The Golden Globes are my favourite of the big 3 that also consists of the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs. My interest in the latter severely declined when Stephen Fry stopped hosting, and while the Globes have indeed been better in terms of entertainment every time Ricky Gervais hosted them, they remain the mainstream awards with which my taste in film aligns the most. I’ll mention the best picture wins of Boyhood over Birdman, The Revenant over X and Three Billboards over The Shape of Water as major successes of the Hollywood Foreign Press’ award. This year, the Globes once again sprung up some surprises, so let’s explore a few of the highlights.
1. Bohemian Rhapsody wins Best Picture
The Queen and Freddy Mercury biopic was met with very mixed reception. Many high-profile critics completely slated it upon release, while viewers thought quite the opposite: they absolutely loved it! So now, the film is in IMDb’s Top 200 of highest rated movies of all time, but in the same time sports a worryingly low metascore of 49. This led to the question of whether or not it can bag any major awards – but any fears of that have been dispelled with its Best Picture (Drama) win at the Golden Globes. Among the choices, I’d say it was well deserved, and likewise refreshing to see the words of the ‘big-shot’ critics disproved.
2. Isle of Dogs fails to win Best Animated Film
It was a disappointing night for canines worldwide, as Wes Anderson’s love letter to our favourite pets (in case you haven’t noticed yet, please say ‘Isle of Dogs’ loudly a few times) lost the Best Animation award to… a Spider Man flick. Now, I’m not saying that Spidey’s success last year shouldn’t be celebrated, but maybe this award over Isle of Dogs is a step too far.
3. Palme d’Or winner fails to get Best Foreign Language Film… again
It’s always interesting to see how the winner of the biggest award offered by the Cannes festival fares a bunch of months later, at the mainstream awards. Of course, the type of cinema celebrated in the two categories of awards couldn’t be more different, but sometimes, every few years, tastes align and we have agreement. Not last year, though, when In The Fade triumphed over The Square. And not this year either, as Roma beat Shoplifters to the award.
4. A bad day at the office for Bradley Cooper
I’m 93.7% sure that the Best Picture winner at the Oscars will once again differ from that of the Golden Globes this year, and one of the favourites is still A Star is Born. It was the bookmakers’ favourite coming into the Globes evening, to, but it ended up only winning one award. No Best Picture, no Best Director or Actor for Bradley Cooper, no Best Actress for Lady Gaga. Just Best Original Song. I’m not complaining, I’m just surprised.
5. Mahershala Ali rocks it
Sometimes, winning an Oscar is all that an actor or actress wants, before they decide that they’ve done it all and retire into the semi-obscurity of questionable film roles. Not Mahershala Ali, who not so long after bagging a series of Best Actor prizes for his performance in Moonlight, gets another one. Sure, Supporting Actor this time around, but mind you, it wasn’t exactly a breeze, as he had to beat last year’s winner Sam Rockwell, Adam Driver and Timothee Chalamet for the globe.
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