Thank the lord for some awards shows coming into my life again! Coming off the heels of the earliest awards season in history last year, it feels like an eternity has passed before this one even began. But, and I’m sure many will agree with me, the Globes decided to start the official season off with chaos, and I was somewhat alright with it. Here’s my take on the big winners of the night along with all the shocking “upsets.”
Now, I’m not in any way saying I’m upset by this, more like surprised at Nomadland taking home best drama. I truly thought The Trial of the Chicago 7 had this in the bag! It’s perfect for these major awards bodies! But, most people must have felt the way I felt after watching Nomadland because it nabbed the top honor, along with its director, Chloe Zhao. I suppose I was disappointed with Palm Springs walking away empty-handed, but that’s mainly because it was the only film I had seen on the best comedy list! Neither of the Borat films have ever made it into my life, so I can’t really comment on whether or not it deserved the win along with Sascha Baron Cohen taking home the trophy for best actor in a comedy.
Something else that probably came as a bit of a shock to a lot of viewers, but actually made me quite happy, was Rosamund Pike winning for I Care A Lot! I feel that it’s especially shocking considering it was only available to the masses a couple weeks ago! I’m also getting the feeling that this is bad news for Baron’s co-star and new comer, Maria Bakalova, eeking out an Oscar nomination. Even though I would have preferred to see Anthony Hopkins or Riz Ahmed take home the trophy for best actor in a drama, there is no denying the powerhouse performance Chadwick Boseman delivered in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, so it was a lovely post-humous honor for him. Finally, the most shocking upset of the night for me had to go to the best actress in a drama winner Andra Day. The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a film I am actively avoiding because of how poorly it’s been reviewed, and there were just so many other strong films that could have had their leading lady take home the win for! I mean, obviously, I am super bummed it wasn’t Carey Mulligan for the fantastic Promising Young Woman, but there’s still time elsewhere in the races.
Truthfully, I am even more bummed that Promising Young Woman didn’t take home anything at all! I hope the rest of the awards season amends this oversight. Promising Young Woman wasn’t the only film to head home empty-handed though. It joined the ranks of Mank, The Father, and One Night in Miami! Jodie Foster made herself a pretty darn surprised winner when she nabbed best supporting actress for her turn in the tense film, The Mauritanian. In all fairness though, I consider that category to be pretty weak. It was a welcome win in my opinion! Minari was the foreign language winner and that makes me sad for Another Round, but I think it will have a better shot when Minari is eligible for the main acting and film categories as the season goes on.
In the world of television, there was a little bit of a shake-up, but The Crown handily won in basically every category it was nominated for! That means the show itself took home the trophy for best drama, while Emma Corrin, Josh O’Connor, and Gillian Anderson all won for their respective categories. Kudos to John Boyega for rounding out the drama section for his turn in Small Axe. Personally, I would have liked to see Dan Levy take it home, but Schitt’s Creek got all its love at the Emmy’s instead. That’s not to say the show walked away empty-handed! Schitt’s Creek did beat out Ted Lasso for best comedy, and Catherine O’Hara rightfully won for best actress in a comedy. I was very happy to see Jason Sudeikis take home the trophy for Ted Lasso, and his utter shock was the cherry on top!
Less surprising wins came from The Queen’s Gambit and Anya Taylor-Joy in the limited series space, and Mark Ruffalo also squeaked out a win in a stacked category that seemed like Ethan Hawkes to lose (and he did). I love me some Mark Ruffalo and I am currently watching This Much I Know is True, so I’m here for it! Overall, the television wins for the night seemed to be more in line with what I thought was going to happen. Not that I’ve watched all of these shows, but typically, especially in the world of sheltering in place, I will have definitely have heard if something is good or not. Because this is of course, the golden age of television.
Other than those handful of shocking wins, other moments that were fun included the stark contrast between what people were wearing. You’ve got elaborate gowns by almost everyone except for Jodie Foster in her designer PJs, and on the men’s side you go from Dan Levy’s suit to Jason Sudeikis’ tie-dye hoodie. Also, shout-out to Jeff Daniels for zooming in from a bedroom in a flannel shirt. He represents what quarantine is for me and I love him for that. Aside from the wardrobe, it was fun to see all of these celebrities try and cope with technology in the form of a muted acceptance speech from Daniel Kaluuya, to faces being right up in the camera, or stray pets walking by. I also loved seeing how much the other nominees really championed each others wins (Olivia Coleman is your biggest fan!). Finally, my favorite win reaction goes to Rosamund Pike, because as much as people weren’t expecting it, you could tell she definitely wasn’t expecting it!
Nothing about this show was normal by any means, but I will take what I can get in this ongoing pandemic. Up next, the Screen Actors Guild awards!