Shocking Hollywood powerhouses-and the general public-was the recurring theme throughout last night’s 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards, which honored the best in film and American television of 2019. Not only did comedian Ricky Gervais spark moments of outrage with his jokes when he returned to host the ceremony for the fifth time, but the winners in several categories also stunned the crowd watching the year’s first major awards show, which was presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).
Here are the top five most unexpected moments from the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, which aired live on NBC from The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California:
#5: Laura Dern has become known in recent years for her versatility on the HBO drama television series, ‘Big Little Lies,’ for which she has won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. But the actress stole the Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture category last night for her portrayal of divorce lawyer Nora Fanshaw in writer-director Noah Baumbach‘s drama, ‘Marriage Story.’ Dern came out ahead of the category’s frontrunner, Jennifer Lopez, who proved that women of all ages can be considered sexy in director Lorene Scafaria’s stripper crime comedy-drama, ‘Hustlers.’
#4: During a year when Walt Disney Animation Studios dominated the box office with its record-breaking, acclaimed sequels, including ‘Frozen 2‘ and ‘Toy Story 4,’ Annapurna Pictures and Laika’s stop-motion film surprisingly bested the Disney powerhouses at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards. While critically acclaimed, the award-winning adventure movie earned just $26.2 million at the worldwide box office, against a budget of $100 million. But ‘Missing Link,’ which was written and directed by Chris Butler, produced by Travis Knight and featuring the voices of Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis, was still honored in the Best Animated Feature Film category.
#3: In a year where the Golden Globe Awards stirred up controversy for the lack of women nominated in the Best Director and Best Screenplay categories, HFPA redeemed itself somewhat when it honored Hildur Guðnadóttir with the trophy for Best Original Score. She became the first solo female composer, and only the second overall, to win in the music category. She was recognized for her work on director Todd Phillips’ psychological thriller/comic book origin story, ‘Joker.’
#2: While the HFPA was chastised by Hollywood and the public for not nominating any women in the Best Director category, such as Greta Gerwig for helming the latest adaptation of ‘Little Women,’ the competition among the men who were included was close. Quentin Tarantino, who won in the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Screenplay categories for ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ and Bong Joon-ho, who was honored with the Best Foreign Language Film trophy for ‘Parasite,’ were both considered frontrunners going into the ceremony.
But Sam Mendes, who also co-wrote and produced the epic war movie, ‘1917,’ was honored with the Best Director statue. The drama was honored after receiving praise for filming with long takes and elaborately choreographed moving camera shots, which gave the feature the effect of being shot in one continuous take.
#1: Mendes’ masterpiece gave the audience another shock when it was named the winner in the Best Motion Picture – Drama category. ‘1917’ bested ‘Marriage Story,’ and director-producer Martin Scorsese’s crime film, ‘The Irishman,’ which was surprisingly shut out in all of the categories it was nominated in during the ceremony. The visual triumphs of ‘1917’ seemed to have triumphed ‘Marriage Story’s exploration into this century’s deeply personal reflection on contemporary relationships and parenting, and the epic pairing of Scorsese with such legendary actors as Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.