The annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony for the best television and film of 2019 went down in Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 5. The Globes, which are voted on and produced by the Foreign Press Association, are the second most popular film-related awards show of the year, followed by, of course, the Academy Awards (aka The Oscars). 

While the Oscars are a big, fancy, classy, “important” production, the Globes are, well, just about the opposite. Everyone is drinking, the host (this year it was Ricky Gervais) is trying to make headlines, and the awards themselves are, well, unpredictable.

With the Oscar nominations set to take place the morning of Monday, Jan. 13, the Globes are thought to be influential on the Academy’s nomination process, some years more than others.

So stay tuned for a full recap of the Oscar nominations next week. For now, let’s talk about the Globes …

The Golden Globes are known for their surprises, and this year, in that regard, they did not disappoint. And so let’s start there, with the biggest curveballs of the year.

Sam Mendes’ high-concept war film, 1917, took the big award of the night, winning Best Drama over favorites The Irishman (dir. Martin Scorsese), Joker (dir. Todd Phillips) and Marriage Story (dir. Noah Baumbach). These three were, respectively, the most talked about film, the most financially surprising film, and the best reviewed film of the year. On the other hand, 1917 has not even had a proper release yet. In fact, I don’t know a single person who has seen it.

That being said, all four movies will certainly get Best Picture nominations at the Oscars, and it’ll be a shame if 1917 wins (unless it really is as good as the trailer suggests).

Next up, Taron Egerton won Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his impression of Elton John, beating out a remarkable performance from Leonardo DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Sam Mendes (1917) also beat out Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese for Best Director while Once Upon a Time in Hollywood beat out Noah Baumbach’s masterful Marriage Story for Best Screenplay.

The almost totally unknown Ramy Youssef beat out Bill Hader (Barry), winning Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy (TV) with his performance in Ramy. Oh, and Missing Link somehow beat out The Lion King and Toy Story 4 for Best Animated Feature. (What?!)

The Golden Globes, they’re weird. Everything else was pretty predictable, I think. Here are the highlights:

Brad Pitt (who gave the best acceptance speech of the night) won Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Musical for his understated performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

A seemingly insane Renee Zellweger won Best Actress in a Drama for her performance in Judy, a movie no one has seen.

Joaquin Phoenix (who, like Zellweger, seemed totally nuts when on stage), won Best Actor in a Drama for Joker, beating out excellent performances by Christian Bale, Antonio Banderas, and Adam Driver.

QT’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood won Best Film – Musical or Comedy.

Awkwafina (who was hilarious) won Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for the excellent Lulu Wang film, The Farewell.

And the new song, “Im Gonna Love Me Again,” from the Elton John biopic, Rocketman, won Best Original Song.

Oh, and Laura Dern. She won Best Supporting Actress in a Film for her performance in the great Marriage Story.

What does this tell us to expect from the Oscars? Well, probably not a whole lot. I think a lot of the nominees will be nearly identical, but the winners — who can say. I think, if nothing else, the Globes cemented that Phoenix (Best Actor), Dern (Best Supporting Actress), Pitt (Best Supporting Actor,) and Once Upon a Time (Best Picture) are all frontrunners. Beyond that, it all seems to be up in the air.

Oh, and last but not least, what might be the best film of the year in my opinion, the Sadie Brothers’ Uncut Gems, was not released in time to be considered for the Golden Globes. That’s not the case with the Oscars.

I would love to see Gems get nominations for Best Picture, Best Director(s), Best Actor (Adam Sandler), Best Score (Daniel Lopatin), Best Supporting Actress (Julia Fox), and Best Cinematography (Darius Knondji). It really is that good.

See you next week, where we’ll talk Oscars, Oscars, Oscars. (And hopefully Uncut Gems.)