By JAKE COYLE
The Golden Globes returned on the air Tuesday with a celebrity-studded red carpet, comedian Jerrod Carmichael as a hesitant emcee and top prizes for Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” and Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin.” as the embattled awards show sought to rekindle its pre-pandemic, pre-scandal glamour.
Spielberg’s autobiographical coming-of-age film “The Fabelmans” won best motion picture drama and the dark friendship story “The Banshees of Inisherin” took home the award for best motion picture, comedy or musical. “Abbott Elementary,” “White Lotus” and “House of the Dragon” topped the TV awards.
The possible return of the Globes ended like many Globes ceremonies before it: with a triumphant Spielberg. For the fifth time, one of Spielberg’s films won a Globe for Best Picture. Nominated 14 times for the Globes for best director, Spielberg also won the honor for the third time. He began by thanking his three sisters, his late father, and his late mother, Leah Adler (played by Michelle Williams in the film). “She’s up there discussing this right now,” Spielberg said.
Carmichael opened the 80th Golden Globe Awards from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, with little fanfare that usually opens such ceremonies. He dove right into the issues that drove the Globes off television and led much of the entertainment industry to boycott the Hollywood Foreign Press Association after it was revealed the group had no black members. Carmichael opened by asking the crowd to “be a little quiet in here.”
“I’m your host, Jerrod Carmichael,” said the “Rothaniel” comedian. And I’ll tell you why I’m here. I’m here because I’m black.
“I will not say that they were a racist organization,” he continued before taking his seat on the stage. “But they didn’t have a single black member until George Floyd died. So do with that information what you want.”
McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” walked away with three awards, including best screenplay for McDonagh and best actor in a comedy for Colin Farrrell. Fourteen years earlier, Farrell won a Globe for McDonagh’s “In Bruges,” which also paired him with Brendan Gleeson. In his remarks, Farrell thanked the playwright, his co-stars, his children and the film’s donkey, Jenny.
On a sodden night after the prolonged and punishing rains that have battered Southern California, the top prize went to Ke Huy Quan, the former child star of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” for best supporting actor in ” Everything Everywhere All at Once”. .” A clearly emotional Quan, who had left acting years before directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert cast him for their multiverse story, thanked them for his second act.
“More than 30 years later, two guys thought of me,” Quan said. “They remembered that child. And they gave me the chance to try again.”
Michelle Yeoh, the star of “Everything Everywhere At Once,” also won best actress in a musical or comedy. The Malaysian-born Yeoh was only the second actress of Asian descent to win in the category, after her “Crazy Rich Asian” co-star Awkwafina, who won for “The Farewell” in 2020. 60 years. said old Yeoh. “Don’t let this go.”
Arguably Yeoh’s toughest competition at the Academy Awards, Cate Blanchett of “Tár” won best actress in a drama. Blanchett, in production, was not on hand to collect the fourth Globe from her. (Also absent was Kevin Costner, winner of the award for best actor in a drama series for “Yellowstone.” Host Regina Hall said he was taking refuge in Santa Barbara because of the flooding.)
Angela Bassett, a likely Oscar nominee, won best supporting actress for her performance in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“Crying can come at night, but joy comes in the morning,” Bassett said, referring to the loss of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman.
Best actor was a surprise. Austin Butler won for his performance in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis.” Arguably the favorite in the category has been Brendan Fraser for “The Whale.” Before the Globes, Fraser said he wouldn’t attend because “my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite.” In 2018, Fraser said that longtime HFPA member Philip Berk groped him in 2003. Berk, who is no longer an HFPA member, denied this.
Mike White’s “The White Lotus” won best limited or anthology series. Fresh off her dramatic finale, Jennifer Coolidge delivered one of the longest and most heartwarming speeches of the night as she accepted the award for best supporting actress in a limited series.
“Even if this is the end, you changed my life in a million different ways,” Coolidge told White. “My neighbors are talking to me, things like that.”
The public school sitcom “Abbott Elementary” was TV’s top nominee, taking home three awards, including best comedy series. Quinta Brunson, the show’s creator and star, won best actress in a comedy series, and Tyler James Williams won for her supporting role.
“It has resonated with the world in a way that I couldn’t even have imagined it would,” Brunson said as he thanked the studies that supported his vision. “But let’s be real. I imagined that. That’s why I sold it to you.
Best drama series went to the “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon.”
“Naatu Naatu” by Telugu sensation “RRR”, won the best song award ahead of Rihanna and Taylor Swift.
The Globes were thrown into chaos shortly before a largely remote 2021 pandemic awards show when a Los Angeles Times report revealed that the HFPA, then 87-member, had no black members.
Stars and studios boycotted last year’s ceremony, which NBC chose not to televise, saying the HFPA needed time to make “meaningful reform.”
Tom Cruise, whose “Top Gun: Maverick” was nominated for best motion picture drama, returned his three Golden Globes after the HFPA revelations. Midway through Tuesday’s show, Carmichael emerged with three trophies that he said he found backstage and suggested they be exchanged for Shelly Miscavige, the wife of the Church of Scientology leader.
The HFPA has vowed to reform, diversifying its membership and changing some of the ways it operates. It now has 96 members, including six black members, along with 103 non-member voters. Billionaire Todd Boehly bought the Globes and began turning the nonprofit group into a for-profit company.
The reaction to the Globes nominations last month was muted. But much of the industry showed up Tuesday. Eddie Murphy and Ryan Murphy received tributes. Sean Penn presented a message from the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“There will be no third world war,” Zelenskyy said in a recorded message, predicting Russia’s defeat. “It’s not a trilogy.”
When the Globes were on the brink, NBC reformulated its agreement with the Globes into a one-year contract and moved the show from Sunday to Tuesday. That meant that the Globes essentially underwent a year-long audition to regain their position in awards season.
As has been the case with most award shows, the Globes audience has tanked. After 18.4 million watched the 2020 awards, the 2021 edition drew just 6.9 million, according to Nielsen. Still, the Globes remain a valuable marketing tool for awards nominees, supporting movie ads in the long period between the holidays and the Oscars, which air on March 12, a year after ” the slap”.
Accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Eddie Murphy said he knew the blueprint for longevity in show business: “Pay your taxes, mind your own business, and keep Will Smith’s wife’s name out of your (expletive)! ) mouth!”.
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