Ah, awards season – that stretch of time on the movie calendar from mid-Novmber to early-February where studios launch their prestige films in theaters in hope of securing placement on critics lists and gathering smaller awards nominations in the inevitable march toward Oscar glory. In the film world, there are a wide range of reactions to this season of pseudo-serious cinema that dominates the conversation. The over-enthusiastic movie lovers take this time as an excuse to binge-watch as many films as possible – the good, the bad, and the Bohemian Rhapsody. The more serious cinephiles shake their heads and launch into a diatribe or two about the meaninglessness of all things awards. But the one thing during awards season on which all cineastes can agree is that the Golden Globes are terrible.

Unlike many of the awards that are given out in the run-up to the Oscars, the Golden Globes aren’t run by any critics groups or industry professionals. Instead, they’re run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), a group of journalists who write entertainment news for foreign magazines, website, and newspapers, and seem more eager to rub elbows with celebrities than adhere to any sort of journalistic standards or ethics. But when they sold television rights for their awards ceremony to NBC, they positioned themselves as the final stop before the Academy Awards and the must-watch ceremony if you want to stand a chance at winning your Oscar pool – no matter how rarely the Golden Globe winners actually line up with the Oscar winners.

As Oscar season has become progressively shorter over the last few years, the Globes have taken on an outsized importance during awards season, as Academy voters look for any guidance to sort through the glut of screeners and films they must wade through when preparing to cast their ballots. Hence, films like Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody won major awards at last year’s Academy Awards – despite critical derision – due in no small part to their major wins at the higher profile Golden Globes. They may not be predictive, but they do suggest some overall trends that are shaping this awards season narrative, and – much as it pains me to admit – bear some further consideration and reflection.

The biggest surprise of the evening was the virtual shutout of Netflix in the motion picture categories. Five Netflix films received a total of fifteen nominations, and only one of those nominees won an award – Laura Dern for her supporting role in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story. Considering the prestige and the buzz behind Marriage Story and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, it’s a surprise that neither film did better among the HFPA voters. But the battle between Netflix and the old guard of Hollywood has been going on for several years now. Steven Spielberg famously lobbied against Roma last year because of its debut on the streaming service. With the Golden Globes seeming to take such a firm stance against Netflix and against two of the most lauded films of the year, it seems that, once again, the Oscar deck is stacked against Netflix.

All of which leads us to our next surprise – the wins of 1917 for Best Director (Sam Mendes) and Best Drama. It’s the latest film to open of any of the Best Picture contenders and hasn’t had the same buzz and momentum as frontrunners such as The Irishman, Marriage Story, and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (which did win for Best Comedy). The win here suggests that more conservative awards voters will be looking for something of quality, gravitas, and technical achievement that they can support instead of the Netflix films. A World War I drama put together in a gimmicky, simulated single tracking shot seems destined to fit the fill.

Finally, Joaquin Phoenix’s win for Joker has bumped him ahead of the competition in the best actor race, while Leonardo DiCaprio’s loss to Taron Egerton has dramatically diminished his odds. For the longest time, it seemed to be that Adam Driver’s turn in Marriage Story and Antonio Banderas’s performance in Pain and Glory were the real frontrunners, but now Phoenix seems to the one to beat come Oscar night.

A surprise of the much more pleasant variety, I can only hope that Awkwafina’s win for Best Actress in a Comedy for The Farewell bodes well for her chances when nominations are announced on January 13.

At the end of the day, we won’t know how much influence the Globes really had on the Oscars until February 9, when the ceremony is over and we take stock of the final winners. But there has been a growing trend of influence over these last few years, and it’s a helpful barometer as we enter into this even more compressed awards season, ready to sprint for the next three weeks of movie watching.

Full List of Winners and Nominees

Winners are listed in bold and are immediately followed by an asterisk.

Best Motion Picture – Drama

- - 1917 *
  - The Irishman
  - Joker
  - Marriage Story
  - The Two Popes

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

- - Dolemite Is My Name
  - Jojo Rabbit
  - Knives Out
  - Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood *
  - Rocketman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

- - Cynthia Erivo – Harriet
  - Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
  - Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
  - Charlize Theron – Bombshell
  - Renée Zellweger – Judy *

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

- - Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory
  - Christian Bale – Ford v Ferrari
  - Adam Driver – Marriage Story
  - Joaquin Phoenix – Joker *
  - Jonathan Pryce – The Two Popes

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

- - Awkwafina – The Farewell *
  - Cate Blanchett – Where’d You Go, Bernadette
  - Beanie Feldstein – Booksmart
  - Emma Thompson – Late Night
  - Ana de Armas – Knives Out

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

- - Daniel Craig – Knives Out
  - Roman Griffin Davis – Jojo Rabbit
  - Leonard DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
  - Taron Egerton – Rocketman *
  - Eddie Murphy – Dolemite Is My Name

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

- - Kathy Bates – Richard Jewell
  - Annette Bening – The Report
  - Laura Dern – Marriage Story *
  - Jennifer Lopez – Hustlers
  - Margot Robbie – Bombshell

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

- - Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
  - Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes
  - Al Pacino – The Irishman
  - Joe Pesci – The Irishman
  - Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood *

Best Director – Motion Picture

- - Bong Joon-ho – Parasite
  - Sam Mendes – 1917 *
  - Todd Phillips – Joker
  - Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
  - Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

- - The Irishman
  - Marriage Story
  - Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood *
  - Parasite
  - The Two Popes

Best Motion Picture – Animated

- - Frozen II
  - How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
  - The Lion King
  - Missing Link *
  - Toy Story 4

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language

- - The Farewell
  - Les Misérables
  - Pain and Glory
  - Parasite *
  - Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

- - 1917
  - Joker *
  - Little Women
  - Marriage Story
  - Motherless Brooklyn

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

- - Cats – “Beautiful Ghosts”
  - Frozen II – “Into the Unknown”
  - Harriet – “Stand Up”
  - The Lion King – “Spirit”
  - Rocketman – “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” *

Author: Josh Hornbeck

Josh is the founder of Cinema Cocktail, and he is a writer and director, podcaster and critic, and communications and marketing professional living and working in the greater Seattle area. View all posts by Josh Hornbeck

Golden Globes 2020 – Winners, Thoughts, and Reflections