The Golden Globes seem to have played a safe card this year, with most of the old scandalous action done away with. All the radical statements, drunken rants, and other surprises of the show which made them fun to watch; were replaced with a dull atmosphere that may put a person to sleep. Even the host, Jo Koy, was described as the least funny and blandest host in years. The dullness witnessed led to the BBC stating that “Without the entertainment factor, it’s easier to see the Golden Globes for what they are: a campaign stop on the way to the Oscars.”
Beyond this lack of thrill, there were some welcomed surprises within the given awards. The best actor in a musical or comedy film was given to Paul Giamatti, for his performance in the film Holdovers. Another was the surprising fact that the film Barbie, despite the fact that it received the most number of nominations, failed to win any of the noteworthy awards.
There was also the tension between Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, for the most prized awards. In the end Nolan won best drama motion picture, best director of a motion picture, and best original soundtrack; then there was Cillian Murphy’s win as best actor in a drama motion picture for his performance in Oppenheimer as the name sack of the film.
A warm welcome in the awards was Lily Gladstone, who won the best actress in a drama. This makes her the first Native American woman to have received the award. She began her acceptance speech by saying a few words in the Blackfoot language, before then saying in English, “Native actors used to speak their lines in English and the sound mixer would run them backwards to accomplish Native languages on camera.”
Overall whilst the ceremony was overall dull, at least there were some rather good films that had been made in 2023. The atmosphere created though before the other awards ceremonies has been quite tainted through this rather poor performance from those giving awards to celebrate astonishing performances.
