The 83rd Golden Globes are in the books, which means amid jokes about Leonardo DiCaprio’s dating history and awards relegated to commercial breaks, it’s time to draw totally accurate and not at all premature conclusions about the upcoming Oscars. Can anyone stop One Battle After Another? Has Sinners lost its bite? Meanwhile, over in the television world, we saw some familiar faces collect trophies, as well as vindication for one long-snubbed actress. And also, podcasts? Podcasts! (OK, we may be biased in that department.) Let’s sort through the good, the bad, and the Polymarket to award the true winners and losers of this year’s Golden Globes.
Winner: One Battle After Another and Hamnet’s Best Picture Odds
Awards season is officially underway, and the Globes make for an intriguing (and boozy) amuse-bouche. By design, the ceremony spreads the love between the drama and musical or comedy categories, making it damn near impossible to come away from the Globes with a single front-runner for the Oscars’ Best Picture—but two? That’s doable, and it looks like we’ve got ourselves a two-horse race.
In one corner, we have One Battle After Another, which won four awards on the night, including Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, along with directing and screenplay wins for Paul Thomas Anderson. In the other corner, there’s Hamnet, which won for Best Motion Picture, Drama, while star Jessie Buckley won Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama. It’s anyone’s guess—or bet, seeing how the Globes were sponsored this year; more on that later—which of these films will take home the top prize at the Oscars come March, but for now, I’m giving the edge to One Battle After Another. It’s not just that the movie doubled Hamnet’s Globes tally; PTA is long overdue for some Oscars love, having earned 11 nominations throughout his career without a single win. (Take nothing away from Chloé Zhao, but PTA triumphed over her in the Globes’ directing and screenplay categories, and Nomadland did just win Best Picture at the Oscars five years ago.) As we get closer to the Oscars, One Battle After Another seems poised for the kind of coronation we saw with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer: A generational filmmaker finally being rewarded for a body of work the Academy has been circling for years.
Loser: Sinners, Somehow
Heading into the Globes, it seemed like Sinners had plenty of goodwill on its side: an original genre film from an up-and-coming auteur that took the box office by storm. But while Sinners did pick up two Globes—Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and Best Original Score—it came up empty where it mattered most, including Best Motion Picture, Drama and Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama. One could try to argue that two awards season contenders from the same studio (Warner Bros.) would inevitably cancel themselves out, but One Battle After Another and Sinners didn’t even have to overlap, which all but puts a stake through the latter’s heart. On the bright side, Sinners proved that Ryan Coogler is a selling point unto himself; as a blockbuster filmmaker, the sky’s the limit. As for Sinners losing its status as a Best Picture front-runner? No need to feel too sorry for the film—as the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award can attest, that’s what the money is for!
Loser: Presenting an Award During a Commercial Break
Speaking of Sinners, if you’re wondering why you totally blanked out on Ludwig Göransson accepting the award for Best Original Score, that’s because it happened during a commercial break. Yes, the same ceremony that thought it was a great idea to give Judd Apatow a tight five before presenting Best Director seems to think composers should play second fiddle. (Considering the bizarre musical choices throughout the show—like Stellan Skarsgård walking up to Usher’s “Yeah”—I’m half-convinced they replaced the DJ with a party shuffle mix.) A disheartening turn of events, especially when music was so instrumental (pun genuinely unintended) to the Sinners cinematic experience.
Winner: Brazil’s Awards Season Supremacy
Last year, the biggest beneficiary of Karla Sofía Gascón’s social media posts tanking Emilia Pérez’s Oscar hopes was I’m Still Here, the Brazilian historical drama that ended up winning Best International Feature. (Also of note: The Academy is an increasingly international voting body.) With that in mind, keep an eye out for The Secret Agent, the political thriller that won Best Motion Picture, Non-English Language at the Globes, while Wagner Moura upset Michael B. Jordan X2 to win Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama. If recent Oscar history is any guide, The Secret Agent looks less like a surprise contender than the next film to quietly benefit from an Academy that keeps widening its gaze.
Winner: Seth Rogen’s Studio Déjà Vu
In a strange moment of art imitating life, Seth Rogen accepted a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy, from Zoë Kravitz and Dave Franco. For anyone unfamiliar with the Apple TV comedy The Studio, there’s an entire episode centered on the Golden Globes in which Rogen’s antsy studio executive frets over whether … Zoë Kravitz will thank him in her acceptance speech. Rogen said it best: “This is so weird! We just pretended to do this. And now it’s happening! I thought the only way I would get to hold one is to create a show to give myself a fake one.” Sadly, the only thing missing was a thank-you for Sal Saperstein.
Yet another Studio guest star, Adam Scott, was on hand to present Rogen the award for Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy. If The Studio runs for another five seasons, it might be easier to find presenters who haven’t been on the show.
Loser: Polymarket Graphics
These days, one doesn’t have to look too far to find an ad incentivizing you to give online betting a shot. (I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that there’s been a surge in gambling addiction.) But just when you think betting odds are going to be reserved for ESPN chyrons, the Globes sullied itself for the first time since, uh, [gestures at the organization formerly known as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association]. Throughout the Globes telecast, there were graphics showing odds from the Donald Trump Jr.–funded(!) gambling startup Polymarket for upcoming categories. It’s as dystopian as it sounds:
If the Oscars telecast features prop bets for how many acceptance speeches are played off stage, I’m liable to throw a shoe through my TV screen.
Winner: The Universe Righting Itself by Giving Rhea Seehorn an Award for a Vince Gilligan Series
For years, I have been agonized by the Television Academy’s ignorance about Rhea Seehorn, whose work in Better Call Saul was only nominated twice. It’s an oversight worthy of criminal proceedings at The Hague—an opinion shared by several think pieces that politely amount to, “Get fucked, Emmy voters.” (When I interviewed Seehorn in 2021, I stopped short of saying we should try every person who failed to recognize that Kim Wexler is one of the greatest characters in the history of television—made possible only by some pantheon-level acting—but did divulge that Wexler Nation exists within the borders of The Ringer.)
So when I say that I’m thrilled that Seehorn won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series, Drama for her performance in Pluribus, reader, let it be known: I leaped off my couch. (“You seem very intense right now,” my partner said, scared, moving several paces away from me.) As she gave her speech, I saluted the screen like the loyal Seehorn Soldier I’ve always been. If the Globes is anything to go off of, then Seehorn is an early front-runner for the Emmys later this year. For Seehorn’s work in Pluribus, the plaudits are well deserved; for Better Call Saul superfans, they’re vindication.
Winner: Us (Via Amy Poehler)
For the first time in the show’s history, a Golden Globe was presented for Best Podcast, and as fate would have it, the inaugural winner is Good Hang With Amy Poehler. Full disclosure: This is a Ringer podcast, so I’m not even going to try to be objective here—this rules. We’re choosing to take this as incontrovertible proof that the Globes can get some things right.
