The 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards took place on Sunday, Jan. 11. The event was hosted by comedy duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and featured some surprising winners.
The night belonged to Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood”, which had five nominations. The film explores the highs and lows of growing up as seen through the eyes of Mason (played by Ellar Coltrane) and was filmed over the course of twelve years, using the same actors. The drama won the Globes for Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Patricia Arquette), and Best Director — Motion Picture (Richard Linklater).
Julianne Moore won the Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama for her premier performance in “Still Alice”, which received no other nominations.
English actor Eddie Redmayne beat out Jake Gyllenhaal’s prodigious role in “Nightcrawler” to win the Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama, for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything”, which was directed by James Marsh and written by Anthony McCarten.
Not surprisingly, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, which earned four nominations, was awarded the Globe for Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical, although many thought Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman might be a likely winner. Iñárritu took home the Globe for Best Screenplay — Motion Picture. Golden Globe winner Alejandro González Iñárritu’s comedy-drama Birdman earned seven nominations, but won just two Globes.
“How to Train your Dragon 2” won the Globe for Best Animated Feature Film, beating out Disney’s “Big Hero 6” and the hugely high grossing film, “The Lego Movie.”
Showtime’s drama series, “The Affair”, surprised everyone by winning the Globe for Best Television Series — Drama over Netflix’s “House of Cards” and ITV’s “Downton Abbey”, to name just two.
The Affair’s Ruth Wilson won the Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama while her co-star Dominic West was nominated in the corresponding category.
Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey won his first Golden Globe after eight nominations. His work on Netflix’s “House of Cards” did more than enough to set himself apart from the other nominees.
Spacey expressed his disbelief in his acceptance speech. “This is the eighth time I’ve been nominated,” Spacey said. “I can’t f**king believe I won.”
Shockingly, HBO’s “True Detective” did not win a single Golden Globe. Though it is the seventh highest rated television show of all time on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the chilling anthology series lost in all four categories in which it was nominated, including Best Mini-Series and Motion Picture Made for Television.
“Fargo”, adapted from the 1996 Coen Brothers’ Crime/Drama, earned the most nominations for a television show at five, also winning the Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, which went to actor Billy Bob Thornton.
To summarize: Kevin Spacey finally won, “Fargo” and “Boyhood” swept, and hopefully 2015 will be a better year for film.
