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10 things to note about those Golden Globes

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You will, I’m sure, want to point out that my predictions were way off the mark last night. I was taking a chance with, say, Denzel Washington and, thus, have no complaints about his losing best drama actor to Casey Affleck. But it would have taken a wiser man than me to predict that Mahershala Ali would lose best supporting actor to Aaron Taylor Johnson or that Isabelle Huppert would see off Natalie Portman. Yes, these awards are voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but those were still some shocking results.

The truth is, decided by fewer than 100 journalists, the Golden Globes can swing one or another on the basis of just a few votes. Get five of them in a bar and you never know what you might achieve. For that reason, we can’t make any assumptions about crossover with the Academy, but we can discuss momentum. Certain Oscars voters just like to be on the winning team and the Globes have made one film look much more like the victor.

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LA LA LAND BROKE THE RECORD FOR MOST GLOBES

Wow! In winning seven awards, La La Land took every gong for which it was nominated. It beat a record of six that has stood since 1976 when One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest triumphed and has only been equalled once — by Midnight Express in 1979. How on earth did it win best screenplay? I guess they really, really like it.

AARON TAYLOR JOHNSON ISN’T EVEN THE BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN NOCTURNAL ANIMALS

Look, don’t get me wrong. Mr Taylor Johnson is very good in Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, but the standout performance in the lower ranks was surely Michael Shannon. At any rate, rightly or wrongly, the win was a huge surprise. The race was seen as being sewn up for Mahershala Ali in Moonlight. I suspect this is a rare instance where a Globes winner in this category won’t even get an Oscar nomination.

JIMMY FALLON WAS JUST AWFUL

You may well not care for Ricky Gervais, but, when he first hosted the Globes, he gave the ceremony a kick up the backside that established it as the sillier, more entertaining Oscars. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler followed up the good work. An appalling lick-arse on his chat show, Fallon was a terrible choice for host in the year of Trump. He proved spineless, creepy and uncommitted to the barbs.

DONALD TRUMP THINKS MERYL STREEP IS OVERRATED

With Fallon failing it was left up to Meryl Streep — recipient of the Cecil B DeMille Award —  to add some sauce to the occasion. Her attacks on Trump were measured, ruthless and articulate. (Though she should probably have avoided an apparent diss on football and MMA.) Trump responded like a four-year-old whose dog has just stolen his Wibbly Wobbly Wonder.

SO NOBODY IRISH WON? SO WHAT?

Don’t be writing any “disappointing night for the Irish” rubbish. As we said at the same time last year, none of our nominees — Sing Street, Ruth Negga, Colin Farrell — were anywhere near being favourites. So we can hardly complain if they failed to triumph. It was still another great night for the Irish.

THE NIGHT MANAGER TOOK THREE ACTING AWARDS

Don’t forget the telly stuff. Everyone knew that The People Vs O J Simpson would do well, but few reckoned The Night Manager would manage three acting awards: for Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman and Hugh Laurie. Hugh and Tom fared very differently at the podium. Hugh’s witty attack on Trump was a triumph. Hiddleston’s self-serving “all for charidy, folks” speech is best glossed over.

ISABELLE HUPPERT BEAT NATALIE PORTMAN

Okay as mentioned above, these awards come from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. So upsets that see an American losing shouldn’t astonish us all that much. Still, nobody reckoned there was any great threat to Natalie Portman here in best drama actress. The Academy will now be more aware and the great Huppert — a winner for Paul Verhoeven’s Elle — may grab a nomination where it matters.

ELLE TOOK THE SECOND MOST GLOBES

It was easy to miss this astonishing fact. As noted above, Isabelle Huppert won best actress for Verhoeven’s challenging rape-revenge drama. The film also beat hot favourite Toni Erdmann to best foreign language feature. Elle is not even on the long list for the Oscars in that category. But I wouldn’t see it as two fingers to the Academy. The HFPA likes to think it can predict the Oscars.

THE CROWN BEAT STRANGER THINGS

Netflix was up against itself with two very different series. Stranger Things crept through the undergrowth to become a word-of-mouth hit in the summer. The Crown, announced with much more fanfare, was apparently aimed at an older audience. In the end, the show about the Queen and her posse beat the 1980s pastiche.

MEL GIBSON FAILED TO RETURN IN FORCE

Is this worth mentioning? After all, none of the nominations for the Australian’s Hacksaw Ridge seemed likely to convert. I think it is. A little over 20 years ago, victory for Braveheart at the Globes announced that film, for the first time in the season, as a serious contender. It went on to win the Oscar for best picture. Many felt there was a chance history might repeat itself. It did not.

GIBSON AND VINCE VAUGHN WEREN’T REALLY CAUGHT SCOWLING AT MERYL

Oh this! Shortly after Meryl’s speech played out, a story began bubbling to the effect that Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn, both seen as right wingers, had been snapped grimacing throughout the attack on Trump. The image released struck me as even less convincing than the video that, at last year’s Oscars, purported to show the elite frowning at costume designer Jenny Beavan. Has nobody heard of the The Kuleshov Experiment?

Comment on Screenwriter at the author’s Twitter account: @donaldclarke63

 


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