The 77th Golden Globes ceremony is behind us, giving us our first taste for what films and performances industry voters are truly drawn towards! What surprises did we see? What films are set up the best for future awards season success?
(See my previous winner predictions here!)
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
This wasn’t a surprise at all. It’s a similar situation as Supporting Actress last year where the frontrunner is up against two actors from the same film (in this case The Irishman), so vote-splitting very likely affected the outcome. It’s looking increasingly likely as though Pitt is on his way all the way to the Oscars for his first acting win…but there’s a long way to go!
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern, Marriage Story
I thought we were in for a close battle all awards season long between Dern and JLo, but Lopez absolutely needed to win this to stay in the race. This loss hurts her bad, and like Brad Pitt, I’d be surprised if Laura Dern does not storm all the way to Oscars glory.
Best Screenplay: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
I was secretly rooting for Parasite, but the frontrunner converted here to the surprise of nobody. With the Director category looking even more unsure at the moment, I expect Tarantino to own this category all season long, as they’ll want to reward him somewhere. The narrative that he’s never won Director could still come into play, but I expect Sony to push the fact that he is an Original Screenplay juggernaut in their narrative from now on.
Best Actor – Musical/Comedy: Taron Egerton, Rocketman
I lamented way back in June that Taron was fantastic in Rocketman but he’d have no shot at awards. Well, he didn’t end up being my favorite in this category, but he was still a pleasant surprise and could have a real shot at an Oscar nomination now! I don’t think he’ll be able to unseat Joaquin Phoenix (or even Adam Driver), but a nomination for him would be awesome. What a breath of fresh air this is after Rami Malek basically swept for a lip-sync caricature performance last year.
Best Actress – Musical/Comedy: Awkwafina, The Farewell
I was starting to get nervous as the ceremony drew closer that Ana De Armas could upset, but Awkwafina indeed converted her Oscar chance narrative into a win. She still has a bit of an uphill battle towards an Oscar nomination, but this is an important step towards that goal. I just hope A24 goes to bat for her and doesn’t throw her under the bus in favor of Uncut Gems, which has no shot at Oscars glory.
Best Actor – Drama: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Pretty obvious that this was gonna happen, since the HFPA adored the film and Phoenix was the best part. Joaquin was also surprisingly sweet during his acceptance speech, tearing up and appearing genuinely grateful while also calling for action in Australia and elsewhere. It was an endearing moment that could help shift any on-the-fence voters towards supporting him. Adam Driver isn’t completely dead in the water yet, but he’ll need to win big somewhere soon.
Best Actress – Drama: Renee Zellweger, Judy
Kinda boring, but also expected. I still contend that she is vulnerable here and just hasn’t had the competition yet. If a narrative can be built around Theron or ScarJo in the coming weeks, perhaps we could see an upset, but for now Zellweger is off to a great start en route to her second Oscar.
Best Director: Sam Mendes, 1917
Wow!! I personally thought Mendes was in 4th/5th in this category, but apparently they really loved 1917! It’s possible that the HFPA decided to reward him because they couldn’t give Roger Deakins an award instead, but they also seemed to genuinely love his film. Let’s not discount his work on the film, because it’s much more than a technical masterpiece: it’s a resonant thematic juggernaut as well, with subtle anti-war imagery interspersed in the chaos of war.
Best Picture – Musical/Comedy: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
This was another easy one. None of the other contenders really had the pedigree to challenge the Tarantino juggernaut. I briefly thought Rocketman could challenge it after the big Song and Actor wins, but sanity ruled the day and the Oscar frontrunner cemented itself here.
Best Picture – Drama: 1917
Personally I’m thrilled, because this was my favorite film in the category. I don’t have much to say about it except that you should all go see it when it goes wide this weekend!
WINNERS:
- 1917: The WWI film wasn’t expected to win anything except maybe Score, but it took home arguably the two biggest awards of the night! And it was the consensus 4th-5th choice in both categories!! This is HUGE for its Oscar chances; nominations are now all but guaranteed in both Picture and Director, and it now has a legitimate path to wins in both.
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Not to spook anybody or anything, but OUAT took home the exact same awards that Green Book did last year. I considered it the Oscar frontrunner before, and it just solidified that narrative tonight.
- Joker: It didn’t win Picture or Director, but it was abundantly clear all evening that the industry loved this film. Hildur took home a somewhat-surprising Globe for her score, and Joaquin of course brought the house down. Once again I will remind you all not to sleep on this film, because it’s coming for MANY categories at the Oscars.
- Ricky Gervais: I just want to say that his opening monologue had my jaw on the floor the entire time and he may never work in this town again. But boy do I hope he does, because nobody else on the planet has the balls to put Hollywood in their place like he just did.
LOSERS:
- The Irishman: I was correct that Scorsese’s film would be shut out at the Globes, and while its Oscars chances aren’t dead, it’s clearly not the frontrunner anymore (if it ever was).
- Marriage Story: Despite being the top-nominated film of the evening, Laura Dern was its only winner. The Director snub was a sign of things to come, it seems! I still think this film is slipping out of the top-tier conversation and needs to starting picking up some screenplay wins at the very least to stay relevant in anything besides the acting categories.
- Parasite: This is a very mild loss for Bong Joon-ho & company. The only award they won was the runaway category (Foreign Language), though to be fair the Director and Screenplay categories are hotly contested this year. I didn’t necessarily believe the film was the #1 frontrunner for BP, but this should solidify its place as a mid-tier contender. It still has a path to victory, but the fact that Bong couldn’t win in a competitive category was a bit of a blow.
What were your favorite wins of the night? Who got snubbed? Who would you have voted for? Sound off below!
Head over to the home page for reviews, awards season analysis and other film musings, including my lists of the Top 10 Movies of 2019 and Top 100 Films of the Decade! My BAFTA nominations reaction and Final Oscar Predictions will come later in the week. See you again soon!
-Austin Daniel
All image rights belong to the HFPA and the films’ respective studios/distributors.
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