Golden Globes: 11 things to watch

Friday
Jan 5, 2018 at 2:00 PM

Stephanie Merry, Emily Yahr - The Washington Post

Ladies and gentlemen, the Golden Globes: The awards show where the wine flows like couture gowns, and the voters keep us scratching our heads. What will happen this year? It probably won't be more insane than last year's best-picture mix-up at the Oscars, but Sunday's show does promise some potentially significant moments. Here's what to watch for.

Seth Meyers' monologue

Buckle up, everyone: Has any host ever had more material to work with for an awards show? Meyers has already confirmed that the post-Harvey Weinstein era will lead to many topics at the top of the telecast. "It seems like this year more than ever, Hollywood has its own internal politics that obviously deserve to be talked about," he told People. "Going into it, our focus is far more on the worlds that make these films and less on anything that's happening in Washington." Hmm, so does that mean there won't be any President Donald Trump jokes? Don't count on it.

Political acceptance speeches

At the 2017 Golden Globes, when Meryl Streep accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award and called out Trump for mocking a disabled reporter, Trump shot back in a tweet calling her "overrated." In the year since, even more trophy-winning celebrities have used their stage time to criticize Trump or his policies - and there's likely to be a political reference or two on Sunday night. Although as Jimmy Kimmel discovered at last year's Oscars when he sent Trump a tweet during the broadcast ("Hey @realDonaldTrump u up?"), you can't always count on baiting the president into a response.

Oprah's big moment

The media mogul will be taking home this year's Cecil B. DeMille Award, which means she'll have a platform to say whatever she likes. Just think: Streep's speech last year was such a talker, she even got the soon-to-be president's attention. What will Winfrey do with her time at the mic? Maybe she'll get political. Or maybe she'll go old-school and award everyone in the audience a car (although this might not be the most appreciative crowd for that). Or maybe she'll announces her candidacy for 2020, beating Dwayne Johnson to the punch while he's busy promoting "Jumanji." We're not saying it's going to happen. But we're definitely taking credit for calling it first if it does.

Red carpet protests

Last month, People magazine reported that some actresses were planning a "silent protest" of sexual misconduct in Hollywood by wearing all-black gowns on the red carpet through awards season. And although it's not quite a stretch for the guys to wear black tuxedos, actors might join in, as well. Hope you're ready, Ryan Seacrest - looks like red-carpet interviews are about to take an interesting turn.

Frances McDormand's facial expressions

In 2015, the Oscar winner was up for a Golden Globe for the HBO miniseries "Olive Kitteredge." She didn't win, but she was victorious in becoming the best meme of the night. When the camera panned to her, she looked like she'd rather be anywhere else, which earned her comparisons to yet another viral celeb: Grumpy Cat. This year, McDormand will once again be at the Globes, and this time she's a front-runner for her performance in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." Does that mean she'll crack a smile? The camera operators will no doubt be on high alert to find out.

A "Post"-"Shape of Water" showdown

The film drama categories are pretty deadlocked between Steven Spielberg's fast-tracked historic drama, "The Post," which is up for six awards, and Guillermo del Toro's adult fairy tale, "The Shape of Water," with seven noms. What's more, experts are pretty evenly split over which movie the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will favor. Maybe the two front-runners will cancel each other out and make room for another movie up for many of the same awards, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." At least the uncertainty adds a touch of suspense to the evening.

The possible dominance of "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Big Little Lies"

Both female-centric series were the big winners at the Emmy Awards, and it will probably be a repeat this time around. For best drama, Hulu's gripping dystopia in "The Handmaid's Tale" is up against Netflix's "The Crown" and "Stranger Things," along with NBC's "This Is Us" and HBO's "Game of Thrones." Meanwhile, in the best TV movie or limited series category, HBO's addicting, star-studded "Big Little Lies" is up against FX's "Fargo" and "Feud: Bette and Joan," in addition to USA's "The Sinner" and Sundance's "Top of the Lake: China Girl." Dark horses such as "The Crown" and "Feud" could spoil the party, but the two series will probably dominate once again.

The new "it" TV star

The Golden Globes love to crown TV up-and-comers who have little chance against veteran stars at the Emmys. This year, 25-year-old British actor Freddie Highmore is practically a shoo-in for best actor in a drama, as he's led ABC's "The Good Doctor" to become the most popular freshman broadcast show of the season. On the comedy side, voters surprisingly gave two nominations to Amazon's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," a little-known series that has been bubbling up in the pop culture-sphere, thanks to strong word of mouth. Could its charismatic star, relatively new Rachel Brosnahan, win out over Issa Rae of HBO's lauded "Insecure" or Frankie Shaw of Showtime's breakout "SMILF"?

The ghost of Kevin Spacey

As far as nominations are concerned, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association seemed to really like "All the Money in the World," Ridley Scott's drama about the kidnapping of billionaire J. Paul Getty's grandson. That movie has gotten major buzz, not because of the story or performances, but because, in the 11th hour, Scott recast the role of Getty. The film was nearly completed with Kevin Spacey in the part, but after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct with minors, the director decided to reshoot the scenes using Christopher Plummer instead. Now, Plummer is up for the Globe for best supporting actor - and he has a good shot at winning. That speech could be interesting.

James Franco accepting in character

So this is a big what-if, but it seems entirely plausible. If Franco can beat out Daniel Kaluuya, who's also nominated for best actor in a comedy, for "Get Out," then he'll have a speech to deliver. And if he has a speech to deliver, there's a good chance he's going to do something strange. Considering he's nominated for going method in "The Disaster Artist" to play the real-life eccentric Tommy Wiseau - complete with "The Room" director's vaguely Eastern European accent - the odds seem good that he might do his thank-yous in character. At the very least, he should deliver a well-timed "you're tearing me apart."

First-time winners finally get their due

A lot of people who seem as though they already have Golden Globes don't - but they have a chance to change that Sunday. McDormand won an Oscar for "Fargo," but her five previous Globe nominations never yielded an award. Allison Janney might have a whole bookcase full of Emmys - for "The West Wing" and "Mom" - but the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hasn't ever showed her the same admiration. Likewise, "Will & Grace" is up for multiple awards after failing to ever win during its original run. After 29 nominations, it might be time.

Friday
Jan 5, 2018 at 2:00 PM

Stephanie Merry, Emily Yahr - The Washington Post

Ladies and gentlemen, the Golden Globes: The awards show where the wine flows like couture gowns, and the voters keep us scratching our heads. What will happen this year? It probably won't be more insane than last year's best-picture mix-up at the Oscars, but Sunday's show does promise some potentially significant moments. Here's what to watch for.

Seth Meyers' monologue

Buckle up, everyone: Has any host ever had more material to work with for an awards show? Meyers has already confirmed that the post-Harvey Weinstein era will lead to many topics at the top of the telecast. "It seems like this year more than ever, Hollywood has its own internal politics that obviously deserve to be talked about," he told People. "Going into it, our focus is far more on the worlds that make these films and less on anything that's happening in Washington." Hmm, so does that mean there won't be any President Donald Trump jokes? Don't count on it.

Political acceptance speeches

At the 2017 Golden Globes, when Meryl Streep accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award and called out Trump for mocking a disabled reporter, Trump shot back in a tweet calling her "overrated." In the year since, even more trophy-winning celebrities have used their stage time to criticize Trump or his policies - and there's likely to be a political reference or two on Sunday night. Although as Jimmy Kimmel discovered at last year's Oscars when he sent Trump a tweet during the broadcast ("Hey @realDonaldTrump u up?"), you can't always count on baiting the president into a response.

Oprah's big moment

The media mogul will be taking home this year's Cecil B. DeMille Award, which means she'll have a platform to say whatever she likes. Just think: Streep's speech last year was such a talker, she even got the soon-to-be president's attention. What will Winfrey do with her time at the mic? Maybe she'll get political. Or maybe she'll go old-school and award everyone in the audience a car (although this might not be the most appreciative crowd for that). Or maybe she'll announces her candidacy for 2020, beating Dwayne Johnson to the punch while he's busy promoting "Jumanji." We're not saying it's going to happen. But we're definitely taking credit for calling it first if it does.

Red carpet protests

Last month, People magazine reported that some actresses were planning a "silent protest" of sexual misconduct in Hollywood by wearing all-black gowns on the red carpet through awards season. And although it's not quite a stretch for the guys to wear black tuxedos, actors might join in, as well. Hope you're ready, Ryan Seacrest - looks like red-carpet interviews are about to take an interesting turn.

Frances McDormand's facial expressions

In 2015, the Oscar winner was up for a Golden Globe for the HBO miniseries "Olive Kitteredge." She didn't win, but she was victorious in becoming the best meme of the night. When the camera panned to her, she looked like she'd rather be anywhere else, which earned her comparisons to yet another viral celeb: Grumpy Cat. This year, McDormand will once again be at the Globes, and this time she's a front-runner for her performance in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." Does that mean she'll crack a smile? The camera operators will no doubt be on high alert to find out.

A "Post"-"Shape of Water" showdown

The film drama categories are pretty deadlocked between Steven Spielberg's fast-tracked historic drama, "The Post," which is up for six awards, and Guillermo del Toro's adult fairy tale, "The Shape of Water," with seven noms. What's more, experts are pretty evenly split over which movie the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will favor. Maybe the two front-runners will cancel each other out and make room for another movie up for many of the same awards, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." At least the uncertainty adds a touch of suspense to the evening.

The possible dominance of "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Big Little Lies"

Both female-centric series were the big winners at the Emmy Awards, and it will probably be a repeat this time around. For best drama, Hulu's gripping dystopia in "The Handmaid's Tale" is up against Netflix's "The Crown" and "Stranger Things," along with NBC's "This Is Us" and HBO's "Game of Thrones." Meanwhile, in the best TV movie or limited series category, HBO's addicting, star-studded "Big Little Lies" is up against FX's "Fargo" and "Feud: Bette and Joan," in addition to USA's "The Sinner" and Sundance's "Top of the Lake: China Girl." Dark horses such as "The Crown" and "Feud" could spoil the party, but the two series will probably dominate once again.

The new "it" TV star

The Golden Globes love to crown TV up-and-comers who have little chance against veteran stars at the Emmys. This year, 25-year-old British actor Freddie Highmore is practically a shoo-in for best actor in a drama, as he's led ABC's "The Good Doctor" to become the most popular freshman broadcast show of the season. On the comedy side, voters surprisingly gave two nominations to Amazon's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," a little-known series that has been bubbling up in the pop culture-sphere, thanks to strong word of mouth. Could its charismatic star, relatively new Rachel Brosnahan, win out over Issa Rae of HBO's lauded "Insecure" or Frankie Shaw of Showtime's breakout "SMILF"?

The ghost of Kevin Spacey

As far as nominations are concerned, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association seemed to really like "All the Money in the World," Ridley Scott's drama about the kidnapping of billionaire J. Paul Getty's grandson. That movie has gotten major buzz, not because of the story or performances, but because, in the 11th hour, Scott recast the role of Getty. The film was nearly completed with Kevin Spacey in the part, but after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct with minors, the director decided to reshoot the scenes using Christopher Plummer instead. Now, Plummer is up for the Globe for best supporting actor - and he has a good shot at winning. That speech could be interesting.

James Franco accepting in character

So this is a big what-if, but it seems entirely plausible. If Franco can beat out Daniel Kaluuya, who's also nominated for best actor in a comedy, for "Get Out," then he'll have a speech to deliver. And if he has a speech to deliver, there's a good chance he's going to do something strange. Considering he's nominated for going method in "The Disaster Artist" to play the real-life eccentric Tommy Wiseau - complete with "The Room" director's vaguely Eastern European accent - the odds seem good that he might do his thank-yous in character. At the very least, he should deliver a well-timed "you're tearing me apart."

First-time winners finally get their due

A lot of people who seem as though they already have Golden Globes don't - but they have a chance to change that Sunday. McDormand won an Oscar for "Fargo," but her five previous Globe nominations never yielded an award. Allison Janney might have a whole bookcase full of Emmys - for "The West Wing" and "Mom" - but the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hasn't ever showed her the same admiration. Likewise, "Will & Grace" is up for multiple awards after failing to ever win during its original run. After 29 nominations, it might be time.