An In-Depth Recap of the Golden Globes

The 76th Golden Globes was last Sunday and there were definitely a lot of memorable, hilarious, and shocking moments that came from it. So here is a little recap of the biggest moments from one of Hollywood’s biggest events.

Jeff Bridges accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award. (Photo source: Variety)

First, let’s start off with the hosts. Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg, and Grey’s Anatomy and Killing Eve’s Sandra Oh hosted the Golden Globes this year. Their opening monologue wasn’t a Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler monologue, one of the best pairings to ever host the Golden Globes, but no one was expecting it would be. Their monologue made everyone feel good about themselves since the duo decided to change things up and compliment everyone instead of roast or insult the celebrities attending.

National Public Radio said, “they’re performers who like to please people… [their opening monologue] had a committed charm that's easy to appreciate when you've sat through enough awards hosts who are trying to be edgy.” Overall, they did a pretty good job hosting this big event, even if  they decided to have doctors give out flu shots to the stars in the middle of the ceremony.  

Sandra Oh, however, did make history being the first Asian woman to host any major award show. In the beginning of the show, she spoke about the cultural impact of movies like Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians.  Later in the night she made history again by becoming the first woman of Asian descent to win multiple Golden Globes!

Some of the most memorable moments came from the speeches of the award recipients. Regina King, who won best supporting actress in a motion picture drama for If Beale Street Could Talk gave, “one of the most powerful speeches of the night”, according to the Washington Post. On stage she vowed to make sure everything she produces or she stars in will be 50 percent women. While she admitted it was going to be tough, she did challenge the audience to, “stand with us in solidarity and do the same.”

Carol Burnett accepting the new Carol Burnett Award (Photo source: New York Times).

Glenn Close, who took home the award for best actress in a motion picture drama for her role in The Wife, looked completely shocked and dumbfounded when they announced that she had won. Esquire.com gave her “the award on having the best night of her life”. Her emotional speech made the whole audience teary eyed as she told a story about her mother and talked about women's role in society.

Jeff Bridges won the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement in motion picture award. According to the Washington Post, “Jeff Bridges went full Jeff Bridges” as he gave a roughly six minute speech that started to make people really emotional but left people confused as he talked about life being a “game of tag”. The new Carol Burnett award for outstanding achievement in television award was given to Carol Burnett herself. She received a standing ovation like Bridges and she also dedicated her award to everyone who made her dreams come true.

Just like any award show there was major controversy. With many people not agreeing with the winners of the bigger awards of the night. Sophomore Milena Albertson said, “the Golden Globes were truly amazing! I’m just a bit disappointed that two great productions didn’t win: The Good Place and Black Panther. But that’s just my opinion”.

The most controversy came from the awards for best motion picture drama, the last award of the night. Everyone was expecting A Star Is Born to win everything on Sunday night since the critics and audiences went literally gaga (pun intended) over it. With 5 nominations in major categories, everyone was shocked when they only took home one award for best original song.

Bohemian Rhapsody was the big winner on Sunday night however. This shocked movie goers and critics everywhere since it received only lukewarm reviews. Dailymail said, “No doubt many were surprised by the win as Bohemian Rhapsody was generally poorly reviewed with 62% on Tomatometer by Rotten Tomatoes with top critics giving it 48%”. This movie based on the band Queen and more specifically, the band’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, won the major awards of the night, best actor and best motion picture.

Sophomore Ella Lau says, “While I respect the Golden Globes decisions, Bohemian Rhapsody winning best motion picture drama is a complete shocker. The movie glossed over Freddie Mercury’s bad side, which I believe is integral to his character. I believe If Beale Street Could Talk should have won, the acting is amazing, the romance is real, and it portrayals of racism are extremely relevant in today’s society. My second choice would have definitely been A Star Is Born”.

Some people did agree that Bohemian Rhapsody was a good choice for best picture. Sophomore Colette Albertson said, “I loved Bohemian Rhapsody. Queen is iconic and Rami Malek’s acting was phenomenal. I am so glad it won”.

The Golden Globes usually shows what actors, actresses, and movies will win at the Oscars but sometimes the Academy choses completely different than the Hollywood Foreign Press. The Oscars is a bigger ceremony and a better award to win, so we will leave it up to the Academy to decide what was actually the best motion picture drama of the year.     

Article by: Jenna Forestiero

Thumbnail image source: Mashable