Friday, March 29, 2024

Golden Globes Get Respect at Last with Oprah, Elisabeth Moss Finally Arrives, Drake Deejays for Free

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It was a most unusual Golden Globes ceremony. The Hollywood Foreign Press is struggling to mature and be respected. Now at last thanks to Oprah Winfrey they achieved a modicum of respect. When Oprah spoke, the room fell silent. Michelle Williams’ guest for the evening, Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, literally burst into sobs. Williams and actress America Ferrara comforted her while Oprah continued. Laura Dern rushed over to help.

What I thought made the Globes look even better was this: Best Foreign Film went not to Angelina Jolie for her very good “First They Killed My Father” but to the German film “In the Fade” starring Diane Kruger. In the old days the HFPA would made sure a celebrity of Jolie’s stature would go home with a statue. This was quite a turnabout. The HFPA still has some old kooky members hanging around (it’s like after a dictatorship has fallen– some members still think HFPA means KGB). But leaps were made Sunday night.

Meantime, people met each other for the first time. Old friends celebrated. At the “Will and Grace” table, the whole cast raised glasses and clinked each time the show lost. At the “Stranger Things” table, Millie Bobby Brown– who’s become a beautiful young teen– clowned around with cast mate David Harbour after she lost, getting him to take pictures of her with a short stemmed rose in her mouth, very “Carmen.”

Allison Janney, looking dazed, accepted kudos as she made her way to the ladies’ room. Janney beat Laurie Metcalf for Best Supporting Actress in a comedy. There’s an irony there– Janney was  denied a Tony nomination last spring for her Broadway debut in “Six Degrees of Separation.” The winner last spring was Laurie Metcalf, for “A Doll’s House Pt. 2.” Now they will go up against each other for the Oscar. Stay tuned…

Nick Jonas and brother Joe Jonas had a jolly time. Once he lost, “Get Out” star Daniel Kaluuya looked like a huge weight was off him. “Now I’m having fun!” he declared. Justin Timberlake  and Jessica Biel were having  a ball. I told Justin I’d taken his instructions seriously about playing his new singe “Filthy” loud. “Right?” he said. “It sounds great loud!”

Later the parties took off like crazy. HBO celebrated big wins for “Big Little Lies” with Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Reese Witherspoon. At the Fox party, Best Actress in a Drama winner Elisabeth Moss pulled her cast out onto a landing to grab a cigarette. It was a big win for Moss. “I never won for playing Peggy [on Mad Men].” She didn’t win an Emmy for Peggy, either. She deserves it (and really, this is one Scientologist who I don’t get into it with– she’s never proselytizing and we don’t discuss it). She introduced me to her posse of terrific ladies.  Then the one time Peggy Olson said, “Come on, let’s get in there dance!”

And dancing is exactly what was happening at the chic Netflix party at the fancy shmancy new Waldorf Astoria, just built next to the Beverly Hilton. Up on the top floor, none other than Drake decided to deejay for a couple of hours. The place went wild. The room we were in was all red. Live arms stuck out of a curtained wall offering Champagne flutes and desserts from white gloved hands. They  were still going strong at 2 am.

 

photo c2018 Showbiz411

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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