Five Burning Questions from Last Night's Golden Globes

So, we now have the kickoff to the winner’s season.  While the Oscar nominations technically haven’t even been announced yet, we’re really already in the thick of deciding who is going to win on March 2^nd.  Who can take the trophy in J. Law vs. Lupita?  Is McConaughey about to carry the day along with Jared, or can Chiwetel take over?  If Amy and Tina host the Emmys can Poehler finally win that damn trophy?!?  And then, there’s these five major questions that the Hollywood Foreign Press posed last night:

1. The Fifth Slot: Amy Adams or Meryl Streep

Amy Adams win over Meryl Streep is not a surprise, despite what you may have read this morning-a nomination at the Oscars doesn’t necessarily mean a Globe win in the same category if you’re the only contender, particularly when you’ve won twice in the past five years.  That being said, it is very rare to win a Globe and then go on to have one of your “defeated” get nominated when you don’t with AMPAS.  In the past twenty years, eighty performances have won Globes for lead actors, and seventeen have gone on to not receive an Oscar nomination in the same year (all but one of the misses being in Comedy).

However, only five have missed and then had one of their defeated get into the Oscar race:

-Jim Carrey for The Truman Show (beat eventual Oscar nominees Tom Hanks, Nick Nolte, and Ian McKellen)

-Jim Carrey for Man on the Moon (beat eventual Oscar nominee Sean Penn)

-Richard Gere for Chicago (beat eventual Oscar nominee Nicolas Cage)

-Madonna for Evita (beat eventual Oscar WINNER Frances McDormand)

-Renee Zellweger for Nurse Betty (beat eventual Oscar nominee Juliette Binoche)

As you can see, all five actors who were snubbed were non-nominees at the time, being substituted for, in all but one case, people who had nominated before and most of the upsets were by actors who were in major Best Picture contenders.  This doesn’t bode well for Streep.  Her film is a longshot Oscar contender, while Adams has a Best Picture frontrunner.  Additionally, Streep, while a legend at the Oscars, is losing buzz at the exact wrong moment, and has been for weeks while Adams (who is no Academy slouch with four nominations, including one for starring opposite Streep) is gaining rapidly.  Add in the fact that Streep recently won (in a win that has raised eyebrows) and you have a recipe for a major snub.

Two things pop out of this: one, there’s actually two situations where a Globe winner beat someone who is presumed to be amongst the nominees (Leo beating Bruce Dern-perhaps this could be major trouble for Robert Redford?) and Adams being the only non-winner makes the race a bit harder for Blanchett.  After five nominations, many people would feel Adams is “due,” and though she can’t beat Blanchett with SAG, she could pull a Christoph Waltz and come in at the Oscars.

2. Is Andy Samberg the latest SNL-er to get a show perpetually renewed despite low ratings due to critical acclaim?

Following in the grand tradition of Tina Fey’s 30 Rock and Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation, we now have Samberg’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine taking two super stunning Globes last night, including Best Comedy Series.  The Globes occasionally like to put their stamp on a new series (they’re the first major awards show who gets a crack at the fall season), but FOX is not the same as NBC-they don’t have Lorne Michaels looking out for the show.  FOX seems to really dig the series, though, which should help-I suspect it at least finishes the season.

3. Is this the moment American Hustle takes the lead over 12 Years?

If you look at last night, American Hustle clearly had the better night of the two.  Though neither pulled off Screenplay or Director, Hustle did take the one head-to-head victory (Lawrence over Nyong’o) and Hustle also has the more famous movie stars shilling its product (12 Years has come and gone).  I think one could call Hustle the very tentative frontrunner, but let’s not count out 12 Years-the fact that it took the top trophy after major losses for McQueen and Nyong’o earlier says that the Globes know it’s the frontrunner and needed something (otherwise this would have gone to Gravity).  The better question is can McQueen pick up the DGA, which will be a crucial piece of this prize since Hustle is bound to win the SAG Award?

4. Does The Great Beauty become this year’s In a Better World?

A few years back, In a Better World got the best news of its awards run when Of Gods and Men somehow got skipped in the Best Foreign Film race-it had a strong shot at the win, and its lack of a slot on the shortlist reshaped the race.  In a Better World managed the Globe that year over the starrier Biutiful and I Am Love (similar to this year, where Blue is the Warmest Color got passed over), and went on to ride its semi-well known director (at least internationally) and its Globe win to a victory at the Kodak.

All of this seems to mirror The Great Beauty rather closely-with The Past, Blue is the Warmest Color, and Wadjda all out of the running, there’s a large void for a winner here.  I had thought we might see The Hunt or The Notebook rise to that slot, but this may have given The Great Beauty a major arrow in its quiver.

5. How Much Does a Bad Speech Matter?

This isn’t about Jacqueline Bisset (who is enough of a diva that she can get away with ramblings), but instead it’s about Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto and their bizarre speeches.  I feel like McConaughey will be sober at the remaining ceremonies, which will probably help, but his weird “dude-isms” won’t sit well with older voters watching from home, and neither will Leto’s odd segways.  People can get away with terrible speeches all season long (Jennifer Connelly, anyone?), but it doesn’t help, especially since you’ve got some really charming and respected competitors (Hanks, Leo, Redford, Dern, Cooper, and Fassbender all come to mind) in both categories that would love a chance at the podium, and will get one with at least BAFTA where McConaughey and Leto aren't nominated.

Those are what was running through my head this morning-what about you?  What do you think the above answers will be?  And what were your burning questions after last night?