Recapping the 2021 Golden Globes

By Dan Skip Allen

Awards season has officially started with the 2021 Golden Globes airing live on NBC, hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in two different locations: one in New York and the other in Los Angeles at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The only people allowed in attendance besides the presenters were first responders and medical personnel from nurses to doctors. They were all gussied up for the big night. 

The virtual ceremony went pretty well except at the beginning when Daniel Kaluuya forgot to unmute himself. He said "You Did Me Dirty" thinking he was robbed of his moment, but he realized he had to unmute himself to talk. A few moments of Fey and Poehler stepping over each other were the only other problem I noticed. Otherwise, the show went off without a hitch.

Speaking of the hosts. Fey and Poehler, we're entertaining. Some of the skits they got started on were funny as well. They relied on their old friends from SNL (Saturday Night Live) to help them. Keenan Thompson and Maya Rudolph accepting a fake award for the best song as brother and sister was a pretty funny skit. The show moved along at a nice pace. And the acceptance speeches were pretty genuine and real. Some people were pleasantly surprised they won. Especially Andra Day for Best Actress in a Drama for her role in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

Brits were the big winners though this year at the globes. Starting with Kaluuya for best supporting actor for Judas and the Black Messiah. Following right after by John Boyega for Small Axe (Red, White and Blue). As the night progressed more Brits kept winning. Rosamund Pike won for I Care A Lot for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and Sasha Baron Cohen for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. Anya Taylor-Joy and Emma Corin won for The Queen's Gambit and The Crown respectively. Josh O' Connor followed his co-star in The Crown with a win as well.

In addition to all of the British winners on the night, a few other specific films did very well. Nomadland won Best Motion Picture - Drama and its director Chloe Zhao won the best director. I might add this was my personal number one film of 2020. It made me happy to see Nomadland do well. The Trial of the Chicago 7 won Aaron Sorkin the Best Screenplay award. Soul took home two awards, winning Best Animated Feature Film and Best Score. Other winners on the night were Jodie Foster for Best Supporting Actress for The Mauritanian and Chadwick Boseman (posthumously) for Best Actor in a Drama for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Minari took home the award for Best Foreign Langage Film. 

With all the winners on the night must come the losers as well. Leslie Odom Jr. was said to be a favorite for the Best Original Song but lost out to the song for The Life Ahead, "Io si (Seen)" by Diane Warren and others. As stated already Andra Day beat out some heavy competition with Carey Mulligan, Frances McDormand, Viola David, and Vanessa Kirby all coming up short for Best Actress in a Drama. Rosamund Pike and Jodie Foster might also be slight upsets. 

All in all, it was a good night to be a film and television fan. If you're in the business or not a lot of great shows and movies were rewarded with nice big shiny trophies. The HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) gets a lot of slack, but they did a pretty good job last night. They even stood up and mentioned the fact they need more minority representation in their ranks which was a huge issue coming into the ceremony. Even Fey and Poehler mentioned it during their opening monologue. It's a good sign that they are addressing the issue. It was a solid show!