Golden Globes 2016 – Panned by Critics, Ratings Down

On January 10, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) gave out trophies to 2015’s designated talents of film and television. The show was hosted by Ricky Gervais, who returned after a three year break.

If we take a look at the winners in the film section. The Revenant managed to claim the throne with three wins, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director and Best Leading Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. Yes, Leonardo DiCaprio is one step closer to winning an Oscar! However, Matt Damon also has his chances with the Best Leading Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy win for ‘The Martian,’ which got crowned as the best comedy film of the past year. As for the ladies, Jennifer Lawrence won her third Golden Globe for ‘Joy,’ while Brie Larson was named as the Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, for the portrayal of Joy “Ma” Newsome in ‘Room.’

Moving on to the main winners of the TV category, ‘Mr. Robot’ (Best Series – Drama and Best Supporting Actor – Christian Slater), ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ (Best Mini-series or Television Film and Best Actress in a Miniseries of TV Film – Lady Gaga) and ‘Mozart in the Jungle’ (Best Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Leading Actor – Gael Garcia Bernal) stood out from the crowd with two wins each. As the first and the last are both produced by online streaming media companies (Amazon and Netflix), it’s pretty clear that TV as we know it is slowly but steadily transforming.

And last but not least, let’s talk about the show itself, which received a windfall of negative reviews from the majority of critics. “When was the last time the Globes were this painful to watch?” asked Entertainment Weekly’s Melissa Maerz, who gave the ceremony a C and named Gervais’ bad hosting as the main setback. TIME’s Daniel D’Addario also expressed his negative opinions about the show, calling it “bogged down.” The Washington Post’s Hank Stuever seemed to agree – “We ask for the worst, so we get the worst,” he wrote. The 73rd Golden Globes didn’t do well in terms of viewer numbers either, as only 18.5 million people tuned in to watch, which is a significant 800,000 person decline on last year.

Now that the Golden Globes are behind us, let’s hope that the 2016 edition of the film industry’s main event, the Academy Awards, will be much better.

For the full list of winners and more go to www.goldenglobes.com

Note: in the previous issue of Georgia Today (January 8) the article – “The Most Anticipated Movies of 2016” featured the wrong poster for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. We apologize for this mistake.

Photo: Getty Images

Beqa Kirtava