The Freddie Mercury/Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was the surprise winner of the Golden Globe for best motion picture/drama last night, though star Rami Malek was the not-so-surprising winner of best actor in a motion picture/drama, setting both up for domination in the upcoming Oscar competition.
The success in the main category was unexpected in part because the film’s director, Bryan Singer, left the production near the end amid controversy about his personal behavior. The studio touted the film for best actor, but not best director or even best picture.
Another highly-lauded musical drama, A Star is Born, won the best song award for co-star Lady Gaga, but lost in all the other categories, which were dominated by star/director/producer/screenwriter Bradley Cooper. Best actress in a drama went instead to Glenn Close for her magnificent performance in The Wife.
Best motion picture/comedy, best supporting actor in a motion picture and best screenplay all went to Green Book, the true story of a closeted black pianist (Mahershala Ali) escorted through the American South by a white driver (Viggo Mortensen) in the Jim Crow era. Ali won for supporting, but Mortensen lost leading actor/comedy to Christian Bale, for his unnervingly accurate portrayal of Dick Cheney in Vice. Best actress/comedy went to Olivia Colman as a kooky, malicious and queer Queen Anne in The Favourite. Alfonso Cuaron won the best director prize for my top film of 2018, Roma, which also won for best foreign language film. Best supporting actress in a film went to Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk. Another surprise winner was best animated film, which went to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Best score went to Justin Hurwitz for First Man.
On the TV side, best series/drama went to the final season of The Americans, while best comedy and best actor in a comedy went to the new Netflix series The Kominsky Method, starring Michael Douglas. Best actress in a comedy was a repeat for Rachel Brosnahan for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (my top TV show last year). Brosnahan is, remarkably, the first actress in Globes history to repeat as lead in a comedy.
Best actor/drama went to Richard Madden in Bodyguard; best actress to Sandra Oh for Killing Eve; best supporting actress in a drama, comedy or limited series went to Patricia Clarkson for Sharp Objects; and best supporting actor went to out actor Ben Whishaw in A Very English Scandal.
Two awards for limited series went to The Assassination of Gianni Versace: best series, and best actor for Darren Criss as spree killer Andrew Cunanan. Patricia Arquette won best actress for Escape at Dannemora.
— Arnold Wayne Jones
