“Emilia Pérez” and “Shōgun,” the night was yours.
With “The Brutalist” and Fernanda Torres making waves as well.
The Golden Globes lived up to their name with an international roster of winners, led by the multiple victories for the soaring and unique and brilliant Spanish-language musical crime comedy “Emilia Pérez” and the epic FX period drama “Shōgun.”
Meanwhile, the immigration saga “The Brutalist” and Adrien Brody solidified their Oscar contender status, and Fernanda Torres made history by becoming the first Brazilian to win a best actress Golden Globe for her work in “I’m Still Here,” a quarter-century after Torres’ mother, Fernanda Montenegro, was nominated for “Central Station” in 1999.
The Golden Globes now have made it all the way back to respectability — and with great respectability comes a dash of mainstream ho-hum.
The ceremony was only mildly naughty, occasionally, but for the most part followed the time-honored awards show formula: A slightly irreverent but inoffensive host who kept things moving along, a roster of winners that included some beloved veterans as well as some talented newcomers, a few upsets and “snubs” along the way, uncomfortable and at times almost painfully awkward banter between the presenters — and a series of heartfelt speeches in which the winners chronicled their admirable journey to make it to the top.
It’s difficult to argue with such choices as Colin Farrell for “The Penguin,” Hiroyuki Sanada and Tadanobu Asano and Anna Sawai for the instantly iconic “Shōgun,” and our old pal Jeremy Allen White for “The Bear.” The Globes started out 1-for-1, with Zoe Saldaña besting an incredibly talented field that included her “Emilia Pérez” co-star Selena Gomez, Margaret Qualley (“The Substance”), Isabella Rosellini (“Conclave”), Ariane Grande (“Wicked”) and Felicity Jones (“The Brutalist.”) Saldaña has been in so many blockbuster franchises that entail motion-capture acting that we lose sight of her pure talents as an actor. She was transcendent in role that was part musical, part dark comedy and part heartfelt drama.
Kieran Culkin was in Kieran Culkin mode after his well-deserved supporting actor win for Jesse Eisenberg’s razor-sharp feature film “A Real Pain,” revealing, “My wife and I did a shot of tequila with Mario Lopez. Definitely feeling that. Whole speech is gone.” Rip it, Kieran!
“Shōgun” actor Asano has been in some big American productions, including the “Thor” franchise, but acknowledged with room-winning charm that he’s not exactly a household name, saying, “Maybe you don’t know me, I’m an actor from Japan … WOW! Thank you so much …” and noting this was a “very big present for me!” The joy was infectious.
As much as I enjoyed Ali Wong’s “Single Lady” special, I was surprised that Jamie Foxx’s “What Had Happened Was” didn’t win in the stand-ip comedy category, though it was more of a one-man show suitable for Broadway than a traditional stand-up show.
Of course, part of the fun in watching these awards shows is disagreeing with some choices. With that in mind…
TV Actress, Musical or Comedy
Winner: Jean Smart, “Hacks”
My Pick: Kristen Bell, effortlessly charming in “Nobody Wants This”
Actress, Musical or Comedy Film
Winner: Demi Moore, “The Substance.” As much as I appreciated Moore’s work, I found the film to be heavy-handed, repetitive and wallowing in grossout shock effects.
My Pick: Mikey Madison, “Anora,” or Zendaya, “Challengers,” two vastly superior films. NOT THAT ANY OF THESE PERFORMANCES WERE ACTUALLY MUSICAL OR PRIMARILY COMEDIC
Actress, Limited Series/TV Movie
Winner: Jodie Foster, “True Detective: Night Country”
My Pick: Cristin Milioti, who was heartbreakingly, tragically terrifying and yet also sympathetic in “The Penguin”
Actress, Supporting TV
Winner: Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer’
My Pick: Liza Colón-Zayas, who delivered the most memorable work of any actor on the most recent season of “The Bear”
In her opening monologue, host Nikki Glaser found just the right sweet spot between gentle ribbing and showbiz fandom. After the too-predictable Ozempic opener, Glaser (the first woman to host the Globes on her own) set the tone for her monologue by telling the crowd, “I am not here to roast you tonight. … You’re all so famous, so talented, so powerful, you could tell the country anything, except who to vote for.”
Yes, the truth hurts. But it can be mildly funny as well.
A salacious joke about Ben Affleck missed the mark, but Glaser scored with light jabs at Martin Short, Timothée Chalamet and “Joker: Folie à Deux.” When she noted that Peacock’s Eddie Redmayne vehicle “The Day of the Jackal” is “about a top-secret elite sniper that no one can find because he’s on Peacock,” even Eddie Redmayne laughed. About the edgiest Glaser got was when she said, “Oh look, it’s two-time Holocaust survivor Adrien Brody!”
For a moment, it felt as if Glaser was about the bring the show to a screeching halt with a musical mashup of “Conclave” and “Wicked” called “Pope-ular.” It turned out to be a meta joke, with Glaser acknowledging the number sucked and moving things along. Phew!
There was a time when the Golden Globes were accorded more prestige than they deserved, and a couple of times when they hardly mattered at all and were on life support — and now they’re back with just about the right amount of respect. They’ll never have the clout and cache of the Oscars for movies or the Emmys for TV, but it’s once again a pretty big deal for a show or a film or an actor to win a Golden Globe.
Remember when Tom Cruise said he was returning his three Golden Globes over the Hollywood Foreign Press Association membership scandal? The HFPA is no more, and who knows where that trio of Globes wound up, but I don’t think anyone who wins on Sunday night is heading to FedEx come Monday morning.