In the midst of an extended government shutdown, one thing that hasn't shut down is Hollywood. The Golden Globes were announced on January 6, and it's safe to say that this was not a by-the-numbers ceremony. Many winners, especially in TV, were people who I had either never heard of or thought were retired from acting. Beyond that, some winners truly made me stop in my tracks and wonder what the HFPA was thinking when they cast their ballots. Though televised awards ceremonies are generally a little bit boring, several unexpected events made this year's Globes slightly less boring than they could have been.
1. The fact that Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh were paired together as hosts in the first place
Golden Globe Awards - Season 76I can't be the only one who thought this was a weird, yet oddly charming pairing. Based on their dynamic during the opening monologue, it really seemed like the two had never met each other until they were announced as the hosts. This could have turned into another Anne Hathaway-James Franco situation, but despite the apparent oddity of the choice, I think they did pretty well overall.
2. The random sparkly harness thing that Timothee Chalamet was wearing
I can forgive this fashion choice slightly because Timothee Chalamet is still fairly new to the Hollywood red carpet scene. However, my sister and I both did approximately five double takes when we saw this intriguing getup walk down the red carpet. Maybe it was just the shock of seeing a male celebrity NOT wearing a suit at a major awards show, but I was certainly taken aback by Timothee's choice to channel his inner "horse competing on RuPaul's Drag Race" inspiration.
3. "A Star is Born" not being in the musical/comedy category when it is, pretty much, a musical
76th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Showtimedotcom.files.wordpress.com
I suppose that the Drama category at the Golden Globes is, historically, more prestigious than the Comedy/Musical category, and with all of the awards show buzz that A Star is Born has been getting since the fall, it's no wonder that it sought to capitalize on that momentum. Still, most of the songs in A Star is Born advance the plot in some way, and they were all composed specifically for this movie. I'm not sure if it would have beaten out Green Book for Best Comedy/Musical, but in my mind that category is where its true spirit lies.
4. Jeff Bridges's excruciatingly long acceptance speech for a Lifetime Achievement award
Golden Globe Awards - Season 76When his speech started, I braced myself for a self-indulgent speech overflowing with thank yous. I did not brace myself for a seven-minute monologue that, eventually, had something to do with boats. I swear I must have mentally checked out and then checked back in about three separate times during this seemingly endless speech. Whatever his true inspiration was, Bridges seemed to be channeling his famous character from The Big Lebowski more accurately here than anyone has since that movie came out.
5. Christian Bale thanking Satan during his acceptance speech for playing Dick Cheney
Golden Globe Awards - Season 76You know that moment where you're watching live television, something unexpected happens, and you think to yourself, "the internet will blow up about this in 3...2...1"? That's how I felt as soon as Christian Bale decided to shout out The Man Downstairs during his acceptance speech for Vice. And the multitude of online articles trying to unpack this moment the next day was truly awe-inspiring. I suppose that some people require more dubious inspiration in order to portray someone convincingly, and whatever it took for this "I honestly didn't know he was British till last Sunday" actor to channel Dick Cheney clearly worked in his favor.
6. That whole thing with nurses suddenly appearing in the crowd of celebrities to give them flu shots
peopledotcom.files.wordpress.com
I still can't figure out it people in the audience who actually received a shot knew about this ahead of time, but either way this whole stunt came across to me as a slightly-too-desperate attempt by Samberg and Oh to go viral. It apparently worked, but compared to Ellen's memorable stunts as an Oscar host, this one did not quite capture the "playfully spontaneous" vibe that generally gets the most laughs at awards shows.
7. Mike Myers, not the original members of Queen in attendance, introducing the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' clip
I'll be honest, this was perhaps the most baffling moment of the night for me. Here's Mike Myers, who had a noticeable but not at all a leading role in Bohemian Rhapsody, coming out on stage to introduce the movie and its accompanying clip. Meanwhile, the actual star of the movie, Rami Malek, along with the other members of Queen were sitting right in the front of the audience. I get that Mike Myers and his Bohemian Rhapsody-crazed Wayne's World are cultural icons, but I still felt like that was a missed opportunity for the surviving members of Queen in attendance to get a well-deserved hand.
8. "Bohemian Rhapsody" defying its aggressively mediocre reviews to take home the award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
Though I loved Bohemian Rhapsody and thought it was a magical and very entertaining movie, I'll be the first to admit that I was totally on board the "A Star is Born is the best movie of the year" hype train. That is, until Bohemian Rhapsody pulled off the stunning upset that made me gasp aloud. I, along with I'm pretty sure everyone in Bohemian Rhapsody, was not expecting this. However, this makes me happy because it proves, to me at least, that disgruntled critic reviews do not mean a movie is objectively bad. There is a respected place in this world for movies that, while not 100% historically accurate, get audiences to come back to the theater several times and make people obsessed with the movie's source material, which I think Bohemian Rhapsody absolutely accomplishes.
Since this year's Golden Globes featured a historic amount of upsets, it will be interesting to see how its results affect the rest of the awards season. Despite my sentiments here, I still highly doubt that Bohemian Rhapsody will win Best Picture at the Oscars. However, I learned from this year's Golden Globes that you should not listen to the haters who tell you that "awards shows are a snoozefest" and "nothing exciting ever happens." Dig deeper, and you're always bound to find a "Chalamet silver harness equivalent" lurking among the sea of tuxedos and gowns.
