The Golden Globes were the first major televised awards show of 2020, aired on Sunday night, January 5, and hosted by Ricky Gervais. That made this a significant stop on the campaign trail for film contenders looking to increase their visibility on their way to the Oscars. But just how important are these prizes? Scroll down for our complete analysis of the winners, updating live as they’re announced throughout the night.
SEE Golden Globes: Complete list of winners in all 25 races [UPDATING LIVE]
The influence of the Golden Globes this year is unknown, since there’s not a whole lot of time to influence the Oscars, at least not the nominations. Since the Oscars moved up their awards by multiple weeks — they’ll be handed out on February 9, instead of at the end of the month as usual — the entire awards season has been drastically compressed. Voting for Oscar nominations started om January 2, three days before tonight’s Globes, and it ends on January 7, two days later, so it’s possible most ballots will already be in by the time the Globe winners take the stage to accept their trophies.
The Globes also don’t directly reflect the Oscars because there’s no overlap between the international journalists in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association who pick the Globe winners and the industry peers in the motion picture academy who vote for the Oscars. However, we mustn’t underestimate the power of momentum. Winning here can project the kind of success that leads to success later, and we’ve seen in the past that awards voters are often drawn onto the bandwagon, especially with such a compressed Oscar calendar.
All of last year’s Oscar winners for acting won at the Globes first, and so did the Oscars’ Best Picture champ, “Green Book.” The year before all four Oscar acting winners won at the Globes too, though the Globes picked “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” for Best Film Drama over the Oscar’s eventual Best Picture, “The Shape of Water.” So this may be a preview of what’s to come on February 9. Follow along below as each film winner is announced (times listed are Eastern).
8:36pm — The first film award of the night comes more than a half-hour into the telecast, and it was probably the least suspenseful of the night: “Parasite” wins Best Foreign Language Film and is the first South Korean film to do so! Writer-director Bong Joon Ho accepts on behalf of the film “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing film,” he says through his translator. Amen! “I think we use only one language: cinema.” The fact that “Parasite” is also nominated for Best director and Best Screenplay made this almost a foregone conclusion, though this in and of itself doesn’t necessarily signal an Oscar front-runner. Only 6 of the last 10 Globe winners in this category ultimately won the Oscar, but that includes “Roma” last year, which was also up for writing and directing. I’d say there’s still nothing standing in the way of the film walking to an easy Oscar win.
9:05pm — Quentin Tarantino wins Best Screenplay for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” a bit of a surprise since our odds slightly favored Noah Baumbach for “Marriage Story.” But it’s really too surprising since it’s Tarantino’s third win in the category. He previously won for “Pulp Fiction” (1994) and “Django Unchained” (2012), and both of those times he went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Winning this category at the Globes is especially impressive because it combines original and adapted scripts. And it’s especially impressive for Tarantino since he now ties Robert Bolt, the screenwriter he paid tribute to in his acceptance speech, for the most wins in the category.
9:09pm — Disney taken down as “Missing Link” surprises by winning Best Animated Feature over “Toy Story 4” and “Frozen II.” We had ranked “Missing Link” third in our odds. Could this be an indicator of the Oscars to come? Quite possibly. Eight of the last 10 Globe winners in this category went on to win at the Oscars, and the Oscars are notoriously skittish about animated sequels. The only sequel that ever won Best Animated Feature was “Toy Story 3” (2010). Honestly, I’ve been looking for a potential film that might position itself as the strongest alternative to sequels. Until now I thought that might be “I Lost My Body,” but maybe it’ll turn out to be “Missing Link.” It’s too early to tell, though. A lot of awards left to be handed out in the coming weeks.
9:17pm — Laura Dern wins Best Film Supporting Actress for her role as a dogged divorce lawyer in “Marriage Story.” Our odds had favored Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”), but “Marriage Story” had a lot more nominations (six overall), and the Globes love, love, love Laura Dern: this is her fifth Globe win, and she was even Miss Golden Globe in 1982. But she has never won an Oscar, and this could be a good sign for her on the campaign trail to come. Eight of the last 10 Globe winners in this category went on to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and Dern is certainly on a career hot streak between “Marriage Story” and “Big Little Lies.”
9:27pm — Elton John and Bernie Taupin win Best Original Song for “I’m Gonna Love Me Again” from the John biopic “Rocketman.” This is the second win for longtime collaborators John and Taupin, but it’s actually the first time they have won together. John previously won for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from “The Lion King,” and Taupin won for “A Love That Will Never Grow Old” from “Brokeback Mountain.” And as John explains, he and Taupin have never even won a Grammy together even though they have had one of the longest running professional partnerships in showbiz.
10:01pm — “That is a big surprise,” says Sam Mendes (“1917”), who just pulled off one of the night’s biggest film upsets by winning Best Director. He sayd there is no director “who is not in the shadow of Martin Scorsese.” Mendes also overtook Bong Joon Ho and Quentin Tarantino, who have also won awards tonight in other categories. We had ranked Mendes fourth in our odds. This is his second victory, and it comes 20 years after he won Best Director for his feature film debut, “American Beauty.” Is he on his way to the Oscars? Maybe. Only 5 of the last 10 Globe winners for Best Director have followed that up at the Academy Awards, but that includes the last four in a row.
10:23pm — Hildur Guðnadóttir wins Best Original Score for “Joker” on her very first nomination, a slight upset over “1917,” which just pulled off an upset of course for Best Director, so I guest that evens out. Guðnadóttir also won an Emmy for “Chernobyl,” which just own the Globe for Best TV Movie/Limited Series, and she could win a Grammy in a few weeks for “Chernobyl.” She’s the first female solo winner in this category ever.
10:26pm — Brad Pitt wins Best Supporting Actor for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” just as we were expecting. This is actually just his second Globe for acting, following a win in this very same category for “Twelve Monkeys.” That makes him one of only six actors who have won this category multiple times He thanks “my partner in crime, LDC [Leonardo DiCaprio, naturally]! … He’s an all-star, he’s a gent, and I wouldn’t be here without you. Still, I would have shared the raft.” Pitt is an Oscar winner for producing “12 Years a Slave,” but he hasn’t won for acting yet, and the stars may be aligning for him. Eight of the last 10 Globe winners in this category followed that up with Oscars.
10:34pm — Taron Egerton brings “Rocketman” its second win of the night: Best Film Comedy/Musical Actor. That makes this the second year in a row for a Best Actor winner playing a queer rock-and-roll legend. Rami Malek won Best Film Drama Actor last year for playing Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This category has also been won by Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in “Ray” and Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line.” We had expected Eddie Murphy to take this for “Dolemite is My Name,” but it’s not the first time Egerton has surprised: he also picked up a SAG Award nominations for his leading role.
10:37pm — Awkwafina wins Best Film Comedy/Musical Actress for “The Farewell.” This is her first nomination and first win, and the film was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. Awkwafina is also the first Asian winner in the history of this category. “If I fall upon hard times, I can sell this, so that’s good.” Last year’s winner in this category just so happened to be Olivia Colman, who won the Oscar next for “The Favourite.” Awkwafina still looks like an Oscar underdog, so this is a great boost for a great performance in a great film — not that I’m biased.
10:50pm — Best Film Comedy/Musical goes to … “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” That means the film has just won the exact same three Globes that “Green Book” won last year: Picture, Supporting Actor and Screenplay. Could be a coincidence, of course, but the film is looking as strong as ever as the awards season progresses. That said, “The Artist” and “Green Book” are the only comedy/musical winners that have gone on to win Best Picture at the Oscars in the last 16 years, so this is far from a done deal for Oscars.
10:54pm — Joaquin Phoenix takes Best Film Drama Actor for his performance as the title supervillain in “Joker.” He’s actually the second Globe winner for playing this role, following Heath Ledger‘s posthumous victory for “The Dark Knight.” In fact, Jack Nicholson was nominated for playing Joker in “Batman” too. This is Phoenix’s second Globe, following his aforementioned in the comedy/musical category for “Walk the Line.” He thanks the Hollywood Foreign Press for fighting climate change with vegan meals, and in his bleep-filled speech he admits awards are just a vehicle to sell TV ads. But he also thanks his director Todd Phillips: “I am a pain in the ass, I can’t believe you put up with me.” And he urges his fellow actors to do more than give speeches about climate change; they should also fly private jets less. That was a good, gracious speech from someone you can tell doesn’t always feel comfortable in the public eye.
11:02pm — Renee Zellweger wins Best Film Drama Actress for “Judy.” It’s her fourth win overall at the Globes, but it’s actually her first in a drama category. She previously won for the comedy “Nurse Betty,” the musical “Chicago” and for her supporting role in “Cold Mountain” — that last one was the one that finally brought her the Oscar. Appropriate that she should receive the award from Rami Malek, who won last year for playing a late musician. And she joins Taron Egerton as winners for playing music stars on the big screen.
11:07pm — It turns out that Best Director upset was telling: “1917” closes out the night be winning Best Film Drama! It’s the first war film to win since “Saving Private Ryan.” He’s grateful for winning a week before the film’s wide release in theaters, and he urges everyone to see it — I cosign that endorsement. Our odds placed “The Irishman” out front, but that film ended up shut out of its five noms. I actually thought “Joker” would pull it out, but this category was up in the air and pretty much every film in the race had a reasonable shot. But does this foretell Best Picture at the Oscars? Actually, only three of the last 10 Globe winners in this category won the top prize from the motion picture academy, so don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.
11:15pm — At the end of the night, “Once Upon a Time” led with three film victories. Tied with two apiece were “1917,” “Rocketman” and “Joker.” Winning once each were “Parasite,” “Judy,” “Marriage Story,” “Missing Link” and “The Farewell.”
Be sure to make your Oscar nominee predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their films and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before nominees are announced on January 13. And join in the fun debate over the 2020 Academy Awards taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our film forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
