Pop CultureBy Liam McGuire on

Unlike the Golden Globe Awards, I’m not going to overstuff this lede. Let’s just get into it. Here’s what stood out during Sunday night’s always entertaining Hollywood award show.

Opening monologue

Host Jimmy Fallon started off the evening with a taped musical number about being stuck in traffic featuring cameos from Nicole Kidman, Kit Harrington, Mr. Robot Rami Malek, Amy Adams, Sarah Paulson and Evan Rachel Wood among many. The best moment was undoubtedly the Stranger Things cast bursting out a rap and having Barb return from the upside down. Fallon sang an off-key La La Land song featuring a dance number with his BFF Justin Timberlake, who — as he has before — impersonated the late night host. It was endearing.

During his monologue, the teleprompter went down (lending itself well for a Mariah Carey joke later on), forcing Fallon to ad-lib. Thankfully, things resumed and Fallon did an OK, somewhat forgettable job with his usual impressions (ugh, Chris Rock, really?) and overt laughing. Unexpectedly, there were lots of shots at Donald Trump (which coming from Fallon was eye-rolling, after he practically fellated Trump in an interview during his presidential campaign) and the horrible year of 2016.

Best joke: Matt Damon is here, fresh off his best acting role, telling Ben Affleck he loved Batman vs Superman.

Flub of the night

NBC’s Jenna Bush Hager made an unfortunate mistake while interviewing Pharrell, mistakenly calling Hidden Figures, ‘Hidden Fences.” Bush somehow combined Hidden Figures and Fences, two Golden Globe-nominated movies featuring prominently black casts. Brutal. Pharrell, who was up for a Best Original Score, gave an award-worthy scowl after the mixup.

At least the moment spawned this hilarious tweet.

https://twitter.com/ira/status/818252445079851008

But Michael Keaton made the same mistake while presenting Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, which maybe let Hager off the hook. Unless he was joking.

The Billy Bob reconnaissance

Billy Bob Thornton won a Golden Globe for the second consecutive year. After winning in 2015 for his role as Lorne Malvo on Fargo, Thornton won for Best Television Series Actor in a Drama series for his work on Goliath. For an actor whose career was on a downward spiral, Thornton’s transition to television has saved his career and established him as one of TV’s best drama actors. Sidenote: The dig at friend Bob Odenkirk was fantastic.

Weirdest moment:

— Fallon’s singing was bad. I know he’s not a pro, but Jesus Christ. And what the fuck was the “Insane in the Membrane” parody. The cringe is real.

– Did Aaron Taylor-Johnson thank Michael Shannon and Jake Gyllenhaal for his Best Supporting Actor win (for Nocturnal Animals), but not Amy Adams? What was that about?

— Sofia Vergara made anal jokes before introducing the Miss Golden Globes. OK.

— It was promotion for their upcoming film Snatches, but Goldie Hawns’s drunk/dumb routine didn’t land at all. I felt bad for Amy Schumer, who had to try to salvage the entire thing.

— Tom Hiddleston’s speech on Sudan and The Night Manager was too long and seemed just a tad self-serving and superfluous.

— Fallon’s hosting was forgettable, safe and drab. Like, was there a memorable moment at all? Please, bring back Amy and Tina. That was fucking brutal.

Bullet point best moments:

– First-time winner Tracee Ellis Ross gave an amazing speech on inclusion and diversity and expressed genuine glee at winning. It was hard to not smile.

— It was also freaking awesome to see Donald Glover’s Atlanta win Best Musical or Comedy TV Series. It was like nothing else on TV and deserved it big time. Glover is a supreme musical, writing and acting talent. It’s great when that’s recognized — which it was when Glover picked up Best Actor in the category as well.

Glover managed to fit in an excellent shout-out to Migos.

— Viola Davis finally won for Best Actress in a Motion Picture for Fences on her fifth nomination. She gave an emotional, touching speech. Also, she gave a TREMENDOUS speech for Meryl Streep’s prestige award.

— Ryan Gosling shouting out Ryan Reynolds for saying that he was once again mistaken for him was great. OH CANADA!

— I agree with this tweet.

https://twitter.com/courtenlow/status/818280271250411520

— Kudos to the broadcast for taking the time to air a tribute to the late Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. It was short and poignant.

— With Gal Gadot and Chris Hemsworth presenting together, I got a much dreamed about Marvel/DC crossover, even if it was only for a minute.

— OK, tons of Trump shots were taken, but Meryl Streep eviscerated him with a poignant speech on diversity. Holy shit. It might have been the most thoughtful speech in the award show’s history.

— Same.

https://twitter.com/meeeeeeems/status/818304587631194112

— Moonlight didn’t win in five of its first five nominated categories, but managed to pull out a Best Drama – Motion Picture win. It’s great to see an independent film about a meaningful subject being honored.

Biggest surprise

Hugh Laurie was a worthy winner of Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture for his performance in The Night Manager, but Sterling K. Brown seemed like a lock for the trophy. With The People vs. O.J. Simpson‘s momentum, Brown’s previous Emmy win for his role in the miniseries, and the massive critical acclaim for his breakthrough performance as Christopher Darden, I thought Brown would win.

Bonus points to Cuba Gooding Jr. who was loud, but surprisingly sober. The same couldn’t be said during the 2014 NHL Awards or last year’s show.

Biggest snub

Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, and Westworld were all shut out, thanks to Netflix’s The Crown. Critically acclaimed prestige dramas are back in! Not everyone could win. TV has been too excellent.

Cleaning up

La La Land owned the Drama category with wins for Best Actor (Gosling), Actress (Emma Stone) Director (Damien Chazelle) and Best Musical or Comedy – Motion Picture. Who knew a musical set in Hollywood would do so well?

About Liam McGuire

Social +Staff writer for The Comeback & Awful Announcing. Liammcguirejournalism@gmail.com

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