No, I was not expecting Nomadland to win Best Motion Picture - Drama! My money was on The Trial of the Chicago 7, but Nomadland keeps its impressive awards run!
But the night's big winner was Andra Day - who pulled an utterly unexpected win for her amazing performnace in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. The movie is a weak one itself, but Day ignites the screen with true star power and a graceful tribute to Billie Holiday's persona. Another win no one really saw it coming was Jodie Foster's for her performance in The Mauritanian. Both Day and Foster - holding shaky #4 and #5 places in Oscar predictions (in Foster's case, she wasn't even being predicted by most predictions folks) before the Globes - seem to have secured a safe place in the Oscar predictions' shortlists for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. A note to Rosamund Pike's late enthusiasm for her performance in I Care a Lot: she's a delight to watch as an evil woman, but winning a Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical Golden Globe is not that big Oscar boost some people might think.
I was not expecting to see Mank going home empty handed. In fact, I was predicting David Fincher to take home Best Director. Amanda Seyfried really feels vulnerable to me, right now and I started doubting her Oscar chances. As for Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah), I believe the Globes were just the beginning of their televised awards sweeps - Netflix is capitalizing the need to recognize Boseman's last works before his premature death and Kaluuya simply delivers one of the year's best performances and he deserves every award.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and Sacha Baron Cohen's wins don't really matter that much for the Oscar unless voters feel curious about the movie and they get amazed by Maria Bakalova's performance (still, the HFPA was able to give the Globe to Pike instead, when they clearly loved Borat 2). Minari won't compete for Best International Film at the Oscars (since it is an American production), but its win in this category AND the controversy surrounding its category placement at the Globes might work as good publicity. Soul is the clear frontrunner for both Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score and it deserves it!
Promising Young Woman got nothing... Carey Mulligan didn't win and most Oscar folks weren't predicting this. I don't know what to think! I still believe Carey Mulligan will be snubed at the Oscars despite precursors point the other way.
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In the end, it was a great night for POC: Zhao, Day, Boseman, Kaluuya, Minari's crew and Soul (an animated feature led by a Black American character). It's always nice to see inclusive choice, but let's not forget to award the most deserving winner. In my opinion, Anthony Hopkins (The Father) deserves more award recognition than the deceased Chadwick Boseman (RIP) for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. That's how we see who the good campaigners are: since the best work doesn't always win, the publicity and social media appeal pay a big role during an Oscar campaign.
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