The 2023 awards season kicked off on January 10th with the 80th Golden Globe Awards. After surviving a massive boycott due to allegations of financial malfeasance and a staggering lack of diversity among its members, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association got the Golden Globes back on TV and with a full audience and sponsors. The award show was hosted by Jerrod Carmichael and was good considering recent award show shenanigans (nobody got slapped here)

The Banshees of Inisherin and The Fabelmans beat out tough competition to take home the awards for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and Best Motion Picture Drama respectively. House of the Dragon won best Drama Series and Abbott Elementary gained Best Comedy series. The White Lotus, which has had the country in its hands since debuting on HBO,  easily won Best Limited Series. 

One highlight of the show was Ke Huy Quan winning Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. The Vietnamese-American former child actor has experienced a massive career resurgence since returning to acting in 2021 and has won a plethora of awards for his performance as Waymond in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Quan’s emotional speech was a high point for the show. His co star Michelle Yeoh also claimed the Best Actress in Motion Picture Comedy or Musical award. 

Colin Farrell snagged Best Actor in Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for his role in Banshees of Inisherin. Cate Blanchett’s performance in Tar earned her Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama. Angela Bassett won Best Supporting Actress in Motion Picture for Black Panther Wakanda Forever and gave a tear jerking speech discussing her late co-star Chadwick Boseman. Zendeya added another award to her collection with her Best Actress in a Drama Series win for Euphoria. Kevin Costner gained the Best Actor in Drama Series with Yellowstone. Jeremy Allen White won his first Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy Series with his role as an intense chef in The Bear. Abbott Elementary gained two more Golden Globes with Quinta Brunson (Best Actress in Comedy Series) and Tyler James Williams (Best Supporting Actor in TV Series). Julie Garner won Best Supporting Actress in Television Series for her role as the intense young criminal Ruth in the final season of Ozark.

Amanda Seyfried gained another Best Actress in a Limited Series Award for playing the infamous Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout. Best Supporting Performances in Limited Series easily went to Paul Walter Hauser’s chilling performance in Blackbird and Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus. Coolidge’s emotional speech was a highlight of the evening

Steven Spielberg won his 2nd Golden Globe for Best Director with The Fabelmans. Best Original Score went to Babylon and Best Screenwriter went to Banshees of Inisherin’s Martin McDonagh. Best Song was claimed by the song “Naatu Naatu” from the Indian blockbuster RRR. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinnochio won Best Animated Feature while Best Non English FIlm went to Argentina, 1985. Eddie Murphy and Ryan Murphy (no relation, obviously) were awarded honorary awards for their contributions to the industry (Hopefully Ryan Murphy contributes next by making American Horror Story watchable again) 

 The show was not without its downsides however. While most agreed that Austin Butler’s performance in Elvis was deserving enough of the award for Best Actor in Motion Picture Drama, many feel the HFPA couldn’t be trusted to make an unbiased choice here. Brendan Fraser, who was nominated in the category for his role in The Whale, accused former HFPA President Phillip Berk of sexual assault and of subsequently blacklisting him for discussing the assault. Fraser did not attend the ceremony due to his “history with the organization”. There was also Evan Peters win for Best Actor in a Limited Series for playing notorious rapist and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in the show Dahmer also garnered controversy as many feel that giving the controversial show accolades will continue the current nauseating trend of how true crime is depicted. 

Overall it was a decent award show. These awards, as well as BAFTA and SAG Awards, are seen as the main precursors to the Oscars and the Emmys. The Oscar nominations are expected to drop soon so be on the lookout for that