Oppenheimer tops Golden Globes on bittersweet night for Barbie
LOS ANGELES – Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s drama about the inventor of the atomic bomb, topped the Golden Globes on Jan 7 – but its fellow summer smash hit Barbie missed out on best comedy film honours to Poor Things.
Oppenheimer took five prizes, including best drama, best director for Nolan, best score, as well as acting wins for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.
Emma Thomas, the film’s producer and Nolan’s wife, said her husband’s three-hour epic about “one of the darkest developments in our history” is “unlike anything anyone else is doing”.
Murphy, who plays brilliant scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, hailed his “visionary director”, while Downey Jr, portraying the protagonist’s bitter rival, praised the movie as a “masterpiece.”
In winning best director, Nolan fended off Greta Gerwig, who helmed Barbie – the other half of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon that grossed a combined US$2.4 billion ($3.2 billion) last year at the box office.
Turning nostalgia for the beloved doll into a sharp satire about misogyny and female empowerment, Barbie was the leading film heading into the night with nine nominations, but ended the gala with just two prizes.
It won the award for best song, for a tune written by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas. And as the year’s highest grossing movie, it claimed a newly created trophy for box office achievement.
“We would like to dedicate this to every single person on the planet who dressed up and went to the greatest place on Earth, the movie theatres,” said Margot Robbie, the film’s star and producer.
“Thank you to all the Barbies and Kens in front of and behind the screen,” added Gerwig.
But Barbie surprisingly lost out on best comedy to Poor Things – a surreal, sexy bildungsroman which also earned Emma Stone best actress for her no-holds-barred turn as Bella Baxter.
“Bella falls in love with life itself, rather than a person. She accepts the good and the bad in equal measure, and that really made me look at life differently,” said Stone.
Indigenous actor Lily Gladstone won best actress in a drama for her role in Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, delivering some of her emotional speech in the native language of the Blackfeet Nation.
“This is an historic win, it doesn’t belong to just me,” she said.
“This is for every little res kid.”
Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron won best animated film.
The Globes also honour television.
Succession (2018 to 2023) dominated, claiming best drama series, and acting wins for stars Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen.
The Bear swept the comedy categories, while road-rage saga Beef did the same in limited series.
Past Globes host Ricky Gervais, who did not attend, won best stand-up comedy performance, a new category. – AFP
80th Golden Globes winners
Film
- Best Drama: Oppenheimer
- Best Musical or Comedy: Poor Things
- Best Actor, Drama: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
- Best Actress, Drama: Lily Gladstone, Killers Of The Flower Moon
- Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
- Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Emma Stone, Poor Things
- Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer
- Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
- Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
- Best Screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy Of A Fall
- Best Non-English Language Film: Anatomy Of A Fall
- Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement: Barbie
- Best Animated Feature: The Boy And The Heron
- Best Original Score: Ludwig Goransson, Oppenheimer
- Best Original Song: What Was I Made For? from Barbie, music and lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
Television
- Best Drama Series: Succession
- Best Actor, Drama Series: Kieran Culkin, Succession
- Best Actress, Drama Series: Sarah Snook, Succession
- Best Musical or Comedy Series: The Bear
- Best Actor, Musical or Comedy Series: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
- Best Actress, Musical or Comedy Series: Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
- Best Limited Series or TV Movie: Beef
- Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie: Steven Yeun, Beef
- Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie: Ali Wong, Beef
- Best Supporting Actress: Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
- Best Supporting Actor: Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
- Best Performance in Stand-up Comedy on Television: Ricky Gervais, Armageddon
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