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First, there was the Leo win. Although there was no true obvious front runner in this particular category (the heavyweights were in the drama section), Leo had so far been plagued by an awards-losing streak many years in the running that was hard to overlook. That boy just couldn't seem to win anything with any role he played his heart out - anything in terms of major awards, that is - until now. Could Leo be taken seriously as an Oscar contender with this push from the Globes? Who knows? He won't win the big guy though. If anyone would be giving Chiwetel Ejiofor a run for his front runner status money comes Oscars time, it would be Matthew McConaughey.
Speaking of whom, that was the second, bigger surprise of the evening: Matthew McConaughey. Who would've thunk it? Well, should I have seen Dallas Buyers Club (DBC) earlier, I would've predicted him in stead of Chiwetel. I watched the film earlier today, and I gotta say, his performance was right up Serious Awards' alley. It was showy in an underdog story, and considering his body of work this past year, I was not surprised he'd won. So in retrospect, the surprise was there mainly because I did not see DBC becoming such a major player that it could win McConaughey, of all people, a best actor trophy. And I only did not see it because, well, I literally did not see the movie before making my predictions. But I should've seen it coming with the onslaught of Guilds nominations for the picture. Watch out, here comes DBC to ruin everyone's party!
And as for front runner 12 Years a Slave - ouch. The only award it took home was the biggie, but it lost the awards it could've won too: actor, supporting actress, screenplay (Her! Surprise ruiner!). If it was a more serious threat as a front runner, it would've picked up at least another category. But it didn't. And now we have a-few-horses race: Slave, Hustle, and ... Dallas. Gravity, as expected, will duke it out with the other guys in the Director category alone.
In the end, my money is still on American Hustle to win big. Dallas maybe a serious threat now, but overall, Hustle still got the fun factor and a big ensemble with pedigrees to power through.
And, oh, yeah, go The Great Beauty!!!
Winners:
PICTURE (DRAMA)
12 years a slave
PICTURE (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
American Hustle
DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuarón
ACTOR (DRAMA)
Matthew McConaughey
ACTOR (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Leonardo DiCaprio
ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Cate Blanchett
ACTRESS (COMEDY / MUSICAL)
Amy Adams
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence
SCREENPLAY
Her
FOREIGN FILM FEATURE
The Great Beauty
ANIMATED FEATURE
Frozen
SCORE
All is lost
SONG
Mandela
Editor: 7/14 <--- I live dangerously.
Griz: 10/14 <--- Made deal with Awards devil.
2 Response to Golden Globes 2014 Winners: The surprise is in the pudding
Haha.
My thinking with DiCaprio was that 1) they love giving it to celebs and 2) he's got a ton of nominations but hasn't won a Golden Globe since The Aviator, and 3) there was no clear frontrunner. It just felt like it was his time, though I did get a bit nervous after Her won screenplay (which was biggest surprise of the night if you ask me) which might've pointed to Joaquin Phoenix.
As for Matthew McConaughey, he's been a frontrunner for quite a while, picking up all kinds of critics awards so you shouldn't have been surprised by that. Again, I think the star power is ultimately what gave him the edge over Ejiofor, the Oscar race will probably be closer (but McConaughey will probably win the Oscar too).
Not surprised by the lack of love for 12 Years a Slave either. These type of films (like the The Help, The Butler, etc.) have always been a hard sell outside of the U.S. and honestly, I think these foreign critics gave it Best Drama out of obligation more than anything else because picking something like Gravity over the "Serious Issue Movie" would look bad.
I should've bet on Matthew's starpower, you're right. Plus, he's given a few memorable performances this year so I'm guessing he won for visibility and the sum of his year's work. I've always felt Ejiofor's performance was a little too understated but I didn't want to bet against Globes' desire to be taken seriously (in recent years anyway?). 12 Years is going into a serious (ha!) nosedive here.
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