The Cinemawala

For the most part, the Golden Globe Awards went to the films we thought they would, some deserving, some contentious. Split into categories for Drama, and another for Comedy/ Musical the Globes have often been the target of scandal, accused of accepting bribes, of enjoying lavish press junkets in Las Vegas, being gifted expensive watches and swag, and this year targeted for having not a single black member in their voting body. That came up, more than once last night, including from members of the Association themselves who vowed to do better. The highlight of the night was Jane Fonda’s speech in accepting the Cecil B. Demille Award for Lifetime Achievement. I suggest everyone watch it on Youtube. Now onto the winners –

The Shockers! –

The two biggest upsets last night occurred in both Best Actress categories, where Audra Day as Billie Holliday took Best Actress in a Drama for her superb performance in ‘The USA vs. Billie Holliday’, a late arrival to the awards race. It was highly anticipated that either Carey Mulligan in ‘Promising Young Woman’ or Frances McDormand in ‘Nomadland’ would win the award, but the Globe voters went in a very different direction. They did the same in the Comedy/ Musical category, honouring the very deserving Rosamund Pike in ‘I Care a Lot’, a searing black comedy about a woman scamming the elderly for their money and property. Pike was lacerating in the film, and I loved her performance but did not believe she stood a chance.

Jodie Foster was a complete shock as Best Supporting Actress in the political thriller, ‘The Mauritanian’, as many, myself included felt the award belonged to Amanda Seyfried in ‘Mank’, which went home with nothing. Glenn Close again went home empty-handed for her overacting in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’.

The Obvious!

As expected Chadwick Boseman won Best Actor (Drama) in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’, while Sacha Baron Cohen won Best Actor in ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’, his sequel for ‘Borat’ (2007), marking the second time he won the award for that character. Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor for his seething performance in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’, another late arrival to awards season. As expected Chloe Zhao took Best Director for the winning Best Picture (Drama) ‘Nomadland’ marking just the second time a woman won the Best Director prize. Barbra Streisand won the award for ‘Yentl’ (1983) being the first woman to win Best Director, sixteen years before Kathryn Bigelow won the Academy Award for ‘The Hurt Locker’ (2009).

Netflix did not do well on the movie front, the same as last year, but they certainly did well with their TV offerings. Their magnificent series, ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ won Best Mini-Series, with its actress Anya Taylor-Joy taking Best Actress, richly deserved. ‘The Crown’ was a big winner too, bringing more hardware to Olivia Colman for her work as Queen Elizabeth II. It won Emma Corrin, Josh O Connor and Gillian Anderson acting honours for their respective roles of the late Princess Diana, Prince Charles and late Margaret Thatcher, the ex-prime minister of the UK. ‘Schitt’s Creek’ and ‘Ted Lasso’ were among the major winners. Mark Ruffalo won the best performance for his dual role in ‘I Know This Much Is True’

For a complete list of winners – https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/28/movies/golden-globes-winners-list.html

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