‘Barbie’ faces early snub while ‘Oppenheimer’ wins big at Golden Globe

Margot Robbie attends the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., January 7, 2024. Photo: Reuters

The 81st Golden Globe Awards drew the biggest stars of stage and screen to the Beverly Hilton hotel Monday (Jan 8).

The event was hosted by comedian Jo Koy, who opened the show with a zinger about Robert De Niro, 79, becoming a dad again in May.

The Killers Of The Flower Moon actor was nominated for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. That award went to Oppenheimer actor Robert Downey Jr.

Oppenheimer maker Christopher Nolan won Best Director for that three-hour epic about the inventors of the nuclear bomb. A short time later, Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy was named Best Male Actor in a Drama.

Moviegoers will remember 2023 as the year of “Barbenheimer” – a name given to the one-two punch of Barbie and Oppenheimer, which both opened to huge fanfare on July 29.

Barbie made nearly US$1.4bil (RM6.69bil) while Oppenheimer pulled in more than US$952mil (RM4.42bil), according to Box Office Mojo. Downey noted the latter’s enormous earnings in his acceptance speech.

The night’s first award went to first-time Golden Globe winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who was honoured for Best Performance by a Female Actor for her role in The Holdovers.

Succession, which captivated the nation with its fourth and final season in 2023, was well-represented Sunday, particularly in the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television, where it produced three of the six nominees. That included winner Matthew Macfadyen.

The HBO show about a powerful media family also produced half of the male nominees for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series-Drama, including winner Kieran Culkin.

An hour into the night, the Barbie writing team of Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach lost the best movie screenplay award to the writers of Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, who penned Anatomy Of A Fall.

It followed a humorous introduction by actors Hailee Steinfeld, Daniel Kaluuya, and Shameik Moore that referenced the 148-day writers strike that shut down Hollywood for much of 2023. The trio pretended to read a stale and clumsy intro prepared by movie executives.

Barbie also failed to get on the board after Emma Stone beat out Margot Robbie for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Later, Barbie did win the inaugural for cinematic and box office achievement for being the the highest-grossing domestic and global release of 2023.

Pop sensation Taylor Swift was in the house and seemingly not amused when Koy mentioned her presence in his opening monologue. She showed up without boyfriend Travis Kelce, whose Kansas City Chiefs were in Los Angeles Sunday to play the Chargers.

Swift seemed to be in better spirits as the show moved forward, even posing for photos at her table with the wife of actor Miles Teller, who’s the leading man in Swift’s I Bet You Think About Me music video.

The programme is scheduled to end at 11pm (US time). – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service