Rich Polk/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images
The 81st Golden Globe Awards
A quick read of the reviews showed that TV critics weren't impressed with what they saw in CBS' new incarnation of the Golden Globes. Host Jo Koy in particular faced heavy criticism because the performance was generally unfunny and unsuccessful, revolving around Ricky Gervais-level insult-level material but never really getting anywhere. I can't really say what things looked like on TV, but I can say that it was fun in the room and the results that count in the Oscar race can only be seen as extremely significant, a collection of winners without a single embarrassment among them. That alone is a triumph given the history.
As for the return of the Globes themselves (under new management that includes Penske Media Corporation, Deadline's parent company), it felt like I was transported back to 2018 (pre-pandemic) in some sort of time machine , before the scandal, before …). -strikes, pre-implosion) that had taken me back to a Globes show where the audience is constantly mingling and talking among themselves, where no one really takes any of it seriously and where it was still a good time, something , which actually lives up to the claim of being “Hollywood’s party of the year”. I was left out of the Beverly Hilton Ballroom Globes ceremony last year for reasons only you know (as were most of my fellow experts), but we were welcomed back this year, and I have to say, it was a throwback to a Golden Globes Awards The film was rocky at times, searching for its true identity as it headed into the season. He was a welcome cog in the wheel of this crazy Oscar race, one with a truly crazy past that still seems strangely necessary after 81 years.
Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
Universal certainly seems to think so. Executives, stars and filmmakers from their phenomenal hit “Oppenheimer,” which was the night's big winner with five Globes including Best Motion Picture – Drama, partied late into the night at Tommy's in Beverly Hills. The studio is a perennial favorite, having won the Globes several times in the recent past, with “Green Book,” “1917,” “The Fablemans” and others winning Best Picture. Now they're back in the game in a big way with Oppenheimer, although not too unexpectedly. Oppenheimer has been relatively quiet on the awards circuit so far, but the Globes wins have catapulted him into the stratosphere, and a short sequel to the film, which is loaded with Critics Choice Awards nominations, is expected next weekend. In between are the SAG nominations, which will be announced on Wednesday, and a nomination for the cast would be a clear sign that everything is going smoothly leading up to the Oscars. Universal's specialty division Focus Features also picked up a couple of well-deserved wins for The Holdovers' Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph (the latter is on course for an Oscar this season).
Favorites like Maestro, Killers of the Flower Moon (with just one win for Lily Gladstone's main performance) and Barbie (perhaps too pink for her own good) disappointed, paving the way for Oppenheimer to cement his front-runner status in the next few weeks. Perhaps the film to watch as competition, at least based on its GG wins, is Poor Things, which won Best Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical and Best Actress, Comedy/Musical for its lead actress, Emma Stone. received. However, competitors can rest assured that none of last year's Globe Best Picture winners – “The Fablemans” and “The Banshees Of Inisherin” – have ever won an Oscar.
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie accept the film and box office awards for “Barbie” Rich Polk/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images
Whether it's a reliable Oscar precursor or not, in other words, “The Globes” appears to be well on its way to reclaiming its place in the season's pecking order. I noticed that on Sunday evening no one was really focused on the past scandals, but were in high spirits talking about everything other than the transgressions that effectively led to a boycott and dismissal of what had until then always been a key stop on the circuit , especially one with a decades-long Hollywood tradition. On Sunday, however, Sony CEO Tom Rothman spoke to us about the phenomenal success experienced by their romantic comedy Anyone But You, and A24's David Fenkel announced similar growing success for their drama The Iron Craw. Searchlight's Matthew Greenfield was there to talk about Sundance and their upcoming film Suncoast.
Justine Triet Best Screenplay – Film “Anatomy of a Fall” at the 81st Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 7, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images) Gilbert Flores/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images
Missing was the Hilton's immediate post-Globes party scene, which could include as many as six different studios hosting parties. There was only one event on site this year, hosted by music magazine Billboard. Netflix (who had a big night for beef) kept up the tradition with a lively and crowded event at Spago down the street and Universal across the street at Tommys with an equally crowded afterparty. Both were enough for me.
The bottom line is that voter turnout was remarkable. Hollywood was there, folks, even resistance leaders like ID publicist Kelly Bush Novak, who ran Christopher Nolan through the gauntlet. I mean, every time Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift show up (even though both are nominated at the Globes and have no chance of using that as a platform to advance to the Oscars), you have to think we're back to the glory days or that we're done with it, considering the Golden Globes were on suicide watch and even Tom Cruise was so upset with them that he returned his three statuettes (perhaps he wanted them back now?). The parade of stars from Ryan Gosling to Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Aniston to Margot Robbie, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and so on and so forth meant that there were few no-shows.
Nicholas Braun and Charles Melton at the 81st Golden Globe Awards (Photo by Alberto Rodriguez/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images)
One of the impressive winners was Cannes Palme d'Or winner “Anatomy Of A Fall,” which won not only Best Film (non-English language) but also Best Screenplay, beating heavyweights like “Killers of the Flower Moon”, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”. This showed me that the efforts to attract real international journalists had paid off and that the selection was serious and, above all, credible (I had predicted this particular surprise and was not disappointed, if only to show that it was it wasn't your father's Golden Globes). ). In fact, between the film awards and the TV awards, there wasn't a single moment of shock – at least as far as the winners were concerned.
Lee Sung Jin accepts the award for best television limited series, anthology series or film for “Beef” Rich Polk/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images
Speaking of the TV side of things, the Globes were actually downright respectable, if a little dull in their predictability. Succession dominated the drama series wins, The Bear won comedy and Beef took all the major limited series awards, while HBO, FX and Netflix had a very good night. Things were back to business as usual, as evidenced by the fact that there was a lot going on in the open bar in the back, the networking during the commercials was exceptional and the feeling that after everything that had already happened in the past few years , at least this awards show, for better or worse, provided a sense of normalcy that Hollywood craved at this particular moment.
The ratings for new networks CBS and Paramount+ will tell their own story, but for now the Golden Globes seem to be back on track, so are reports of their impending demise perhaps premature?