It’s not hyperbole to say that the stakes are higher for tonight’s GOLDEN GLOBES than they’ve ever been before. On the awards front, a full set of wide-open Oscar races means that most Globe winners will become instant Academy Awards favorites. Meanwhile, on the broader level, the Globes will be Hollywood’s first major awards show since the #metoo era began last fall, so everything said and done by host Seth Meyers and the presenters and winners will be scrutinized and parsed intently.
4:58PM: The red carpet seemed to go as planned with its sea of black outfits, and nary a question about who anyone was wearing Now it’s time for the main event.
5:06PM: On the highest wire of his career, Seth Meyers is so far balancing very smoothly.
5:12PM: The mood of the crowd seems to be on board with pointed jokes, but not personal ones. So the Kevin Spacey and Woody Allen gags aren’t playing very well.
5:13PM: All things considered, though, Meyers did about as well as any human could have in a tough slot.
5:14PM: First award of the night is one of the few Globes gimmes: Nicole Kidman, winning again for Big Little Lies. This one can be considered the first promo for Season 2.
5:19PM: Is this going to be a 3 Billboards night? Sam Rockwell takes Supporting Actor over Willem Dafoe and Christopher Plummer.
5:27PM: The most Golden Globe-iest nominee of this year’s Golden Globes is The Greatest Showman.
5:29PM: In the loaded TV Comedy Actress category, Rachel Brosnahan takes the award (after some Jennifer Aniston/Carol Burnett torture) for The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.
5:32PM: The Hollywood Foreign Press wouldn’t have dared to give TV Drama Actress to anyone but Elisabeth Moss, who gave the performance of the season in a show that only became more topical as the year went on.
5:38PM: There isn’t a person in that room who would know the head of the HFPA if they met her outside of that room.
5:40PM: Sarah Paulson is a goddess, but she’s not “the star of The Post.”
5:43PM: The Globes passed up the chance to give Freddie Highmore his first award for Good Doctor and joined the Emmys in awarding the great Sterling K. Brown.
5:45PM: Let’s hope Roseanne Barr and John Goodman have better timing together on the revival of Roseanne.
5:46PM: The Handmaid’s Tale is a fine show, but it’s also the show of the moment. Interestingly, with Hulu winning this and Mrs Maisel possibly taking Comedy for Amazon, Netflix could be the odd streaming service out tonight.
5:54PM: It’s too bad awards show clips are now just edited trailers, not actual scenes.
5:55PM: Another Emmys repeat as Alexander Skarsgard takes TV Supporting Actor for Big Little Lies.
5:57PM: The Shape of Water takes Best Score, which may mean something as the night goes on, since it beat 3 Billboards, Dunkirk and The Post. (Or not.)
6PM: The Greatest Showman‘s anthem wins Best Song, which was probably inevitable.
6:06PM: I’ve been doing such a good job of avoiding NBC’s Olympics promos that I didn’t realize Giancarlo Esposito was the voice of the campaign. Also, if the network’s Good Girls drama wasn’t a feminist show before, it’s certainly being positioned as one now.
6:09PM: James Franco takes Best Comedy Actor, so Daniel Kaluuya didn’t get the upset. And Franco, as promised, has Tommy Wiseau at the podium with him.
6Ange:12PM: But Franco’s not giving Tommy any of his microphone time.
6:13PM: Things have gotten noticeably less political since the show started running over.
6:17: Big Little Lies wins Supporting TV Actress for Laura Dern, over Handmaid’s Tale‘s Ann Dowd. Dern’s speech is one of the night’s most forthright.
6:21: Coco isn’t Pixar at its best, but it’ll do for Best Animated Film. John Lasseter who?
6:28PM: Best Supporting Actress goes to Allison Janney over Laurie Metcalf, which could be significant for the Oscars.
6:32PM: Wow. 101-year old Kirk Douglas. (Catherine Zeta-Jones won’t be mentioning that other 101-year old movie legend, Olivia de Haviland, who’s currently suing FX for Zeta-Jones’s role as de Haviland on Feud.)
6:34PM: 3 Billboards wins Best Screenplay for Martin McDonough, a big victory over Lady Bird, The Post and The Shape of Water.
6:41PM; Let’s all try not to think about the awful movie Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker did together.
6:42PM: A bit of a surprise in Foreign Film, where In the Fade took the award over The Square, Loveless and Angelina Jolie’s First They Killed My Father.
6:45PM: TV Limited Series Actor goes to Ewan McGregor in Fargo, a fairly big upset over Kyle McLachlan.
6:52PM: Folks, Barbra Streisand isn’t there by accident. She’s either presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Oprah, or Best Picture, or the Globes have something else going on.
6:53PM: The Marvelous Mrs Maisel takes TV Comedy, and Netflix eats some figurative dirt.
6:55PM: “Is there cheese backstage?” Of course Amy Sherman-Palladino talks exactly like an Amy Sherman-Palladino character.
6:56PM: Netflix clutches a Globes win, thanks to Aziz Ansari’s upset in Comedy Actor. He also wins the award for First Bleep of the night.
7PM: As we’re in a commercial break, and getting ready to enter the home stretch hour, a moment to note that in these precincts, no awards have us happier than the two for Marvelous Mrs Maisel, not the most important show of 2017, but the most delightful by far.
7:02PM …and we’re into Oprah salute time. Reese Witherspoon, her Wrinkle In Time co-star, is doing the presentation, not Streisand.
7:11PM: This must be the first time the HFPA has been described as having an “insatiable desire to uncover the absolute truth.”
7:17PM; A great, great speech. Is Oprah sure she’s not running for office?
7:18PM: After Natalie Portman delivers what might be the line of the night, noting that all the Best Director nominees are men, Guillermo del Toro wins for The Shape of Water. That’s mostly a blow to Christopher Nolan.
7:24PM: No one ever accused Disney of sitting on a promotional opportunity, and a Wrinkle In Time promo follows the Oprah speech. Because when all is said and done… Hollywood.
7:28PM: Big Little Lies winning Limited Series may be the least surprising award of the night.
7:34PM: Jessica Chastain’s political quips would work better if she wasn’t stumbling over them.
7:35PM: Saoirse Ronan jumps to the front of the Oscar line (to be shared with the Drama winner) with her win for Lady Bird, a blow to Margot Robbie.
7:44PM: Lady Bird wins Comedy/Musical, topping Get Out, The Disaster Artist & I, Tonya. (Yeah, and Greatest Showman.) A24 has an Oscar frontrunner for the 2nd year in a row. It would have been nice if Greta Gerwig had gotten a chance to speak for more than a few seconds, but NBC only cares about the show going off on time.
7:50PM: After some forced Thelma & Louise banter, Best Drama Actor goes to Gary Oldman, a desperately needed win for Darkest Hour. This means Call Me By Your Name and The Post may go home empty-handed, or with Picture and nothing else. But this is the Globes, so anything can still happen.
7:54PM: Another commercial break, and still 2 awards to go, so despite NBC’s best efforts, the show is going over.
8PM: Best Drama Actress is Frances McDormand, a big win for 3 Billboards. And did NBC think she was saying “fuck” instead of “Fox” before Searchlight? In any case, she’s the night’s most bleeped winner.
8:04PM: And… here’s Barbra. With a pointed speech about being the first and only female winner for Best Director.
8:06PM: 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri wins Best Picture, which is going to make for a very interesting Oscar race, since it’s developed into a polarizing choice. The Post still has enough firepower to be in the race, and Shape of Water won Director, but Call Me By Your Name may be done until it wins at one or more Guilds.
8:08PM: In all, a smoother show than some might have expected. The highlight was undoubtedly Oprah, and Seth Meyers emerged unscathed.
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