Beverly Hills, Calif. — The Golden Globes worked hard on Sunday to live up to its reputation as the most unserious of Hollywood’s major awards stops, as stars spewed profanity from the stage, the host swigged beer, many presenters appeared discombobulated and A-list dinner guests disengaged early on.
Oh, and some trophies were given out.
In an upset, “The Revenant,” a frontier-era revenge thriller, was the night’s big winner, taking Globes for best drama, best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and best direction (Alejandro G. Iñárritu). “I cannot say how surprised I am,” Mr. Iñárritu said in collecting the night’s top prize, which most handicappers had going to the newspaper film “Spotlight.” Addressing the harrowing shoot endured by his cast and crew, Mr. Iñárritu said: “Pain is temporary, but a film is forever. So who cares.”“The Martian” won two Globes, including the prize for best comedy or musical, a category that was somewhat confounding, since the film is neither a comedy nor a musical. “Comedy? But anyway,” Ridley Scott, the film’s director, said in accepting the trophy. “You’ve got to stay hungry and keep bouncing the ball,” the 78-year-old filmmaker added, as the orchestra interrupted.
But Ricky Gervais, returning as host for the 73rd Globes, set the tone for the night in his monologue, which mocked Caitlyn Jenner, included a crude joke about Jeffrey Tambor’s genitalia and called the Globe a “worthless” prize.
“It’s a bit of metal that some nice, old, confused journalists wanted to give you in person so they could meet you and have a selfie with you,” he said, admonishing winners not to grow emotional. The Globes are given by the 83-member Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of mostly freelance journalists.
An apparently gobsmacked Lady Gaga, winning best actress in a limited series or TV movie for the latest incarnation of FX’s “American Horror Story,” didn’t get the message. “I feel like Cher in that John Patrick Shanley film ‘Moonstruck’ right now,” she said. “It’s one of the greatest moments of my life.” She added, “I wanted to be an actress before I wanted to be a singer.”
As ever, Hollywood will pay as much attention to the snubs as to the winners. Leaving with nothing on Sunday were “Spotlight,” “The Big Short,” “The Danish Girl” and “Carol,” which led the field going into the ceremony, with five nominations. But, then again, the Globes are the Globes; in particular “Spotlight” and “The Big Short” cannot be written off for the Oscars. (Nominations will be announced Thursday; voting closed last week.)
