Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin have landed the top movie awards at the Golden Globes as Hollywood returned to a show that had been knocked off television by scandal.
Cate Blanchett won best actress for Tar, becoming Australia’s sole trophy winner at the 80th annual awards show on its return to TV after a diversity and ethics scandal.
The actress was unable to accept the award in person because she is filming in the United Kingdom.
The Fabelmans, a coming-of-age story based on Spielberg’s teen years, was named best movie drama while Banshees of Inisherin, the story of feuding friends on an Irish island, won best movie musical or comedy.
The awards are likely to give both movies a boost on the road to the Academy Awards in March.
Blanchett’s win on Tuesday followed losses for fellow Aussies Hugh Jackman, Margot Robbie, Baz Luhrmann and Elizabeth Debicki.
Luhrmann was up for best director for Elvis but lost to Spielberg for The Fabelmans, which along with Elvis was vying with sci-fi blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water for the evening’s top honour.
However, Elvis claimed a best actor win for star Austin Butler.
“I’m in this room with all my heroes. I can’t believe I’m here,” Butler said while accepting the award.
The flashy Elvis biopic and sci-fi blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water were vying for best drama film against The Fabelmans, Tar and Top Gun: Maverick.
Veteran actor Michelle Yeoh also took a top movie award for Everything Everywhere All at Once, beating Robbie for her role in Babylon.
“Hollywood was a dream come true until I came here,” the actor, of Malaysian descent, said, noting that she was called a “minority” and asked if she could speak English early in her career.
Colin Farrell, who won lead actor in a movie musical or comedy for his work in the dark Irish comedy Banshees of Inisherin, thanked his fellow cast members, including Jenny the Donkey.
In TV categories, Julia Garner won best supporting actress in a TV series for Ozark, beating Debicki for her portrayal of Princess Diana in the fifth season of The Crown.
Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson won best actress in a TV musical or comedy, House of the Dragon earned the best drama prize and The White Lotus won best limited series.
Celebrities and broadcaster NBC abandoned the 2022 Globes because of ethical lapses at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the group that hands out the awards.
A larger, more diverse membership and other changes by the HFPA persuaded many of the biggest movie and TV stars to support this year’s ceremony.
The show unfolded largely as it had in years past, except for a biting monologue from comedian and host Jerrod Carmichael who opened the show joking, “I’m here because I’m black”.
“One day you’re making mint tea at home. The next day you’re invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organisation,” he said.
Roughly 200 journalists and others from the international film industry voted in this year’s Globes, almost 52 per cent of them racially and ethnically diverse, including 10 per cent who are Black, the HFPA said.
Luhrmann told Reuters on the event’s silver carpet he felt the HFPA had made significant changes and “really walked the walk”.
“And we need them,” he said, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered theatres and led to a decline in moviegoing.
“Us coming together is sending a signal out that it’s OK to come together for movies. That’s a good thing.”
Comedian Eddie Murphy accepted a lifetime achievement honour and shared his blueprint for success.
“Pay your taxes, mind your business and keep Will Smith’s wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth,” Murphy joked, referring to the actor’s infamous slap of presenter Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars.
© RAW 2023
