I usually don’t take it upon myself to fill out an official ballot for any award show other than The Academy Awards themselves. Reason being, it’s tough to predict who will win these coveted awards. The 73rd Annual Golden Globes, which aired Sunday (1/10/16) @ 8pm and was hosted by long-time favorite Ricky Gervais, is a gala put forth by the H.F.P.A (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) – which, as Gervais said best, an event put forth so these thick accented journalist can take a few selfies with some big stars. These are honestly just a prelude to the award season front, but can change and shift momentum like that. The Oscars and the Globes are two entirely different broadcasts, but in scope offer us a good look at some potential dark horses.

Heading into the night Spotlight or Room were considered to be HUGE favorites in the Best Picture (Drama) category while Adam McKay’s hilarious The Big Short SHOULD have taken home Best Picture (Comedy). The night was filled with huge surprises, it started when Jonah Hill dressed up as the bear that attacks Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, announcing the winner of Best Supporting Actress to a stunned Kate Winslet for her performance in Steve Jobs (which was a huge upset over favorite Jennifer Jason-Leigh) only time will tell if Winslet can fend off that pack come Guild and Oscar time. Or, maybe the HFPA wanted Leo and Kate to win in the same night (entirely possible).

The HFPA did continue their tradition of awarding some unknown shows, (how many of you googled Mozart In The Jungle or Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – after they took home top honors for Best Comedy Series or Best Actress respectively – I did). It’s kind of hard to imagine Mozart beating out such likes of Orange Is The New Black or House Of Cards, but then again this was a very unpredictable slew of events.

One thing though that was assuredly decided was that I do believe this is FINALLY going to be Leo’s year to take home the Oscar for Best Actor. He received a very generous standing ovation upon accepting the award here tonight (much like Sylvester Stallone did for reprising Rocky in Creed) – which tells me that a lot of voters are rooting for him. DiCaprio gave one of the best speeches on the night, discussing indigenous populations while giving shout-outs to underappreciated talent like his make-up artist. That was not all for The Revenant, it also took home Best Directing accolades for Alejandro G Inarritu as well as Best Picture (Drama) over heavy awards favorite Spotlight. What’s even more absurd was the fact The Martian, which was about Matt Damon stranded in space, won Best Picture (Comedy) over Amy Schumer led-Trainwreck or The Big Short. Sure, The Martian had some funny one-liners but to say it’s a comedy is probably one of the most laughable notes of the night.

Speaking of playing a martian, Matt Damon took home Best Actor (comedy) while Aaron Sorkin took him Best Screenplay nabs for Steve Jobs (proving that HFPA loves him dearly). Lada Gaga won for her role as the countess in American Horror Story: Hotel over Kirsten Dunst in Fargo (huh?). While Christian Slater took him his first Globe ever for playing a hacker in the new freshman USA drama Mr. Robot (which also took home Best Series (Drama) over Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and Fargo.

Some other not-so surprises happened on the night either, Inside Out handily took home Best Animated Feature which it will take home Oscar night. But the main thing to note was how under utilized Ricky Gervais was. I mean he took some easy punches at Catlin Jenner, Mel Gibson, gender equality, and Donald Trump. Aside from his opening monologue (which was his typical – let me have a pint schtick) – he really did not do much. The awkward (and very censored) interaction he had with Mel Gibson was humorous at best, but those censors loved to hold that button down, as there were many times throughout the night where whole sentences were lost because of one word.   

Tom Hanks came on stage fighting a similar code he had in Bridge Of Spies presenting the Cecil B. Demille award to Philadelphia co-star Denzel Washington and of course Jim Carrey (sporting a very fun-old fashioned grizzly beard) scored huge laughs presenting the award for Best Motion Picture (Comedy).

All in all, this awards ceremony kind of lacked in comparison to other years, sure we could predict that Jennifer Lawrence would take home Best Actress for her work in David O’ Russell’s underrated Joy, over what should have been Amy Schumer or how we couldn’t predict all the very Gifable moments (like how Lady Gaga bumped into Leonardo DiCaprio on the way to accepting her award). All good stuff. In the next month I will have a better idea at who most likely is going to take home so awards come Oscar night, some are givens (Leo and Inside Out) others are going to be toss ups (Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress). While of course I want Brie Larson (who did remarkable work in Room) will face some stiff competition this season as the Best Actress category is as competitive as it’s ever been.

For more coverage you can check out our list of winners below and stay tuned as I SPECTRA will have more info on the OSCARS nominations when they become available

 

MOVIES

Best Motion Picture, Drama

Carol

Mad Max: Fury Road

WINNER: The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Best Motion Picture, Musical, or Comedy

The Big Short

Joy

WINNER: The Martian

Spy

Trainwreck

Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama

Cate Blanchett, Carol

WINNER: Brie Larson, Room

Rooney Mara, Carol

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy

WINNER: Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Melissa McCarthy, Spy

Amy Schumer, Trainwreck

Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van

Lily Tomlin, Grandma

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

WINNER: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Will Smith, Concussion

Best Performance By an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Paul Dano, Love

Idris Elba, Beast of No Nation

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Michael Shannon, 99 Homes

WINNER: Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Best Performance by Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Jane Fonda, Youth

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Helen Mirren, Trumbo

Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina

WINNER: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Best Director, Motion Picture

Todd Haynes, Carol

WINNER: Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant

Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

Ridley Scott, The Martian

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical, or Comedy

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Steve Carell, The Big Short

WINNER: Matt Damon, The Martian

Al Pacino, Danny Collins

Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture

Emma Donoghue, Room

Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, Spotlight

Charles Randolph & Adam McKay, The Big Short

WINNER: Aaron Sorkin, Steve Jobs

Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight

Original Score, Motion Picture

Carter Burwell, Carol

Alexander Desplat, The Danish Girl

WINNER: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight

Daniel Pemberton, Steve Jobs

Ryuchi Sakamoto, The Revanant

 

Best Motion Picture, Animated

Anomalisa

The Good Dinosaur

WINNER: Inside Out

The Peanuts Movie

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best Original Song, Motion Picture

“Love Me Like You Do,” Fifty Shades of Grey

“One Kind of Love,” Love & Mercy

“See You Again,” Furious 7

“Simple Song #3,” Youth

WINNER: “Writing’s on the Wall,” Spectre

Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language

The Brand New Testament

The Club

The Fencer

Mustang

WINNER: Son of Saul

TELEVISION

Best Television Series, Drama

Empire, Fox

Game of Thrones, HBO

WINNER: Mr. Robot, USA

Narcos, Netflix

Outlander, Starz

Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy

Casual, Hulu

WINNER: Mozart in the Jungle, Amazon Video

Orange Is the New Black, Netflix

Silicon Valley, HBO

Transparent, Amazon Video

Veep, HBO

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

American Crime, ABC

American Horror Story: Hotel, FX

Fargo, FX

Flesh and Bone, Starz

WINNER: Wolf Hall, PBS

Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Series, Drama

WINNER: Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Rami Malek, Mr. Robot

Wagner Moura, Narcos

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Series, Musical, or Comedy

Aziz Ansari, Master of None

WINNER: Gael García Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle

Rob Lowe, The Grinder

Patrick Stewart, Blunt Talk

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television

Idris Elba, Luther

WINNER: Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero

David Oyelowo, Nightingale

Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall

Patrick Wilson, Fargo

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television

Alan Cumming, The Good Wife

Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall

Ben Mendelson, Bloodline

Tobias Menzies, Outlander

WINNER: Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series, Drama

Caitriona Balfe, Outlander

Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder

Eva Green, Penny Dreadful

WINNER: Taraji P. Henson, Empire

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television

Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black

Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey

Regina King, American Crime

Judith Light, Transparent

WINNER: Maura Tierney, The Affair

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Kirsten Dunst, Fargo

WINNER: Lady Gaga, American Horror Story: Hotel

Sarah Hay, Flesh and Bone

Felicity Huffman, American Crime

Queen Latifah, Bessie

Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series, Musical, or Comedy

WINNER: Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Jamie Lee Curtis, Scream Queens

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie