Golden Globes 2018 Seth Meyers

2018 Golden Globe Winners

The Golden Globe Awards traditionally have a reputation as the biggest party in Hollywood, where celebrities often get sloppy drunk and everybody has a fun time. Coming off the turmoil of the past year, however, it’s little surprise that pretty much no one in the entertainment industry felt comfortable letting loose this time.

The somber tone of the ceremony this year was signaled right off the bat when nearly every single woman in the audience arrived wearing black, as a sign of solidarity against sexual discrimination, harassment, gender inequality, and objectification. Also, black is slimming, so that worked out for everybody. (My wife grimaced and told me to strike this line, but if all these celebrities really wanted to make a statement, wearing black couture dresses that they were probably inclined to wear anyway isn’t much of one.) The men also wore black, but that’s the color tuxedos usually come in regardless.

Jimmy Fallon hosted the Globes last year, so that makes this year time for his buddy Seth Meyers to follow his footsteps, as happens in many things. They seem to have a contract mandating as much. At least in theory, Meyers, who is far less afraid to get political with his material, was a good choice for this turbulent year.

As expected, his opening monologue was all about sexual misconduct scandals (singling out Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey in particular). He did a pretty good job with it and got in some good zingers, but it went on a bit too long. He stayed on that theme and only rarely branched out to go after Donald Trump or other potential targets. Because the Globes are a very efficiently run machine as far as scheduling goes, Meyers was little seen after the beginning of the show.

A number of other presenters and prize winners (including Oprah Winfrey, receiving a Cecile B. DeMille lifetime achievement award) got political in their speeches. How much tolerance you may have for that will depend on your own political leanings. (I’m already counting the seconds until a certain couple readers of ours start ranting about it in the Comments section.) Aside from Oprah (because who the hell would have the balls to say no to Oprah about anything?), the show gave few of them much time to dwell on it for long before the pressure to move on to the next award won out.

The big winners in the TV categories were entirely predictable, with female-led projects ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ and ‘Big Little Lies’ winning the drama, comedy, and limited series awards, respectively.

The movie side of things held more surprises. Early on, it looked like Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’ (which led the nominations) would claim an easy victory, especially when del Toro took Best Director. In the final moments, however, ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ swooped in and claimed the top prize of the night, Best Motion Picture – Drama. This is especially shocking given the Globes’ history of weirdly classifying any movie with so much as a single comedic moment into the “Musical or Comedy” category rather than Drama, and this film is loaded with more than enough dark comedy to put it there. Instead, Greta Gerwig’s ‘Lady Bird’ grabbed that trophy out of the hands of expected front-runners ‘The Disaster Artist’ or ‘Get Out’.

Whether the Golden Globes are really an effective predictor for the Oscars anymore is highly debatable, but I assume that their victories here will elevate both movies in the running for Oscar nominations, at the very least.

Random Observations

The most surreal moments of the evening occurred, first, when the real Tommy Wiseau was seen in the audience smiling as Seth Rogen called ‘The Room’ a bad movie. For a moment, I thought it might be James Franco doing a bit, but then the camera cut over to Franco at his own table. Later, Wiseau took the stage with him as Franco accepted the Best Actor award, and Franco had to block him from grabbing the microphone, as if Wiseau thought the victory was really his.

The antiquated and, in these days, borderline offensive tradition of naming a Miss Golden Globes teen model has been replaced by a new role called “Golden Globe Ambassador,” which offers a token message about social consciousness and has less cleavage on display, but still ultimately amounts to smiling and handing out trophies on stage. Dwayne Johnson’s daughter was the first to be given the job.

Natalie Portman made a very stinging dig at the fact that all the directing nominees were men. She didn’t look very impressed watching Guillermo del Toro thank his female collaborators.

Michelle Pfeiffer also really did not look very pleased to watch her husband, David E. Kelley, claim an award for ‘Big Little Lies’. I wonder what’s going on there.

My wife commented: “Sam Rockwell looks like he could play Gary Oldman in the Gary Oldman bio-pic.”

The network censors were very heavy-handed on the button during Frances McDormand’s (admittedly fiery, if scattershot) acceptance speech and actually bleeped her for saying “tectonic shift,” which I guess somebody misheard as being a different word. Strangely, I don’t recall this being an issue during any other speeches.

Best Motion Picture – Drama

  • ‘Call Me by Your Name’
  • ‘Dunkirk’
  • ‘The Post’
  • ‘The Shape of Water’
  • ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’

Winner: ‘Three Billboards’

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

  • ‘The Disaster Artist’
  • ‘Get Out’
  • ‘The Greatest Showman’
  • ‘I, Tonya’
  • ‘Lady Bird’

Winner: ‘Lady Bird’

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

  • Timothée Chalamet, ‘Call Me by Your Name’
  • Daniel Day-Lewis, ‘Phantom Thread’
  • Tom Hanks, ‘The Post’
  • Gary Oldman, ‘Darkest Hour’
  • Denzel Washington, ‘Roman J. Israel, Esq.’

Winner: Gary Oldman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

  • Jessica Chastain, ‘Molly’s Game’
  • Sally Hawkins, ‘The Shape of Water’
  • Frances McDormand, ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’
  • Meryl Streep, ‘The Post’
  • Michelle Williams, ‘All the Money in the World’

Winner: Frances McDormand

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

  • Steve Carell, ‘Battle of the Sexes’
  • Ansel Elgort, ‘Baby Driver’
  • James Franco, ‘The Disaster Artist’
  • Hugh Jackman, ‘The Greatest Showman’
  • Daniel Kaluuya, ‘Get Out’

Winner: James Franco

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

  • Judi Dench, ‘Victoria & Abdul’
  • Helen Mirren, ‘The Leisure Seeker’
  • Margot Robbie, ‘I, Tonya’
  • Saoirse Ronan, ‘Lady Bird’
  • Emma Stone, ‘Battle of the Sexes’

Winner: Saoirse Ronan

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role – Any Motion Picture

  • Willem Dafoe, ‘The Florida Project’
  • Armie Hammer, ‘Call Me by Your Name’
  • Richard Jenkins, ‘The Shape of Water’
  • Christopher Plummer, ‘All the Money in the World’
  • Sam Rockwell, ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’

Winner: Sam Rockwell

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role – Any Motion Picture

  • Mary J. Blige, ‘Mudbound’
  • Hong Chau, ‘Downsizing’
  • Allison Janney, ‘I, Tonya’
  • Laurie Metcalf, ‘Lady Bird’
  • Octavia Spencer, ‘The Shape of Water’

Winner: Allison Janney

Best Director – Motion Picture

  • Guillermo del Toro, ‘The Shape of Water’
  • Martin McDonagh, ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’
  • Christopher Nolan, ‘Dunkirk’
  • Ridley Scott, ‘All the Money in the World’
  • Steven Spielberg, ‘The Post’

Winner: Guillermo del Toro

Best Motion Picture – Animated

  • ‘The Boss Baby’
  • ‘The Breadwinner’
  • ‘Coco’
  • ‘Ferdinand’
  • ‘Loving Vincent’

Winner: ‘Coco’

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language

  • ‘A Fantastic Woman’, Chile
  • ‘First They Killed My Father’, Cambodia
  • ‘In the Fade’, Germany/France
  • ‘Loveless’, Russia
  • ‘The Square’, Sweden/Germany/France

Winner: ‘In the Fade’

Best Television Series – Drama

  • ‘The Crown’
  • ‘Game of Thrones’
  • ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
  • ‘Stranger Things’
  • ‘This Is Us’

Winner: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

  • ‘Black-ish’
  • ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’
  • ‘Master of None’
  • ‘SMILF’
  • ‘Will & Grace’

Winner: ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

  • ‘Big Little Lies’
  • ‘Fargo’
  • ‘Feud: Bette and Joan’
  • ‘The Sinner’
  • ‘Top of the Lake: China Girl’

Winner: ‘Big Little Lies’

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

  • Jason Bateman, ‘Ozark’
  • Sterling K. Brown, ‘This Is Us’
  • Freddie Highmore, ‘The Good Doctor’
  • Bob Odenkirk, ‘Better Call Saul’
  • Liev Schreiber, ‘Ray Donovan’

Winner: Sterling K. Brown

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama

  • Caitriona Balfe, ‘Outlander’
  • Claire Foy, ‘The Crown’
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, ‘The Deuce’
  • Katherine Langford, ’13 Reasons Why’
  • Elisabeth Moss, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

Winner: Elisabeth Moss

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

  • Anthony Anderson, ‘Black-ish’
  • Aziz Ansari, ‘Master of None’
  • Kevin Bacon, ‘I Love Dick’
  • William H. Macy, ‘Shameless’
  • Eric McCormack, ‘Will & Grace’

Winner: Aziz Ansari

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

  • Alison Brie, ‘GLOW’
  • Rachel Brosnahan, ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’
  • Issa Rae, ‘Insecure’
  • Frankie Shaw, ‘SMILF’
  • Pamela Adlon, ‘Better Things’

Winner: Rachel Brosnahan

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture for Television

  • Robert De Niro, ‘The Wizard of Lies’
  • Jude Law, ‘The Young Pope’
  • Kyle MacLachlan, ‘Twin Peaks’
  • Ewan McGregor, ‘Fargo’
  • Geoffrey Rush, ‘Genius’

Winner: Ewan McGregor

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture for Television

  • Jessica Biel, ‘The Sinner’
  • Nicole Kidman, ‘Big Little Lies’
  • Jessica Lange, ‘Feud: Bette and Joan’
  • Susan Sarandon, ‘Feud: Bette and Joan’
  • Reese Witherspoon, ‘Big Little Lies’

Winner: Nicole Kidman

For the complete list of nominees and winners, go to the official Golden Globes web site.

36 comments

  1. Alex

    So, have we all just decided that Christopher Nolan is going to pull a Hitchcock and be the best director of this generation who consistently gets shut out of awards?

    Admittedly, I haven’t seen the The Shape of Water, but Dunkirk was an absolute miracle of both directing and editing.

  2. DH

    Three Billboards was easily the worst of the nominated films. I can’t believe people are falling all over themselves for such garbage.

  3. Timcharger

    Don’t take my leftover cheeseburger, butler-boy, I was going to finish that for breakfast. Too boring the Golden Globes are, I fell asleep with it on all 3 of my bedroom TVs. No time to watch TV though, I’m too busy preventing plane crashes. Heard that Meryl Streep lost. Told u she was the most overrated!

  4. Art A

    Not a fan of awards shows, I may be in the minority and found this one fascinating, considering the current environment. I couldn’t help but note and hear that the biggest buzz from the (for no apparent reason to the viewer) seemed to involve Sharon Stone’s quite revealing in a non revealing way black gown..slits in all the expected places. A decidedly odd reaction and maybe some yearning for glamour and titillation in an unusually subdued wardrobe year. I was a bit shocked and gladdened by del Toro’s win against heavy hitters Nolan & Spielberg. Nothing topped Oprah’s rousing call to action speech.

  5. cardpetree

    Seems like the entire theme of the thing would be slightly awkward since they all pretty much knew what was going on with Weinstein and Spacey and did nothing before or while it was going on. President Winfrey has been really good friends with good ol Harvey. I’m sure this stuff still goes on quite a bit where people in the biz cover for each other. Plus quite a few of these folks have celebrated Roman Polanski for years and well, we all know what he’s done.

    • Timcharger

      Yes, so true. “Hypocrite Hollywood,” I say. I’m a genius. I just invented the clever “Hypocrite Hollywood” word. Some say it’s the most clever my bigly brain came up with. Hollywood focusing more attention to this issue is stupid. That stuff only occurs in 90210. No harassment occurs in executive boardrooms, in churches, in minimum wage jobs, and especially not in Mar-a-Lago. People outside of show biz don’t ever do that stuff. Sad protest theme!

        • Timcharger

          We agree. Only when the signaling protesters are completely virtuous should we then call attention to this vice. Let’s go back to the way things were last year, when we just attack the dozens of accusers as all liars. It worked for me. See, I am a genius.

          • Timcharger

            Thanks for the kind words.

            Let me retweet that with some edits in all caps:
            “Poor ol HYPOCRITE Hollywood sure is lucky to have them GENIUS Timcharger as their shining white HOODED knight.”

  6. Judas Cradle

    It’s beyond hypocritical for Hollywood – the belly of the beast for sexual discrimination, harassment, gender inequality, and objectification – to tell us all about virtue. In essence, they were wearing black to protest themselves.

    • DH

      That’s exactly what they’re doing. At least for them there is some level of self-reflection and coming to terms with the problem rather than continuing to deflect and deny.

    • Timcharger

      “Beyond hypocritical for Hollywood” is not clever like mine. “Hypocrite Hollywood” is genius. So true, I am one of the great minds in history. Listen Hollywood, you must first eradicate all sexual harassment and gender inequality first, then you can tell us about virtue. Wearing black to protest, so silly, I rather wear my white hoodie.

  7. I like how the one actress who wore red was shamed for falling in line with wearing black, and Susan Sarandon was criticized because she is a woman who did not support Hillary. Are women not allowing each other to have opinions anymore? Do they have to blindly support each other, regardless of their personal feelings? Will this shaming for non-compliance in this movement lead to women in Hollywood being “black balled” by other (more powerful) women, effectively pulling a Weinstein?

    • Timcharger

      I like it, too. Yes, that is Real News. She wasn’t a no name actress; she didn’t want to bring attention to herself. She was in the Mission (Im)Possible movies franchise (real news). Now she will be blackballed for not wearing black; gone is her illustrious filmography. Yes, let’s play the shifting cups and red ball(gown) game. Not the false equivocation trick. Let’s keep watching the news sources that perform the spinning cups and red ball trick on us. Ignore Recy Taylor. Ignore Rosa Parks. Focus on Red Dress. Don’t google Recy Taylor.

          • cardpetree

            That’s what I’m referring to. Stan Lee is 95 and is not the first person I’d think of when sexual assault is brought up.

          • Timcharger

            “Stan Lee is 95 and is not the first person I’d think of when…”

            I am the greatest of all time. Always rank me first. Tell me that you thought of me first. Locker room talk! Those women are all liars! And I’ve heard that the video was fake; it probably wasn’t me on the bus video.

          • NJScorpio

            I tend to believe Corey Feldman when it comes to Michael Jackson, just because he has called out numerous actors from that era, yet defends M.J. There is other reasons, but I don’t feel like getting into that debate.

            (I also have a theory that O.J. didn’t commit the murders, but that it was his son…)

          • NJScorpio

            Now, this is not to make light of the situation…and I know I can have a dark sense of humor…but…given the collective knowledge of the community and the editors, an interesting Weekend Roundtable would be Iconic Males in the Industry who will never be accused of sexual misconduct.

            Could such a list even be made? On what familiarity with their personalities are we making this assessment? I’d imagine Stan Lee could have made the list last weekend.

            I will say this…my nomination for Male Who Will Never Be Accused of Sexual Misconduct…. Keanu Reeves. (2nd nomination, Richard Gere).

  8. Sergio Perez

    People, people…

    Hollywood actors, actresses, directors, writers and producers are just entertainers….. Their job is to entertain the people who really work, no more no less. I couldn’t care less for their political, social and everyday life views and opinions.

    Kind regards to all

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