By Brooks Barnes
The 81st Golden Globes kicked off Hollywood’s awards season Sunday in a chaotic and sloppy manner, with the host, Jo Koy, delivering a train wreck of a monologue, winners alternately seeming to take the ceremony seriously and not at all, and prizes going to a wide array of films and television shows.
“Oppenheimer,” which entered the ceremony with eight nominations, emerged as the movie to beat in the coming Oscar race, winning five Globes, including for best drama, Christopher Nolan’s directing and Cillian Murphy’s acting. “Barbie,” “The Holdovers” and “Poor Things” also won notable movie awards.
Here are the other main takeaways:
— The most nominated film, “Barbie,” which received citations in nine categories, won two Globes, including the one for best cinematic and box office achievement, a newly created prize. Its other victory was for best song.
— HBO’s “Succession” was the top television winner, as expected. The show collected Globes for best drama, actress (Sarah Snook), actor (Kieran Culkin) and supporting actor (Matthew Macfadyen).
— “Poor Things,” a surreal science-fiction romance, won best movie, comedy or musical. Emma Stone, the film’s star, received the Globe for best comedic actress, while Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) received the statuette for best comedic actor.
— Lily Gladstone won the Globe for best actress in a drama for her performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” becoming the first Indigenous person to win the award.
— Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”) was honored as best supporting actress. Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”) won best supporting actor.
— Netflix’s “Beef” and FX’s “The Bear” each won three Globes. “Beef” was named best limited series, and Ali Wong and Steven Yeun collected Globes for their acting in the show. “The Bear” won the trophy for best comedy, and two of its stars, Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White, were honored for their performances.
It was the first time that the Hollywood establishment had convened since the resolution of twin union strikes that shut down the industry for much of the past year. The Globes themselves were looking to turn a page by moving past an ethics, finance and diversity scandal that resulted in the sale of the show, an overhaul of its voting body and a change of network to CBS from NBC.
In recent years, the Golden Globes has become known for speeches about causes and concerns, most of them progressive. Last year, the ceremony gave airtime to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who spoke about his country’s war with Russia. This time around, the host and the winners seemed determined to steer clear of politics, with hot-button subjects such as the Israel-Hamas war going unmentioned.
The more the Globes change, however, the more they seem to stay the same. Just as in the past, voters spread their awards far and wide; five movies won at least two trophies. And, just as in the past, there was at least one curveball — this year in the form of best screenplay, which went to the French film “Anatomy of a Fall.” Gold Derby, which compiles the predictions of two dozen awards handicappers, had predicted that “Barbie” would win.
2024 GOLDEN GLOBE WINNERS
Best Motion Picture, Drama
“Oppenheimer”
Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
“Poor Things”
Best Motion Picture, Animated
“The Boy and the Heron”
Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
“Barbie”
Best Motion Picture, Non-English Language
“Anatomy of a Fall”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Emma Stone, “Poor Things”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”
Best Director, Motion Picture
Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, “Anatomy of a Fall”
Best Original Score, Motion Picture
Ludwig Göransson, “Oppenheimer”
Best Original Song, Motion Picture
“What Was I Made For?,” from “Barbie”
Best Television Series, Drama
“Succession”
Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy
“The Bear”
Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture made for Television
“Beef”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama
Sarah Snook, “Succession”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama
Kieran Culkin, “Succession”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Movie
Ali Wong, “Beef”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Steven Yeun, “Beef”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role
Elizabeth Debicki, “The Crown”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”
Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television
Ricky Gervais, “Ricky Gervais: Armageddon”