It’s enchanted gold time this evening, as the 76th Golden Globe Awards are presented. While some are excited about football playoffs and super bowls, for me January launches the award season for films and television. The Golden Globes foreshadow what’s to come during the Academy Awards, presented next month. However, the Globes are more than a preview. They are unique in that they honor television as well as movies, and they expand the number of categories, which means more winners tonight.
Join me for a recap of an enchanted evening indeed.
Golden Globe Hosts
Tonight’s hosts of this three hour party are Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg. Oh currently stars in the BBC America drama series, “Killing Eve”. And Samberg is the star of NBC’s comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”.
For a full list of nominees and winners, check out Golden Globes. As I have the last couple of years, I’m watching the Globes with my laptop perched, literally, on my lap, blogging as the show unfolds. I feel official. Best of all, I will be ready to post, shortly after the program finishes. Read on for my favorite highlights from the show.
Introductions
This was the first hosting stint for Oh and Samberg. The snappy duo set the tone for a fun-filled evening by opening with humor and some light roasting of audience members such as Spike Lee, Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams, and hilarious intros to nominated films and television shows.
On a serious note, Oh and Samberg pointed out how diverse the nominations were this year and how powerfully change is rippling through the film and television industry. Sandra Oh teared up as she spoke…and so did I.
Golden Globe Highlights
Animated Film – Spiderman Into the Spiderverse
TV Series, Drama – The Americans
TV Series, Comedy – The Kaminsky Method
Carol Burnett Award – “Funny, gracious and kind…the incomparable Carol Burnett.” She’s ruled comedy for 60 years, creating an amazing legacy. Her first love, as a child, was film. Later, she appreciated how the stars in movies and on television could make people laugh…or cry. What a bright and inspirational light Carol has cast into the world in her lifetime and mine.
Cecil B. DeMille Award – “Brings passion and brilliance to every moment…Jeff Bridges.” Such an impressive body of work this actor has, from appearing in Sea Hunt, as a young boy, with his father Lloyd, to recent films such as Hell or High Water. He looks at life through the filter of movies, and he desires to make a difference. Jeff is, truly, The Dude.
Original Score – First Man
Foreign Language Film – Roma, from Mexico
Original Song – Shallow, from A Star is Born
Screenplay – Green Book
The Best of Categories
Actor, Musical/Comedy – Christian Bale, Vice
Actress, Musical/Comedy – Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Actor, Drama – Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Actress, Drama – Glenn Close, The Wife
Director – Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Movie, Musical/Comedy – Green Book
Movie, Drama – Bohemian Rhapsody
My Closing Thoughts About the Golden Globes
I love watching this award show. There were surprise wins, as there always are. I was beyond thrilled to see Rami Malek pick up the Best Actor Golden Globe for Bohemian Rhapsody… really for Freddie Mercury…and ecstatic that the film won Best Drama.
And there were touching, moving moments. Dick Van Dyke introduced the film Mary Poppins Returns. Glenn Close gave a tearful acceptance speech after winning for her role in The Wife.
By the end of the Golden Globes I had a list of “must watch” movies and tv series. Tonight I wrote down titles such as:
- The Favourite
- A Very English Scandal
- First Man
- Green Book
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Roma
- Mary Poppins Returns
- The Wife
The main reason I watch, however, is to cheer on and enjoy seeing people who love what they do, and do what they love. Whatever one chooses to do in life, inspiration and encouragement can be soaked up, watching these men and women shine. I know many people do not like acceptance speeches. For me their emotional stories are testaments, of how they got from where they were…to where they are.
I am inspired to be who I am and pursue that which brings me joy, as I observe others following their passions. It’s equivalent to being handed a huge permission slip. I’m grateful. And I’m mindful of offering the same to others, as I do what I love, and love what I do.
Congratulations to tonight’s Golden Globe winners!
