Victoria Stuewe ’20 / Emertainment Monthly Assistant Movies Editor
The 2017 Award Season has officially commenced with the 74th Annual Golden Globes ceremony on January 8. The Hollywood Foreign Press is known to hand out their awards to the underdogs and wild cards of their nominees, and this year seemed to be no different. From the start to finish, there were surprises and snubs throughout. Here are the most unexpected wins and losses of the Golden Globes.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Nocturnal Animals. Photo Credit: Focus Features.
With a nomination that was already unexpected by itself, winning the whole category was looking to be a feat for Taylor-Johnson. But, against all odds, Taylor-Johnson somehow managed to win Best Supporting Actor. His nomination was completely off the radar for some, so having his be the first win of the night was a shock.
Alex R. Hibbert and Mahershala Ali in Moonlight. Photo Credit: A24.
As stated earlier, Taylor-Johnson won this category, but Ali’s performance is worth mentioning, as he was the frontrunner and, at times, considered the shoe-in win – perhaps only losing to Jeff Bridges for Hell or High Water. His masterful performance was widely praised by critics, but the Hollywood Foreign Press decided to give it to the underdog of the night. If Ali is nominated for an Academy Award, he still has a chance for a win, but Taylor-Johnson put a hinder on Ali’s solid chances with his unforeseen victory.
Isabelle Huppert in Elle. Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Classics.
Though it was not a big surprise when Elle took the award for Best Foreign Language film, Huppert’s win was not expected. Natalie Portman was looking to be the obvious win for her starring role in Jackie with Amy Adams being the possible winner for Arrival, but Huppert surprised everyone, especially with Elle being such a controversial and brutal film. With the Academy Award nominations coming up, it might be a little harder to predict who will actually win in this category or in Best Supporting Actor due to their unsuspecting wins.
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in La La Land. Photo Credit: Lionsgate.
Though Chazelle’s win is not unwelcome, other contenders like Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) and Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) seemed to be the frontrunners of the race. This one could have gone to any of the nominees, but the Hollywood Foreign Press seemed to have a massive love for La La Land, as they gave the film a clean sweep for the night for a total of seven wins for its seven nominations.
Amy Adams in Arrival. Photo Credit: Paramount PicturesJustin Hurwitz won for this category for his work on La La Land, which was well-deserved, but it seemed too obvious to give Best Score to La La Land with it being a musical. So, it would have been nice to see Jóhannsson take the award for Best Score for his futuristic and dramatic music for Arrival. He also seemed to have more of a chance of winning due to his previous work on The Theory of Everything and Sicario, both of which had great scores.
Surprise: Moonlight for Best Motion Picture – Drama
Ashton Sanders in Moonlight. Photo Credit: A24.
Yes, Moonlight had been a frontrunner for the award overall, but during the ceremony, it seemed like all odds were against it, as it had lost each one if its other five nominations. Due to this, Manchester by the Sea was looking to win the award, especially due to Casey Affleck’s win for Best Actor in a Drama. What’s most surprising is actually that Moonlight‘s only win was this award, as it was such a big success with the critics. Even one of the producers said that she was not expecting the win, but, at the end of it all, Moonlight did walk away with the big prize.
