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At rehabbed Globes, 'The Fabelmans,' 'Banshees' triumph

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This image released by NBC shows Steven Spielberg accepting the Best Director award for "The Fabelmans" during the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Rich Polk/NBC via AP)

The Golden Globes returned to the air Tuesday with a red carpet flush with celebrities, comedian Jerrod Carmichael as a hesitant emcee and top awards for Steven Spielberg's ā€œThe Fabelmans" and Martin McDonagh's ā€œThe Banshees of Inisherin,ā€ as the beleaguered award show sought to rekindle its pre-pandemic and pre-scandal glamour.

Spielbergā€™s autobiographical coming-of-age film ā€œThe Fabelmansā€ won best drama film and the dark friendship tale ā€œThe Banshees of Inisherin,ā€ captured best film, comedy or musical. ā€œAbbott Elementary,ā€ ā€œWhite Lotusā€ and ā€œHouse of the Dragonā€ led the TV awards.

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The Globesā€™ would-be comeback ended like many Globes ceremonies before it: with a triumphant Spielberg. For the fifth time, one of Spielberg's films won a best picture Globe. Nominated 14 times by the Globes for best director, Spielberg also won the honor for the third time. He began by thanking his three sisters, his late father and his late mother, Leah Adler ( played by Michelle Williams in the film). ā€œShe is up there kvelling about this right now,ā€ said Spielberg.

Carmichael kicked off the 80th Golden Globes from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, with little of the fanfare that usually opens such ceremonies. He plunged straight into the issues that drove the Globes off television and led much of the entertainment industry to boycott the Hollywood Foreign Press Association after the group was revealed to have no Black members. Carmichael opened by asking the crowd to ā€œbe a little quiet here."

ā€œI am your host, Jerrod Carmichael,ā€ said the ā€œRothanielā€ comedian. ā€œAnd I'll tell you why I'm here. I'm here 'cause I'm Black.

ā€œI won't say they were a racist organization,ā€ he continued before sitting on the stage. ā€œBut they didn't have a single Black member until George Floyd died. So do with that information what you will.ā€

McDonagh's ā€œThe Banshees of Inisherinā€ left with three awards, including best screenplay for McDonagh and best actor in a comedy for Colin Farrrell. Fourteen years earlier, Farrell won a Globe for McDonagh's ā€œIn Bruges,ā€ which likewise paired him with Brendan Gleeson. In his remarks, Farrell thanked the playwright, his castmates, his kids and the filmā€™s donkey, Jenny.

On a soggy night following punishing, prolonged rains that have lashed Southern California, the first award went to Ke Huy Quan, the former child star of ā€œIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," for best supporting actor in ā€œEverything Everywhere All at Once.ā€ A clearly emotional Quan, who had left acting years before directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert cast him in their multiverse tale, thanked them for his second act.

"More than 30 years later, two guys thought of me," said Quan. ā€œThey remembered that kid. And they gave me the opportunity to try again.ā€

Michelle Yeoh, the star of ā€œEverything Everywhere At Once,ā€ also won, for best actress in a comedy or musical. The Malaysian-born Yeoh was just the second female actor of Asian descent to win in the category, after her ā€œCrazy Rich Asianā€ costar Awkwafina, who won for ā€œThe Farewellā€ in 2020. ā€œForty years,ā€ the 60-year-old Yeoh said. ā€œNot letting go of this.ā€

Possibly Yeoh's stiffest competition at the Academy Awards, Cate Blanchett of ā€œTĆ”r,ā€ won best actress on the drama side. Blanchett, in production, wasn't in attendance to pick up her fourth Globe. (Also absent was Kevin Costner, best-actor winner in a drama series for ā€œYellowstone.ā€ Presenter Regina Hall said he was sheltering in place in Santa Barbara due to flooding.)

Angela Bassett, a likely Oscar frontrunner, won best supporting actress for her performance in ā€œBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever."

ā€œWeeping may come in the evening, but joy comes in the morning,ā€ Bassett said, referencing the loss of ā€œBlack Pantherā€ star Chadwick Boseman.

Best actor was an upset. Austin Butler won for his performance in Baz Luhrmann's ā€œElvis." The favorite in the category has arguably been Brendan Fraser for ā€œThe Whale.ā€ Ahead of the Globes, Fraser said he would not attend because "my mother didnā€™t raise a hypocrite.ā€ In 2018, Fraser said he was groped in 2003 by longtime HFPA member Philip Berk. Berk, who is no longer an HFPA member, denied it.

Mike White's ā€œThe White Lotusā€ won for best limited or anthology series. Fresh off her dramatic finale, Jennifer Coolidge gave one of the nightā€™s lengthiest and warmest speeches while accepting the best supporting actress in a limited series award.

ā€œEven if this is the end, you sort of changed my life in a million different ways,ā€ Coolidge told White. ā€œMy neighbors are speaking to me, things like that.ā€

The public school sitcom ā€œAbbott Elementaryā€ came in the lead TV nominee and took home three awards, including best comedy series. Quinta Brunson, the show's creator and star, won best actress in a comedy series, and Tyler James Williams won for his supporting role.

ā€œIt has resonated with the world in a way that I couldn't even have imagined it would have," said Brunson as she thanked the studios that backed her vision. ā€œBut let's be real. I did imagine it. That's why I sold it to you.ā€

Best drama series went to ā€œGame of Thronesā€ prequel ā€œHouse of the Dragon.ā€

ā€œNaatu Naatuā€ from the Telugu sensation ā€œRRR, ā€ won best song over the likes of Rihanna and Taylor Swift.

The Globes were plunged into chaos shortly before a largely remote pandemic 2021 awards show when a Los Angeles Times report revealed that the HFPA, then numbering 87 members, had no Black members.

Stars and studios boycotted last yearā€™s ceremony, which NBC opted not to televise, saying the HFPA needed time to make ā€œmeaningful reform.ā€

Tom Cruise, whose ā€œTop Gun: Maverickā€ was nominated for best picture, drama, famously returned his three Golden Globe awards after the HFPA revelations. Mid-show Tuesday, Carmichael came out with three trophies he said he found backstage, and suggested they be traded for Shelly Miscavige, the wife of the leader of the Church of Scientology.

The HFPA pledged to reform, diversified its membership and changed some of the ways it operates. It now has 96 members, including six Black members, along with 103 nonmember voters. Billionaire Todd Boehly purchased the Globes and has begun turning the nonprofit group into a for-profit company.

Reaction to the Globe nominations last month was muted. But much of the industry turned out Tuesday. Eddie Murphy and Ryan Murphy received tributes. Sean Penn introduced a message from Ukraineā€™s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

ā€œThere will be no third World War," Zelenskyy said in a taped message, predicting Russia's defeat. "It is not a trilogy.ā€

When the Globes were on the brink, NBC reworked its Globes deal into a one-year contract and moved the show from Sunday to Tuesday. That meant the Globes were essentially put on a one-year audition to recapture its awards-season perch.

As it has for most award shows, Globes viewership has cratered. After 18.4 million watched the 2020 awards, the 2021 edition managed just 6.9 million, according to Nielsen. Still, the Globes remain a valuable marketing tool for awards contenders, propping up ads for films in the long stretch between the holidays and the Oscars, which air March 12, a year after ā€œthe slap.ā€

Accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Eddie Murphy said he knew the blueprint for longevity in show business: ā€œPay your taxes, mind your business, and keep Will Smith's wife's name out of your (expletive) mouth!ā€

___

For more coverage of Hollywood's awards season, visit https://apnews.com/hub/awards-season


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