Golden Globe Awards 2024: ALL the winners

“Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s drama about the inventor of the atomic bomb, topped the Golden Globes on Sunday .

However, its fellow summer smash hit “Barbie” missed out on best comedy film honours to “Poor Things.”

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“Oppenheimer” took five prizes including best drama, best director for Nolan, best score, as well as acting trophies for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey jnr.

Nolan told journalists backstage he was drawn to the “tragedy” of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist who remained loyalty to his country and never apologised for his actions, yet was “wracked by tremendous guilt.”

Emma Thomas, the film’s producer and Nolan’s wife, said his work about “one of the darkest developments in our history” was “unlike anything anyone else is doing.”

Murphy, who plays the title character in the three-hour epic, hailed his “visionary director,” while Downey jnr, portraying the protagonist’s bitter rival, praised the movie as a “masterpiece.”

In winning best director, Nolan fended off Greta Gerwig, who helmed “Barbie” – the other half of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon that grossed a combined $2.4 billion last year at the box office.

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Turning nostalgia for the beloved doll into a sharp satire about misogyny and female empowerment, “Barbie” was the leading film heading into the night with nine nominations, but ended the gala with just two prizes.

It won the award for best song, for a tune written by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas. And as the year’s highest grossing movie, it claimed a newly created trophy for box office achievement.

“We would like to dedicate this to every single person on the planet who dressed up and went to the greatest place on Earth, the movie theaters,” said Margot Robbie, the film’s star and producer.

“Thank you to all the Barbies and Kens in front of and behind the screen,” added Gerwig.

But “Barbie” lost out on best comedy to “Poor Things” – a surreal, sexy bildungsroman which also earned Emma Stone best actress for her no-holds-barred turn as Bella Baxter.

“Bella falls in love with life itself, rather than a person. She accepts the good and the bad in equal measure, and that really made me look at life differently,” said Stone.

‘CHANGING YOUR GAME’

After an annus horribilis in which the industry was crippled by strikes, A-listers turned out in force to celebrate on Sunday.

Stars who were unable to promote their movies during the months-long Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) walkout made up for lost time on the Oscars campaign trail.

Attendees also included big names from the world of music such as Bruce Springsteen and Dua Lipa – both nominated for best song – and Taylor Swift representing her recent concert movie.

“The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL – on the Golden Globes, fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift,” joked host Jo Koy.

The wins for high-profile films like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were a welcome boon to the new owners of the Globes, which have suffered years of controversy and declining audiences.

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Long billed as “Hollywood’s biggest party,” the Globes were boycotted by the industry after allegations of corruption and racism emerged in 2021, and the show was taken off air a year later.

The controversial group of Los Angeles-based foreign journalists that created the Globes 80 years ago has since been disbanded, and a wider net of overseas critics was brought in to choose this year’s winners.

“Golden Globes journalists, thanks for changing your game,” Downey jnr said in his acceptance speech.

‘HISTORIC’

The Globes provide a timely boost for the Oscars.

Nominations voting for the Academy Awards begins on Thursday, with the Oscars taking place this year on March 10.

Indigenous actor Lily Gladstone won best actress in a drama for her role in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” delivering some of her emotional speech in the native language of the Blackfeet Nation.

“This is an historic win, it doesn’t belong to just me,” she said.

“This is for every little res kid.”

Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph bolstered their Oscars campaigns with wins for “The Holdovers,” in which they starred as a curmudgeonly history teacher and cook of a 1970s prep school, respectively.

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Best screenplay and best non-English language film went to French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall.”

The film’s director and co-writer Justine Triet told AFP it was “sort of unreal” to win two prizes, especially in the screenplay category, which included Scorsese, Nolan and Gerwig.

Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” won best animated film.

The Globes also honoured the best in television, just a week before the strike-delayed Emmys.

“Succession” dominated, claiming best drama series, and acting wins for stars Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen.

“The Bear” swept the comedy categories, while road-rage saga “Beef” did the same in limited series.

Past Globes host Ricky Gervais, who did not attend, won best stand-up comedy performance, a new category.

WINNERS OF THE 81ST GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS, WHICH WERE HANDED OUT ON SUNDAY:

FILM

Best film, drama: “Oppenheimer”

Best film, musical or comedy: “Poor Things”

Best actor, drama: Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”

Best actress, drama: Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Best actor, musical or comedy: Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”

Best female actor in a musical or comedy: Emma Stone, “Poor Things”

Best male actor in a supporting role: Robert Downey Jr, “Oppenheimer”

Best female actor in a supporting role: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”

Best director: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”

Best screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, “Anatomy of a Fall”

Best non-English language film: “Anatomy of a Fall”

Best cinematic and box office achievement (new award): “Barbie”

Best animated feature: “The Boy and the Heron”

Best original score: Ludwig Goransson, “Oppenheimer”

Best original song: “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie” – music and lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell

TELEVISION

Best drama series: “Succession”

Best actor in a drama series: Kieran Culkin, “Succession”

Best female actor in a drama series: Sarah Snook, “Succession”

Best musical or comedy series: “The Bear”

Best male actor in a musical or comedy: Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”

Best female actor in a musical or comedy: Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”

Best limited series or TV movie: “Beef”

Best male actor in a limited series or TV movie: Steven Yeun, “Beef”

Best female actor in a limited series or TV movie: Ali Wong, “Beef”

Best female actor in a supporting role: Elizabeth Debicki, “The Crown”

Best male actor in a supporting role: Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”

Best performance in stand-up comedy on television (new award): Ricky Gervais, “Armageddon”

FILMS WITH MOST WINS

“Oppenheimer” – 5

“Poor Things” – 2

“Barbie” – 2

“Anatomy of a Fall” – 2

“The Holdovers” – 2

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse