Some Golden Globes Winners

Murphy giving his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes

The awards season has begun and tonight the Golden Globes were held in Los Angeles. It's hard to believe it's been a year since Michelle Yeoh won best actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once, and from there the multi-genre film went on to win big at the Oscars. She has had an amazing year flying everywhere all at once, getting married, having a grandchild -- on her husband's side -- and releasing a series called The Brothers Sun on Netflix.

This past year I saw a few films and was pleased to see some of them do well at the Golden Globes.

Yeoh on the red carpet earlier this evening

Oppenheimer, about the father of the atomic bomb won five Globes for best drama, best director nod for Christopher Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr, and original score.

It's quite an intense movie and if you haven't seen it yet, best to read up on J. Robert Oppenheimer first as the film goes over his background, from being a philanderer to his questionable communist links. It's unfortunate the women in his life don't get more opportunities to reveal more of their characters though. Nevertheless, both Murphy and Downey were fantastic going head to head in this story that is hard to tell, even over three hours.

One can't mention Oppenheimer with out saying something about Barbie. I liked the premise of the film and it started off funny, but then the laughs soon disappeared. Even Will Ferrell did his best to get the comedy going, but it wasn't enough. Yes, America Ferrera's monologue got cheers from women in the audience, but it seemed to be contrived like the rest of the film.

The Boy and the Heron is Studio Ghibli's first ever Golden Globe! And it comes days after Hayao Miyazaki's birthday too! This is also an intense World War II film about coming of age, destruction and reconstruction, where a boy yearns for his mother who has died, and a mysterious heron that speaks may lead him to her. 

Studio Ghibli wins for The Boy and the Heron

Toshio Suzuki is a Studio Ghibli co-founder and producer who posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying he was very happy to hear The Boy and the Heron won a Golden Globe, that it was "a very special feeling."

"Since the beginning of this year, Japan has been hit by a series of tragic earthquakes and accidents. When I hear the reports of many people still waiting for rescue in the disaster areas, I am filled with a sense of despair. In such a situation, I hope the bright news of winning an award can bring a smile to everyone's face, even if only a little. Together with our U.S. distribution partners, we look forward to further success with The Boy and the Heron. Thank you very much to the Golden Globes for this honor."

From this statement Suzuki must have felt it was not appropriate to go to the awards ceremony, but we are thrilled for Studio Ghibli.

And finally so pleased to see Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph win best actor in a musical or comedy film and best supporting actress in a motion picture respectively for The Holdovers. This is a film that at first seems like it is a comedy full of wry humour, but it goes way beyond it and has a message for everyone, that we never really know a person until they reveal the truth to you. It ties in very well with one of the most searched words on the Internet -- authentic.

Randolph kisses her award for The Holdovers

The next awards are the Emmy Awards on January 15, Baftas on February 18 and then the Oscars on March 10.