Last night's Golden Globes ceremony was a delightfully brisk, fun affair anchored by hilarious vignettes from co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and full of a perfect blend of both deserved wins and surprising upsets -- and it appears America noticed: it was the highest-rated telecast of the ceremony in seven years.
Last week, I published my predictions on who would take home trophies. In the interest of accountability, let's examine what I got right, what I got wrong, and what it all means for the upcoming Oscar race. Keep in mind that there's no overlap in the voting bodies between the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Globes) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars), so we're examining these wins for the general mood of the Hollywood industry and not for any sort of direct correlation.
To be fair, I did admit that this award was pretty much a toss-up between these two frontrunners. And for most of the night, it appeared I had predicted correctly. "12 Years" lost every single award it was up for (Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Screenplay and Score), so the HFPA appeared to not be too enthused by the otherwise widely-acclaimed film. Color me (and everybody else) shocked, then, when they handed it the most important trophy of the night, despite having previously awarded Alfonso Cuarón of "Gravity" the Directing prize, an award that typically goes hand-in-hand with a Best Picture win. In the course of three hours, the HFPA singlehandedly turned "12 Years" from the biggest frontrunner into the biggest underdog, and made it simultaneously the biggest loser and the biggest winner of the night.
Earlier this year, Oscar season seemed like it would be a two-horse race between "12 Years" and "Gravity". Then "Gravity" started falling back a bit, admired more for its technical proficiency than its storytelling. Enter "Hustle", a late entry that has swooped in and started grabbing awards left and right. Now, Oscar season is still a two-horse race -- but it's between "12 Years" and "Hustle", with "Gravity" a fading third. The fact that "Hustle", unlike "12 Years", managed to nab a couple other wins last night, might give it the edge for the top prize this March.
Despite ultimately losing to "12 Years", "Gravity" still got the coveted Directors prize. This honor is often awarded to the director that voters perceive as having had the hardest job, rather than the one who ended up directing the best movie of the year (after all, that's what the Best Picture prize is for). So Cuarón rightly earned the voters' admiration for his years of painstakingly developing brand new technology. This race is still far from over, but Cuarón's chances of taking home the equivalent Oscar have just improved greatly.
I was clearly counting on a bit more HFPA love for "12 Years" last night. I did have McConaughey as my "Could Win", so I'm mollified that I got it half right. With ten actors nominated for Globes (between Drama and Comedy), it's inevitable that five of these men will lose out when the five Actor nominees are announced for the Oscars. Unfortunately, it looks like Robert Redford's refusal to campaign may indeed be hurting his chances. Don't be surprised to see him left off the ballot.
I can't take too much credit for this one. It was the biggest gimme of the night, and this was not the time the HFPA chose to make a shocking upset. Blanchett is still firmly the frontrunner for the Oscar, too.
It's easy to argue that Leo is one of the most under-awarded actors of his caliber. This is only his second Globe (after winning Best Actor, Drama for "The Aviator" in 2005) and he has yet to win an Oscar. He's lucky "Wolf" was (dubiously) submitted under Comedy, since he wouldn't have stood a chance of winning against McConaughey or Ejiofor. Unluckily for him, he will be competing against them at the Oscars. So while an Oscar win for his role in this extremely divisive film is unlikely, this probably at least guarantees him another nomination.
Half right again. I knew there was a chance the HFPA's adoration of "Hustle" would land Adams the prize, but I thought the voters' respect for Queen Meryl would clinch the victory in her favor. After being passed over here, Streep should be shaking in her boots about her Oscar chances. Blanchett, Sandra Bullock for "Gravity", Judi Dench for "Philomena" and Emma Thompson for "Saving Mr. Banks" are pretty much guaranteed to hold four of the five slots. The last is generally considered a battle between Adams and Streep, and with Adams winning here, it's likely that Streep could be left out in the cold. (Not that she really needs an eighteenth Oscar nomination...)
The second biggest no-brainer of the night after Blanchett. The attention Leto has received for his transformative performance as transgender AIDS victim Rayon hasn't lost a bit of steam since "Dallas" opened over seven weeks ago. You can count on him taking home the Oscar, too.
The first award presented at the ceremony last night previewed the HFPA's general disinterest in all things "12 Years"...until that confounding Best Picture trophy, that is. Nyong'o has been receiving universal accolades as the besieged but resilient slave Patsey, and many thought that with a recent win for "Silver Linings Playbook" under her belt, Lawrence would lose out to this captivating new talent. Not so. Lawrence's boozy, endlessly entertaining turn as a destructively bored housewife in "Hustle" landed the actress her second Globe in as many years. Only time will tell if AMPAS voters will lean in her favor, too. But if they do, she would only be the sixth person in history to receive two acting Oscars in back-to-back years, and the first woman to do it since Katharine Hepburn in 1968 and 1969.
Critics loved this quiet meditation on the intersection of love and technology, although with Scarlett Johnasson being deemed ineligible for her voice-only performance and Joaquin Phoenix eclipsed by the likes of McConaughey and Ejiofor, this was the film's best chance to earn a trophy. And sure enough, the HFPA gave the prize to this gem of a film over more universally awarded fare like "Hustle" and "12 Years". Don't necessarily consider this one a done deal yet, although AMPAS does recognize more writers than the HFPA (the former has ten nominees between two categories for Original and Adapted Screenplays, while the latter only has five nominees for both), which means Jonze has even better odds when it comes to the Oscars.
So, out of the 10 major awards, I got 6 completely right -- and of the categories I got wrong, I had picked the eventual winner as my potential upset in all 4 of them. Not too shabby!
Who were you pulling for last night? What did you think was the biggest shocker of the ceremony? Tweet us @Stagebuddy and let us know what you thought about the Golden Globes!
