Even without the peerless co-hosting talents of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler — we’ll miss ’em stewarding Hollywood’s drunkest awards show always — plenty of memories were made at Sunday night’s (Jan. 8) Golden Globes, both good and bad. (Many of both types featured the Globes’ new host, Jimmy Fallon.) Here are the moments that should be inspiring the most extended buzzes and brutal hangovers tomorrow morning.
BEST MOMENTS
Billy Bob Thorton vs. Bob Odenkirk
Never lacking for misanthropic style, Billy Bob Thorton used his surprise win for Best Actor in a Comedy Series as an opportunity to settle a puzzling fictional score with vanquished co-nominee Bob Odenkirk: “Bob and I have had a feud since the 1940s when we did a movie with Van Johnson — remember that, Bob? And we’ve had a little thing ever since. So, there you go, bud.” Made as much sense as Billy Bob’s indoor sunglasses, and was just as amusing.
Donald Glover’s Migos Shout-Out
“Not for being in the show, but for making ‘Bad and Boujee.’ That’s the best song…ever.” How quickly we forget about “Black Beatles” — but still, close enough.
Denzel Washington, Having a Moment
And we hadn’t even gotten to Meryl Streep’s speech yet.
?ulia Louis-Dreyfuss
Rock that DJ booth, @OfficialJLD. pic.twitter.com/ToUAL3nMfE
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) January 9, 2017
Not a bad look with the hair pick and glasses, but most memorable was just JLD’s presented-without-comment DJ impression — a faux-scratch here, a knob twiddle there, and a perpetually undistractable facial expression.
“Fantasia Day”
Without Tina and Amy, nothing more reliable at the Golden Globes than Kristen Wiig and a worthy comedic partner shaming all other pre-award banter with a routine that’s confusing, unpredictable and at least mostly hilarious. Her and Steve Carrell did the legacy proud this year with their tragic remembrances of the first time they ever saw an animated movie; Wiig while her three dogs were being put down, and Carrell just before his parents got divorced: “I never saw my father again after that day… Fantasia day…”
Barb in the opening musical number
BARB IS ALIVE #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/bEjHDMdAfw
— Stranger Things (@STScenes) January 9, 2017
But only if we all agree that this is the last time, and we’re all gonna let it go after this.
Brian Tyree Henry and Keith Stanfield, beaming
Tough for Donald Glover to top his Migos moment, but although his speech for Best Actor in a Comedy was damn strong, the emotional heavy lifting was done in the crowd, where Glover’s two Atlanta co-stars were shown clutching each other like a couple of tearfully proud parents. A moment of true poignance, even more so because now we can look forward to the possibility of it somehow being integrated into an upcoming season two episode.
Meryl’s speech
Meryl Streep’s anti-Trump speech at The Golden Globes touches on protecting journalists RT @goldenglobes: pic.twitter.com/FTubRjDN5T
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) January 9, 2017
Raw, heartfelt, necessary and earned — and for us in the press, more ennobling than we sometimes deserve.
WORST MOMENTS
Take that, Mariah Carey
Jimmy Fallon experienced a monitor mishap of his own to begin the live portion of his Golden Globes hosting, so he deflected any potential virality to a predecessor who’ll forever have him trumped, Mariah Carey: “She thinks that Dick Clark Productions sabotaged my monologue.” Took him until the next time he was out to come up with that zinger, too.
“Hidden Fences,” not once but twice
To be fair, Hidden Fences does sound like a pretty good movie title. But, uh, still not a particularly good look for Michael Keaton, Jenna Bush, or anyone.
Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn’s forgotten-glasses schtick
Is the best we can do for this duo a series of never-funny jokes about misreading the teleprompter? Between this and the “Formation” video remake, it’s like Amy and Goldie think they have to try way harder than they actually do to be funny and awesome together.
The doubly aggressive play-off music
Questlove def feels bad about pumping in the play ’em off music like producers are in his ear like “BLAST IT” and he’s like “guys be nice!”
— Jeff McDev (@JeffMcDev) January 9, 2017
Yeah, we all want to get out of here and go to sleep, but this is just getting insulting.