Snubs, Surprises and Salutes at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards

The results are in! Phallic-shaped gold statues for TV and/or movie’s brightest stars.

Movie-wise it was the Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood ⭐️⭐️⭐️ show peppered in with a whole lotta 1917 love and streaming giants Netflix and Amazon original movies parking cars outside the event.

Here’s where I get to judge the judges (surprises), berate the raters (snubs) and congratulate (salute) the winners. I’m going to bow out on uninformed commentary on some categories, particularly the TV awards, since I followed very little TV in 2019.

Note: Saw Rocketman earlier in the year at the theater and enjoyed it, but haven’t rated and reviewed it yet, hence why it is unlinked in this post. I skipped movie categories where I haven’t seen all of the movies except for Pain and Glory for the Best Actor (haven’t seen but have heard that Antonio Banderas was fantastic) and 1917 in Best Movie – Drama – which I am disputing should even be eligible for 2019. Nobody is going to listen to me, of course, but in my infinitesimal corner of the web, it matters.

Next year I’ll be able to cover most, if not all, movie categories. Unfortunately, I wasn’t review active until August 12, 2019 forward.

If you want to catch the complete list of nominations and awards, including TV, see CNN. Yes, I know the list below does not cover every single movie category and zero TV categories, I’m just pulling out critique-worthy high points on movies.

Am breaking up the results into three categories:

1. Salutes – the judges got it right!
2. Surprises – there were multiple good choices, but this winner prevailed
3. Snubs – winners announced that the judges got wrong (in my opinion) — of course congrats to the winner

Let’s slice and dice!

Salutes

1. WINNER – Best Actor — Drama
   Joker ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
   Joaquin Phoenix
   
   The obvious choice and very, very well deserved!
   
2. WINNER – Best Actress — Drama
   JUDY ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
   Renee Zellweger
   
   Congrats Renee! The script was a bit lackluster, but there was no denying how hard Zellweger worked to embody the incomparable Judy Garland … and, not just looking like her, but singing her song?! Wow. Love it. Excellent choice. My favorite award pick of the event because the judges could have gone with other actresses who were in better films. Instead, they did the right thing and judged based on the overall performance, of which Zellweger’s was fantastic.
   
3. WINNER – Best Actress in Supporting Role
   Marriage Story⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
   Laura Dern
   
   One of the few streaming movie award winners and well-deserved! Laura Dern performance as the hard hitting divorce attorney for Scar Jo is equally humorous and scathing.
   
4. WINNER – Best Actor in Musical or Comedy
   Rocketman
   Taron Egerton

Surprises

1. WINNER – Best Motion Picture – Drama
   1917
   
   Surprise for me because I haven’t been able to see it yet. It doesn’t even open wide until next week (1/10/2020)! Can’t put this under snubs, because I might absolutely love this film. Regardless the merits of the film, which I am very much looking forward to seeing, films that aren’t widely released in the United States in the calendar year of the award season should not be eligible. Maybe nobody will agree with me on this, but my story and sticking to it.
   
2. WINNER – Best Actor in a Supporting Role
   Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood ⭐️⭐️⭐️
   Brad Pitt
   
   Either Al Pacino or Joe Pesci in The Irishman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ were more deserving. Not quite a snub because this is a very subjective pick and I did like Pitt much better in this than Ad Astra ⭐️ but … still, why?

Snubs

1. WINNER – Best Screenplay for Motion Picture
   Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood ⭐️⭐️⭐️
   Quentin Tarantino
   
   Snubbed – Marriage Story⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
   Noah Bombeck’s script was a nearly perfect analysis of divorce and a tender, powerful enduring friendship. Tarantino’s script was basically an alternate timeline piece on Manson with faux realism.
   
2. WINNER – Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
   Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood ⭐️⭐️⭐️
   
   Snubbed – Dolemite Is My Name⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Knives Out ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and Rocketman
   I would have voted first for Dolemite because, well, it’s way funnier. Next I could have given it to Knives Out because it’s both clever and funny. Even Rocketman was a better choice, because it was an inventive biopic musical. I’m sure others might say Jojo Rabbit ⭐️⭐️⭐️½  got snubbed and that would be the only other choice I would also have disagreed with than what was chosen. Bad pick.

Overall summary

I didn’t watch the event and hear the acceptance speeches (will be tuning into YouTube to catch them), that’s perhaps the part I missed most not watching the three hour long ceremony. I’m not about the red carpet or fashion glitz and glamor, but it’s cool to watch who gets thanked and see the expressions of the award winners.

It’s clear, at least on the movie awards, that streaming is still not getting as equal love and acceptance in these awards (nice to see Laura Dern’s award!). Tarantino’s ninth film (and not even in my top 3 for his work to date) getting so much love? Movie-wise, it’s the Tarantino and Mendez party, and if you aren’t on their invite list, it’s gawking from the grandstands time.

On the flip side, there were several really good choices. Congratulations to all the winners.

What did you think of the winners? What are your salutes, surprises and snubs? TV, Movies, it’s all good to discuss in the comments below.