Tuesday, January 9, 2018

'The Shape of Water' and 'Coco' -- fantasy and diversity both winners at the Golden Globes


I wrote "I'll have more on the speculative fiction winners in movies tomorrow.  Stay tuned" to conclude Oprah, 'Big Little Lies,' and 'The Handmaid's Tale' win and say #TimesUp at the Golden Globes.  It's time to follow up on that promise about the Golden Globes movie nominees.

While "The Shape of Water" was the most nominated film with seven nominations, it won only two awards, Best Director and Best Original Score, falling behind "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," which earned four statuettes and tying "Lady Bird."  That written, it was the most recognized speculative fiction film as well as a victory for diversity.  Watch Guillermo del Toro Wins Best Director at the 2018 Golden Globes.

Guillermo del Toro accepts the award for Best Director at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
I called Del Toro one of the big name directors along with Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg.  I also wrote "'I'm rooting for Nolan,' but I'm not optimistic."  I was right to not be optimistic.  I should also root for Del Toro.

As for the next category, I wrote "I still think Zimmer will pull this one off for 'Dunkirk,' but I'm beginning to worry about Alexandre Desplat and especially John Williams winning instead."  Again, I was right to worry.  Watch The Shape of Water Wins Best Original Score at the 2018 Golden Globes.

Composer Alexandre Desplat accepts the award for Best Original Score at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
Now I'm going to have to listen to the soundtrack.

The one category that was almost guaranteed to produce a speculative fiction winner was Best Motion Picture — Animated, which I thought would go to either "Coco" or "The Breadwinner" with "Coco" having the edge based on what I wrote in 'The Shape of Water' leads speculative fiction at the 2018 Critics' Choice Movie Awards.  I was not disappointed, as Coco Wins Best Animated Motion Picture at the 2018 Golden Globes.

Writer and director Lee Unkrich accepts the award for Best Motion Picture - Animated at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
I've written about my visit to Oaxaca and its observation of the Day of the Dead, so I would enjoy this movie.  I would also enjoy its songs, including the one I expect to be nominated for an Oscar, "Remember Me."  I'll be listening to them right after I finish the soundtrack to "The Shape of Water."

Follow over the jump for other winners for diversity and speculative fiction at the Golden Globes.

I already mentioned Oprah Winfrey yesterday, as she won the Cecil B. de Mille Award for lifetime achievement.  Joining her on the television side were Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown for "This is Us" and Emmy winner Aziz Ansari.  Ansari's win made him the first Asian-American actor ever to win a Golden Globe for acting in television (yes, people from the Indian Subcontinent are considered Asian-Americans, too).  Watch them accept their awards, starting with Sterling K. Brown Wins Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama at the 2018 Golden Globes.

Sterling K. Brown accepts the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
Brown made this explictly about diversity and representation and thanked the people who made it possible.

On the other hand, Aziz Ansari gave a most standard acceptance for Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy at the 2018 Golden Globes.

Aziz Ansari accepts the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
Thanks to Ansari, Netflix won an award, joining Amazon and Hulu as all three streaming services won Golden Globes.

Congratulations to all of them as winners for diversity and merit.  All of them deserved their Golden Globes.

I also mentioned the two trophies for "The Handmaid's Tale."  That's not a big win for diversity, but it was a good win for women's issues and for speculative fiction, as it was the only speculative fiction win in television.  I'm looking forward to more wins for the Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian classic as awards season continues, as well as an award-winning second season coming up later this year.

Stay tuned for a celebration of two national days tomorrow followed by the nominees in the Art Directors Guild Awards and the winners of the Critics Choice Awards.

4 comments:

  1. Bill of the Bull is a witty guy, evidently. I'm glad he got some recognition for The Shape of Water. That's the one recent film I really want to see that I haven't yet.

    Only two awards? I suspect the Oscars may be kinder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even without seeing it, I'm sure it's the best fantasy film of the year. As for only two awards, well, the Golden Globes don't have any technical awards. Wait for the Critics Choice Awards, which do. The same will be true for the Oscars.

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is so badly written I'm going to delete your spam on that ground alone.

      Delete