Surprises at the Golden Globe Awards

 

It was a series of upsets at the Golden Globes Award ceremony Sunday night in Los Angeles, California.

One of the biggest surprises was the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s choice for best movie, drama. It chose Bohemian Rhapsody, a film about the life of musician Freddie Mercury, over the heavily favored film, A Star Is Born, a film about imaginary musicians.

A Star Is Born entered the night with several major nominations². It was expected to win at least two. But the film won only a music award for the film’s song, Shallow.

Instead, two of the biggest awards Sunday night went to Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie was hugely popular with the public but received less praise from critics. Rami Malek, who played Mercury, also won the Golden Globe for best actor.

"Thank you to Freddie Mercury for giving me the joy of a lifetime," Malek said in his acceptance speech.

Another shocker came in the best actress, drama group. Lady Gaga was widely expected to take home the award for her work in A Star is Born. It was the musician’s first leading part.

But the prize went to Glenn Close for her performance in The Wife. The audience stood up and cheered when her name was announced.

It is Close's second Golden Globe award in 14 nominations. She has never won an Oscar.

Political speeches were mostly absent from the ceremony -- until actor Christian³ Bale got up to accept his award for best actor, comedy. He won for the darkly humorous movie, Vice⁴, which centered on the career of American politician and former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Bale joked, "Thank you to Satan for giving me inspiration for this role."

Actors Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg hosted the Globes. Oh also won a Globe herself, for her performance in the BBC America drama series Killing⁵ Eve.

Eighty-eight voting members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association choose the award winners. They are not related to the Academy Awards. But Golden Globe wins could influence Oscar voters. Oscar nomination¹ voting began Monday.

The award for best picture in the musical or comedy group went to Green Book, a film under a cloud of dispute. The movie is based on the lives of real people: a black man and his white bodyguard⁶. In the movie, the characters travel together in America’s Deep South during the 1960s. Many race-based laws were still in place at that time.

But real-life family members say the representation of the relationship between the men is false. They were not friends but interacted as employer and employee. Also, many critics found that the movie depended on racial stereotypes⁸.

Mahershala Ali won a best supporting actor Golden Globe for his performance in Green Book. He thanked the man on whom his character was based. “He carried himself with a dignity that inspired me every day,” Ali said.

Although the Globes are selected by foreign members of the press, they do not permit the inclusion of foreign-language films in the best picture categories (for drama and musical/comedy). That left the Oscar hopeful from Netflix, Roma, out of the top group. Alfonso Cuaron still won best director and the Mexican-born filmmaker's movie won best foreign language film.

"This film would not have been possible without the specific colors that made me who I am," said Cuaron.

Netflix also won numerous awards for the series "The Kominsky Method." And FX’s “The Americans” won for best drama series in its sixth and final season.

Olivia Colman won best actress in a comedy/musical for her part as Queen Anne in "The Favourite." Best supporting actress in a drama movie went to the Oscar front-runner Regina King for her work in the "If Beale Street Could Talk."

I'm Caty Weaver⁹.

And I'm Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

drama - n. a play, movie, television show, or radio show that is about a serious subject and is not meant to make the audience laugh

audience - n. a group of people who gather together to listen to something (such as a concert) or watch something (such as a movie or play)

allow - v. to permit

Satan - n. the devil; the most powerful spirit of evil in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam who is often represented as the ruler of hell?

inspiration - n. something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create

character - n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

role - n. the character played by an actor

stereotype⁷ - n. an often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic

specific - adj. special or particular

front-runner - n. the person or thing that is most likely to win a race or competition

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

7 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

8 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。