Golden Globes
At rehabbed Globes, 'The Fabelmans,' 'Banshees' triumph
The Golden Globes returned to the air Tuesday with a red carpet flush with celebrities, comedian Jerrod Carmichael as a hesitant emcee and top awards for Steven Spielberg's “The Fabelmans" and Martin McDonagh's “The Banshees of Inisherin,” as the beleaguered award show sought to rekindle its pre-pandemic and pre-scandal glamour.
Spielberg’s autobiographical coming-of-age film “The Fabelmans” won best drama film and the dark friendship tale “The Banshees of Inisherin,” captured best film, comedy or musical. “Abbott Elementary,” “White Lotus” and “House of the Dragon” led the TV awards.
The Globes’ would-be comeback ended like many Globes ceremonies before it: with a triumphant Spielberg. For the fifth time, one of Spielberg's films won a best picture Globe. Nominated 14 times by the Globes for best director, Spielberg also won the honor for the third time. He began by thanking his three sisters, his late father and his late mother, Leah Adler ( played by Michelle Williams in the film). “She is up there kvelling about this right now,” said Spielberg.
Carmichael kicked off the 80th Golden Globes from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, with little of the fanfare that usually opens such ceremonies. He plunged straight into the issues that drove the Globes off television and led much of the entertainment industry to boycott the Hollywood Foreign Press Association after the group was revealed to have no Black members. Carmichael opened by asking the crowd to “be a little quiet here."
“I am your host, Jerrod Carmichael,” said the “Rothaniel” comedian. “And I'll tell you why I'm here. I'm here 'cause I'm Black.
“I won't say they were a racist organization,” he continued before sitting on the stage. “But they didn't have a single Black member until George Floyd died. So do with that information what you will.”
McDonagh's “The Banshees of Inisherin” left with three awards, including best screenplay for McDonagh and best actor in a comedy for Colin Farrrell. Fourteen years earlier, Farrell won a Globe for McDonagh's “In Bruges,” which likewise paired him with Brendan Gleeson. In his remarks, Farrell thanked the playwright, his castmates, his kids and the film’s donkey, Jenny.
On a soggy night following punishing, prolonged rains that have lashed Southern California, the first award went to Ke Huy Quan, the former child star of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," for best supporting actor in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” A clearly emotional Quan, who had left acting years before directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert cast him in their multiverse tale, thanked them for his second act.
"More than 30 years later, two guys thought of me," said Quan. “They remembered that kid. And they gave me the opportunity to try again.”
Michelle Yeoh, the star of “Everything Everywhere At Once,” also won, for best actress in a comedy or musical. The Malaysian-born Yeoh was just the second female actor of Asian descent to win in the category, after her “Crazy Rich Asian” costar Awkwafina, who won for “The Farewell” in 2020. “Forty years,” the 60-year-old Yeoh said. “Not letting go of this.”
Possibly Yeoh's stiffest competition at the Academy Awards, Cate Blanchett of “Tár,” won best actress on the drama side. Blanchett, in production, wasn't in attendance to pick up her fourth Globe. (Also absent was Kevin Costner, best-actor winner in a drama series for “Yellowstone.” Presenter Regina Hall said he was sheltering in place in Santa Barbara due to flooding.)
Angela Bassett, a likely Oscar frontrunner, won best supporting actress for her performance in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."
“Weeping may come in the evening, but joy comes in the morning,” Bassett said, referencing the loss of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman.
Best actor was an upset. Austin Butler won for his performance in Baz Luhrmann's “Elvis." The favorite in the category has arguably been Brendan Fraser for “The Whale.” Ahead of the Globes, Fraser said he would not attend because "my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite.” In 2018, Fraser said he was groped in 2003 by longtime HFPA member Philip Berk. Berk, who is no longer an HFPA member, denied it.
Mike White's “The White Lotus” won for best limited or anthology series. Fresh off her dramatic finale, Jennifer Coolidge gave one of the night’s lengthiest and warmest speeches while accepting the best supporting actress in a limited series award.
“Even if this is the end, you sort of changed my life in a million different ways,” Coolidge told White. “My neighbors are speaking to me, things like that.”
The public school sitcom “Abbott Elementary” came in the lead TV nominee and took home three awards, including best comedy series. Quinta Brunson, the show's creator and star, won best actress in a comedy series, and Tyler James Williams won for his supporting role.
“It has resonated with the world in a way that I couldn't even have imagined it would have," said Brunson as she thanked the studios that backed her vision. “But let's be real. I did imagine it. That's why I sold it to you.”
Best drama series went to “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon.”
“Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu sensation “RRR, ” won best song over the likes of Rihanna and Taylor Swift.
The Globes were plunged into chaos shortly before a largely remote pandemic 2021 awards show when a Los Angeles Times report revealed that the HFPA, then numbering 87 members, had no Black members.
Stars and studios boycotted last year’s ceremony, which NBC opted not to televise, saying the HFPA needed time to make “meaningful reform.”
Tom Cruise, whose “Top Gun: Maverick” was nominated for best picture, drama, famously returned his three Golden Globe awards after the HFPA revelations. Mid-show Tuesday, Carmichael came out with three trophies he said he found backstage, and suggested they be traded for Shelly Miscavige, the wife of the leader of the Church of Scientology.
The HFPA pledged to reform, diversified its membership and changed some of the ways it operates. It now has 96 members, including six Black members, along with 103 nonmember voters. Billionaire Todd Boehly purchased the Globes and has begun turning the nonprofit group into a for-profit company.
Reaction to the Globe nominations last month was muted. But much of the industry turned out Tuesday. Eddie Murphy and Ryan Murphy received tributes. Sean Penn introduced a message from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“There will be no third World War," Zelenskyy said in a taped message, predicting Russia's defeat. "It is not a trilogy.”
When the Globes were on the brink, NBC reworked its Globes deal into a one-year contract and moved the show from Sunday to Tuesday. That meant the Globes were essentially put on a one-year audition to recapture its awards-season perch.
As it has for most award shows, Globes viewership has cratered. After 18.4 million watched the 2020 awards, the 2021 edition managed just 6.9 million, according to Nielsen. Still, the Globes remain a valuable marketing tool for awards contenders, propping up ads for films in the long stretch between the holidays and the Oscars, which air March 12, a year after “the slap.”
Accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Eddie Murphy said he knew the blueprint for longevity in show business: “Pay your taxes, mind your business, and keep Will Smith's wife's name out of your (expletive) mouth!”
1 year ago
Golden Globes announce nominations to a skeptical Hollywood
After widespread criticism forced the organization that puts on the Golden Globes to lose its televised award show and overhaul its membership, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association nevertheless went ahead announcing nominees for film and television awards on Monday despite a skeptical entertainment industry.
Just as it’s done for many years, the HFPA gathered reporters at the Beverly Hilton to announce its picks for the 79th Golden Globes. But this time, there was no nationally televised morning-show live spot or any immediate celebrity celebrations. Hollywood mostly shrugged.
The HFPA, which usually has a handful of movie stars make their announcement, turned instead to Snoop Dogg, who read the nominees behind sunglasses and a red hat during a live stream on the Globes' YouTube page. The majority of studios, public relations firms and A-list talent haven’t engaged much this year with the group, which dropped its usual requirement that films be submitted for consideration. Critics have said it's too soon for the HFPA to return to business as usual. Some would rather see the Globes be gone for good.
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But the press association tried to maintain its perch in awards season on Monday, spreading nominations around to the likes of Will Smith ("King Richard"), Kristen Stewart ("Spencer"), ”West Side Story" breakthrough Rachel Zegler, Leonardo DiCaprio ("Don't Look Up"), Denzel Washington ("The Tragedy of Macbeth"), Ben Affleck ("The Tender Bar") and Lady Gaga ("House of Gucci").
The nominees for best picture, drama, went to Jane Campion's gothic Western “The Power of the Dog,” Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic “Dune,” the family drama “CODA,” Reinaldo Marcus Green's tennis biopic “King Richard” and Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical “Belfast.”
The comedy or musical picks for best picture were: Adam McKay's apocalyptic comedy “Don't Look Up,” Paul Thomas Anderson's ‘70s ode to San Fernando Valley “Licorice Pizza,” Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” Lin-Manuel Miranda's “Tick, Tick ... Boom!” and Joe Wright's “Cyrano.”
“Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog” tied for the most nominations with seven apiece. Netflix dominated the film nominees with 17 nods in total. HBO's “Succession” led the TV side with five nominations, including nods for best drama and best actor in a drama series for recent New Yorker profile subject Jeremy Strong.
Normally, such honors would set off a flurry of delight from early-roused nominees and their studios — an awards triumph to be trumpeted on social media and in calls with reporters. On Monday morning, no nominee immediately celebrated — publicly, at least.
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The ress association claims that in the nine months since its 2021 show, it has remade itself. “HFPA 2.0,” recently elected president Helen Hoehne has said. The group has added a chief diversity officer; overhauled its board; inducted 21 new members, including six Black journalists; brought in the NAACP on a five-year partnership; and updated its code of conduct.
“This has been a year of change and reflection for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Hoehne said Monday.
All of that came after a Los Angeles Times’ expose detailed some of the HFPA’s unethical behavior and revealed that its 87 voting members didn’t include one Black journalist. Studios said they would boycott the Globes and more than 100 PR films said their clients wouldn’t participate until the HFPA swiftly implemented “profound and lasting change.” Tom Cruise returned his three Globes to the group’s headquarters.
NBC, the Globes’ longtime telecaster, has said it won’t air the 2022 Globes because “change of this magnitude takes time and work.” The Globes have still set a date of January 9 but haven’t shared any details about what kind of ceremony that would be.
The Critics Choice Awards have sought to fill the void, even seeking to secure the Globes' usual home at the Beverly Hilton for its telecast. That bid failed but the Critics Choice Awards will likewise take place on Jan. 9, airing on TBS and the CW. The Critics Choice Awards also announced their nominees Monday, with “Belfast” and “West Side Story” leading with 11 nods each.
Much of the Globes’ power has always resided in its lively telecast, regularly one of the most-watched non-sports broadcasts of the year. The Globes also serve as a promotional tool for many of the awards-hopefuls hitting theaters in December. But this year, few expect to see ads and TV commercials trumpeting a film’s Golden Globes nominations.
But there were also some signs that the Globes boycott was thawing. The Walt Disney Co. promoted “Cruella” nominations from both the Critics Choice Awards and the Globes.
3 years ago
Chloé Zhao is 2nd woman to win best director prize at Globes
Chloé Zhao became the second woman to win best director at the Golden Globes and the first female winner of Asian descent on a night in which her film “Nomadland” was crowned the top drama film.
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Golden Globes nominations could belong to Netflix
Whether anyone will attend the Golden Globes in person remains uncertain and improbable. But nominations to the 78th Globes will be announced Wednesday, nevertheless.
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'Fleabag,' 'Succession,' 'Chernobyl' win top Golden Globes
Real-life stories ruled the Golden Globe TV honors, as Olivia Colman's portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, Michelle Williams' turn as Broadway star Gwen Verdon and the nuclear disaster drama "Chernobyl" won top honors.
4 years ago
"1917," "Once Upon a Time ...in Hollywood" win Golden Globes
The 77th Golden Globes were meant to be a coronation for Netflix. Instead, a pair of big-screen epics took top honors Sunday, as Sam Mendes' technically dazzling World War I tale "1917" won best picture, drama, and Quentin Tarantino's radiant Los Angeles fable "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" won best film, comedy or musical.
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'Succession,' 'Parasite,' 'Fleabag' win at Golden Globes
Host Ricky Gervais opened the 77th Golden Globes by declaring movies irrelevant, pretending to confuse Joe Pesci for Baby Yoda, calling the Hollywood Foreign Press Association racist and declaring Netflix's takeover of Hollywood complete.
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Plenty of pink, puffy sleeves and shimmer at Golden Globes
There were plenty of pink, puffy sleeves and lots of white on the Golden Globes red carpet as the stars shimmered and shined Sunday on one of the season's biggest nights for fashion.
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