The Snubs and Surprises of the 2020 Golden Globes Winners
“Hollywood” and “1917” Exceed, “The Irishman” Bleeds and More Surprises and Snubs
By: Keaton Marcus
Here, we cover some of the biggest surprises and disappointments of this year’s official winners for the Golden Globes.
Surprise: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Nabs Three Wins
The first massive surprise was Quentin Tarantino’s hit love-letter to the ‘60’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which had a solid night at the 2020 Golden Globes. Originally nominated for four categories, the flick took home an impressive three wins, including Best Musical or Comedy, Brad Pitt for Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay. Leonardo DiCaprio only missed out on Best Actor. Furthermore, the success was well-deserved, with us handing it a positive 85/100 “sweet”, calling it a “comic late ‘60’s throwback with Brad and Leo”. Yes, it’s got the great reception, but taking 75% of its nominations is certainly a surprise!
Snub: “The Irishman” Comes Home Empty-Handed
While nothing is actually confirmed, we were all expecting Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman to bring its A-game to the official wins for the Golden Globes, especially after it was nominated for five. The nods included Best Drama, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci for Best Supporting Actor, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Not even one. Yep, that’s correct, our favorite movie of the year took home none of its well-deserved nominations. Still, because of the snub that the given picture is, it did pave way for a couple unexpected wins, which is positive for others, but certainly not for the three and a half hour gangster drama. It may have been very recognized in the noms, but it’s still a disappointment for Scorsese and Netflix.
Surprise: “1917” Earns Two Wins
A third surprised happened to be “1917”, a film centering around World War One, and soon to be expanded to wide release this weekend. Personally, I haven’t seen the supposedly amazing feature yet (expect a review on the ninth), but the critics have certainly been buzzing. On aggregator RottenTomatoes, the film has received an impressive 90% “Certified Fresh” based on 184 reviews. Considering this, the movie has proved its rightful place at the awards. Nominated for three, and winning two including Best Drama and Best Director (Sam Mendes), 1917 was a big hit last night, and a good success for Mendes.
Surprise/Snub: “Marriage Story” Get’s One, but Scarlett Johansson and More Miss
This happens to be more of a hybrid, but slightly leaning towards the snub side. We’re talking about the romance drama Marriage Story, which was nominated for a whopping six categories, and came home with one win. While its impressive even to win even one, it didn’t perform as planned. Congratulations to Laura Dern, however, who won Best Supporting Actress, but that couldn’t quite cover the misses. The disappointments were with Best Actress, where Scarlett Johansson lost to Reneè Zellweger (Judy), Best Screenplay where it was beaten by Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Best Drama (lost to 1917), Best Original Score (lost to Joker) and Adam Driver for Best Actor (lost to Joaquin Phoenix for Joker). Well, it’s mostly a snub and another let down for Netflix.
Surprise: “Joker” Put on a Happy Face, Winning Two
For the final break-down, we have another surprise on our hands. This time it’s the Clown Prince of Crime and his new origin story Joker, helmed by Todd Phillips. While this is a great movie, receiving an excellent 90/100 “sweet”, it was also deemed highly controversial, which dampened chances of winning. However, after it was nominated for four categories, it still managed to take home both Joaquin Phoenix for Best Actor and Best Original Score. While with no doubt it deserved all four, we still were all impressed after the criticisms for the mishandling of gun violence, and very intense themes. Well, DC, Phillips and Phoenix’s billion dollar hit ended a surprise.