January 7, 2019• byMichael Strangeways

Seattle International Film Festival’s Artistic Director Beth Barrett offers up her take on the shocking wins (and losers) at Sunday’s Golden Globes awards honoring the best of film for 2018.

Several of the winners can be seen at SIFF Cinema screens RIGHT NOW including Vice and If Beale Street Could Talk. both playing at SIFF at the Uptown and The Favourite playing at SIFF at the Egyptian on Capitol Hill.

THE 2019 GOLDEN GLOBES

The Golden Globes were handed out last night, and while there were definitely a few upset wins, it just shows how varied and competitive some of these races are! Glenn Close, Olivia Colman, Regina King, Mahershala Ali, and Rami Malek all got big boosts for the Oscar® race (and delivered some of the best acceptance speeches of the night) while front runner A Star Is Born, widely expected to dominate the night, only took home the Globe for Best Song (“Shallow”).

Christian Bale took home the Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Vice, thanking Satan for inspiration in playing former Vice President Dick Cheney, while Regina King won Best Supporting Actress for her luminescent work on If Beale Street Could Talk. You can catch both performances currently at SIFF Cinema Uptown. Green Book won Best Supporting Actor and Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, as well as Best Screenplay, beating out its fiercest competitor The Favourite for the latter two categories.

Glenn Close, seeming genuinely surprised, won Best Actress – Drama for her top of career work in The Wife, beating out Lady Gaga, and in her impassioned acceptance speech, she talked of her mother sublimating herself to her father all her life, and how women cannot continue that pattern. The Favourite’s Olivia Colman’s delightful acceptance speech for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy cements herself firmly in the Oscar® race, thanking her bitches (Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz) along the way. If you haven’t seen The Favouriteyet, or you have and you want a refresher before the Oscars®, it’s playing at SIFF Cinema Egyptian.

The big upset winner of the night was controversial Bohemian Rhapsody, taking awards for Best Actor (Rami Malek) and Best Picture – Drama, beating out assumed front runner A Star Is Born. Widely expected was Roma’s win for Best Foreign Film and Best Director, who will be a major player at the Oscars®.

Though Kore-eda’s Shoplifters lost to Roma last night and Pawlikowski’s Cold War did not make the cut as a Best Foreign Film nominee, both films have excellent chances of competing at the Oscars®. Shoplifters is playing now at SIFF Uptown and Cold War opens January 18 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian.

Shut out of awards, but name-checked through the entire show, were Crazy Rich Asians,Black Panther and BlacKkKlansman. These films, with many others, have crossed the border of both commercial and critical success, and brought faces and voices of change to millions of people, a fact reflected on by host Sandra Oh, in her amazing speech to launch the show. We see them, and we support them.

On to the Oscars®!

– Beth Barrett | SIFF Artistic Director

Winners

Olivia Coleman received the Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy award for her performance as Queen Anne in The Favourite. During her acceptance speech, Colman dropped the f-bomb while describing her positive experience making the film. She also said she had to hold back tears onstage because, as she told the crowd, “my entire table will point and laugh at me.”

See it Now at SIFF!

Christian Bale who won Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his spot-on portrayal of former Vice President Dick Cheney, thanked director Adam McKay for casting him to play someone “absolutely charisma-free and reviled by everybody.” Finally, as well as thanking the cast and crew – especially the Vice prosthetics experts – Bale added, “Thank you to Satan for giving me inspiration on how to play this role.”

See it Now at SIFF!

Regina King accepted the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk. King used her platform to discuss the importance of creating fair workplaces for women. “In the next two years, I’m making a vow that everything that I produce will be 50 percent women,” King said. “I challenge anyone out there who is in a position of power . . . I challenge you to challenge yourself and stand with us in solidarity and do the same.”

See it Now at SIFF!

Glenn Close gave a rousing acceptance speech for her Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama award which inspired multiple standing ovations and tears throughout the house. After commenting on the 14 years it took to get the film made, she reflected on her own experiences. “You know, to play a character is so internal and I’m thinking of my mom, who really sublimated herself to my father her whole life. And in her 80’s she said to me, “I feel I haven’t accomplished anything.” And it was so not right. And I feel what I’ve learned this whole experience is that women, you know, we’re nurturers, that’s what’s expected of us. We have our children, we have our husbands if we’re lucky enough and our partners, whoever. But we have to find personal fulfillment. We have to follow our dreams. We have to say, I can do that and I should be allowed to do that.” Screened at SIFF in 2018.

Mahershala Ali accepted the Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of real-life pianist Dr. Don Shirley in Green Book, “I want to thank him for his passion and virtuosity and the dignity he carried himself with that inspired me every day,” the actor said. “I have to thank my wife, my mother and my grandmother. I thank you for your prayers. I needed each and every one of them.” Screened at SIFF in 2018.

Best Screenplay and Best Picture Musical or Comedy –
Green Book

Screened at SIFF in 2018

Best Original Song
A Star Is Born

“Shallow”

Screened at SIFF 2018

A Look Back at SIFF NOMINEES

Other nominees that graced SIFF screens include: Eighth Grade (Best Actress – Elsie Fisher), At Eternity’s Gate (Best Actor – Willem Dafoe), Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Best Actress – Melissa McCarthy and Best Supporting Actor – Richard E. Grant), BlacKkKlansman (five nominations including Best Motion Picture – Drama), Boy Erased (Best Actor – Lucas Hedges), Beautiful Boy (Best Supporting Actor – Timothée Chalamet), and lastly, Isle of Dogs (Best Animated Picture).

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About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.