They may not have had lukewarm chardonnay on the tables, as nominee Jennifer Lawrence had predicted. But the had a bit of everything else: Some silliness, some seriousness, a bit of history, a few good jokes and many bad ones, loads of stars 鈥 and one Taylor Swift, who didn鈥檛 ascend the podium but still made her presence known as perhaps only Swift can.
One decisive trend emerged: In the , round one went to the 鈥渉eimer鈥 part. Christopher Nolan鈥檚 sweeping biopic 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥 dominated the evening, among its wins the prize for best drama, best director for Nolan, and best actor ( ) and supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.).
Greta Gerwig鈥檚 candy-coloured 鈥淏arbie,鈥 meanwhile, lost to upset victor 鈥淧oor Things鈥 in the comedy/musical category, but won the new cinematic and box office achievement award, as well as best song for Billie Eilish鈥檚 wistful 鈥淲hat Was I Made For.鈥
It would be unwise to count 鈥淏arbie鈥 out, but it was a disappointing night for her fans, and also for another fearsome force: Swifties. The pop superstar, who in sight, lost out on her fifth Globe nomination. But she , and later created a meme-worthy moment when she reacted with a seemingly icy glare to a joke about her by host Jo Koy.
Swift was not alone in her displeasure; at one point the jokes were falling flat enough for Koy to stop and explain that he鈥檇 had only 10 days to prepare.
The crowd laughed harder at Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig, who made an amusing bit of pretending 鈥 insisting 鈥 that the ceremony was 鈥渁 serious night.鈥 The joke was that few actually take the ceremony seriously. Noted presenter Mark Hamill: 鈥淚t's the only awards show with an open bar.鈥
But it was indeed a serious note that served as an emotional highpoint: Lily Gladstone, of 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon,鈥 of best actress in a drama, speaking in the Blackfeet language and reminding the crowd that there are still significant advances to be celebrated.
Some notable moments of the evening:
A BUMPY START
Koy got a few laughs with a joke about the lengthy 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥 saying, 鈥淚 needed another hour." But , it was clear that the comic needed something else: sharper jokes from the writers. Cameras caught negative reactions from celebs like Harrison Ford and Selena Gomez, and the 鈥淏arbie鈥 team did not appear amused when he noted that 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥 was based on serious material but their own film was based on "a plastic doll with big boobies.鈥
Koy sought to defend himself. 鈥淵o, I got the gig 10 days ago. You want a perfect monologue?" He added: 鈥淚 wrote some of these, and they鈥檙e the ones you鈥檙e laughing at.鈥
THEY鈥橰E NOT CALLED THAT...
When Da鈥橵ine Joy Randolph in 鈥淭he Holdovers,鈥 she duly thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Only problem: The HFPA is now defunct, and many in the audience responded audibly: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not called that.鈥
After several years of turmoil that followed the revelation that the HFPA had no Black members, the Golden Globes were acquired last year by Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions and turned into a for-profit venture.
Some 300 entertainment journalists now vote for the awards. Later, Randolph spoke about the vibe of the evening. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a party in there," she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a good time. We got through the pandemic. We stuck through our two strikes. There鈥檚 a sense of buzz in there.鈥
...AND HE WASN鈥橳 CALLED THAT
Winning an early award for best supporting actor, Downey Jr. told the crowd he had taken a beta-blocker, so 鈥渢his is going to be a breeze.鈥 He then , government official Lewis Strauss. 鈥淒ozens of folks have come up to me since the summertime saying that I was, I quote, 鈥榰nrecognizably subtle as Leonard Strauss,鈥欌 the actor said. 鈥淭o my fellow nominees, let鈥檚 not pretend this is a compliment.鈥
鈥楽UCCESSION鈥 SUCCEEDS SUCCESSFULLY
To nobody鈥檚 surprise, 鈥淪uccession,鈥 the HBO drama about the Roy family dynasty, had lots of success, winning best drama as well as major acting awards for Kieran Culkin, Matthew Macfadyen and Sarah Snook.
Macfadyen said he鈥檇 enjoyed every second of playing the 鈥渨eird and wonderful human grease stain鈥 that was Tom Wambsgans. Culkin, who played troubled son Roman Roy, told the crowd how he鈥檇 been nominated for a Golden Globe 20 years ago and never thought he'd be back, and playfully taunted his co-nominee, Pedro Pascal of 鈥淭he Last of Us," quipping: 鈥淪uck it, Pedro. Mine!鈥
And Snook, who played Shiv Roy, ascended the stage and said: 鈥淥h, wow. I was kind of hoping I didn鈥檛 have to get up. Kieran's usually better at these speeches, right? Don鈥檛 you want to get up instead?"
DON鈥橳 BE MEAN
Also on the TV side, Hulu鈥檚 kitchen-based 鈥淭he Bear鈥 won big 鈥 taking best comedy series. Jeremy Allen White won for the second time, and won her first Globe for her own lead performance, charming the ballroom crowd when she thanked the assistants of her agents and managers.
鈥淭o the people who answer my emails, you鈥檙e the real ones,鈥 she said, She added: 鈥淚f I forgot to thank you, I鈥檓 sorry. Unless you were mean or something. Okay, bye!鈥
IF LOOKS COULD KILL
When 鈥淏arbie鈥 won the new award for cinematic and box office achievement, it beat out the nominee many thought would win: 鈥淭aylor Swift: The Eras Tour."
Still, Swift, whose attendance was in question until her boyfriend, Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, was ruled inactive for the day's game against the Los Angeles Chargers, was a glamourous addition to the evening (Bruce Springsteen was there, too) in her custom Gucci gown.
The camera cut to her several times, but she was not happy when Koy joked that the difference between the Globes and the NFL was that the NFL had more reaction shots of Swift. She stared ahead and took a sip of her drink.
THE IMPORTANCE OF WORDS
It wasn鈥檛 far from anyone鈥檚 minds that Hollywood is emerging from , and one of the more clever presenter bits highlighted the importance of screenwriters. Daniel Kaluuya, Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld joked that they鈥檇 asked for their segment to be written not by writers but by studio executives. 鈥淲hat is up, Shameik,鈥 Kaluuya said, robotically. 鈥淣ot much, Daniel. How are you, Hailee?鈥 Moore said. 鈥淚 am relatable," Steinfeld said. The screenplay award they presented had a surprise winner: Justine Triet, writer-director of 鈥淎natomy of a Fall,鈥 beating out both 鈥淏arbie鈥 and 鈥淥ppenheimer.鈥
A HISTORIC WIN
The evening鈥檚 emotional highpoint came with the penultimate award, when best actress in a drama for Martin Scorsese's epic 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon,鈥 becoming the first Indigenous winner in the category. She opened her speech in the Blackfeet language, explaining backstage that "it was one of the more natural things I could do in the moment.鈥 In her speech, Gladstone, who played Osage community member Mollie Burkhart, pronounced her win historic and said: 鈥淭his is for every little rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native kid out there who has a dream, who is seeing themselves represented and our stories told 鈥 by ourselves, in our own words 鈥 with tremendous allies and tremendous trust from and with each other.鈥
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AP Entertainment Writers Maria Sherman and Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.
