The Golden Globes took place over the past weekend, and this year brought heavy competition and many memorable moments as Hollywood celebrated another year of great entertainment and incredible social movements that have changed the industry. Stars saluted women in film by wearing black and discussing the “Time’s Up” and “#MeToo” movements, supporting the end of abuse and harassment towards women in Hollywood and beyond. The Globes were a sea of black as celebrities showed their support towards the many women who had shared their stories of abuse in the past year. Seth Meyers hosted the show and was quick to address what he called “the elephant not in the room,” comedically commenting on Harvey Weinstein’s absence from the ceremony.

Oprah Winfrey was awarded the annual Cecil B. DeMille award for her outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment. Touching on her own experiences as a woman of color in the industry, Winfrey delivered a message of hope and perseverance in line with the overlying issues of the night. Her emotional speech quickly became the most talked about moment of the night. Attendee and  tweeted shortly after the speech “Let me tell you this room is still vibrating like electricity from that speech.”

Television Awards

This year in television, we saw a new wave of powerhouse shows emerge and old favorites return to once again steal our hearts. Shows like “Game of Thrones” and “Will and Grace” added another nomination onto their long history of success, while shows such as “SMILF” and “Big Little Lies” celebrated their first nominations.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” took home the award for Best Television Series – Drama and gathered a second Golden Globe for Elisabeth Moss, who has been dominating this awards season for her role in the series. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won Best Television Series – Drama, and brought Rachel Brosnahan her first Golden Globe as the title character.

“Big Little Lies” won almost every category for a limited series including Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series (Nicole Kidman), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series (Laura Dern), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series (Alexander Skarsgård).

Other winners included Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for Aziz Ansari in “Master of None”, Sterling K. Brown as Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama for This Is Us and Ewan McGregor as Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television in “Fargo.”

Film Awards

Films from top directors including Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan and Guillermo Del Toro hit cinemas in 2017 with much anticipation, leaving audiences wondering which films would triumph over the others for the prestigious Golden Globe. “The Post” (Spielberg), “All The Money In The World” (Scott) and “Dunkirk” (Nolan) failed to take home any awards despite numerous nominations. Guillermo Del Toro’s surprise hit “The Shape of Water” took home two awards of its seven nominations: Best Director (Del Toro) and Best Original Score (Alexandre Desplat).

The biggest winner of the night was Martin McDonagh’s breakout hit “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” which won four of it’s six nominations: Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture – Drama (Frances McDormand), Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role (Sam Rockwell) and Best Screenplay (McDonagh).

Greta Gerwig took home the award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her semi autobiographical film “Lady Bird,” despite not receiving a directing nomination. The Hollywood Foreign Press was criticized for few women being nominated in unisex categories such as directing, leading presenter Natalie Portman to introduce the Best Director category with “and here are the all male nominees.”

This awards season has also brought heated competition to the acting categories among newcomers and familiar faces. Gary Oldman took home the highly competitive Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for his performance as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.” Frances McDormand won Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for “Three Billboards.” Despite many years in the industry, this was the first Golden Globe win for both actors. Saoirse Ronan also won her first Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for “Lady Bird.”

James Franco and Allison Janney were rewarded Globes for their performances of real figures. Franco was awarded Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his role as Tommy Wiseau in “The Disaster Artist.” Janney won Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture as LaVona Golden in  “I, Tonya.”

The Golden Globes surprised fans and critics alike in its memorable moments and memorable awards. Amidst a year of incredible controversy, Hollywood came together to show support for an incredible cause and to better the industry through example. With the Oscars on the horizon, The Golden Globes paved the road for the 2018 awards season to be a source of incredible achievement and inspiration.

A full list of Golden Globes winners and nominees can be found at https://www.goldenglobes.com.