actress (Sarah Snook), actor (Kieran Culkin) and supporting actor (Matthew Macfadyen).
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“Poor Things,” a surreal sci-fi romance, won best motion picture, comedy or musical. Emma Stone, the film’s protagonist, received the Globe for best comedy actress, while Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) received the statuette for best comedy actor.
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Lily Gladstone won the Globe for best drama actress for her performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” becoming the first Indigenous person to win the award.
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Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”) was awarded best supporting actress. Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”) won best supporting actor.
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Netflix’s “Beef” and FX’s “The Bear” each won three Globes. “Beef” was named best limited series, and Ali Wong and Steven Yeun picked up Globes for their performances on the show. “The Bear” won the trophy for best comedy and two of its stars, Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White, were honored for their performances.
It was the first time the Hollywood establishment had met since the resolution of the twin union strikes that paralyzed the industry for much of last year. The Globes themselves were looking to turn the page, leaving behind an ethics, finance and diversity scandal that resulted in the sale of the show, a review of its voting body and a network change from NBC to CBS.
In recent years, the Golden Globes have become known for their speeches about causes and concerns, most of them progressive. Last year, the ceremony gave time to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke about his country’s war with Russia. This time, the host and winners seemed determined to stay away from politics, not to mention hot topics like the war between Israel and Hamas.
However, the more the Globes change, the more they seem to stay the same. As in the past, voters spread their awards far and wide; five films won at least two trophies. And, as in the past, there was at least one curveball: this year in the form of best screenplay, which went to the French film “Anatomy of a Fall.” Gold Derby, which compiles predictions from two dozen awards participants, had predicted that “Barbie” would win.
