For its 80th year, the Golden Globes showed how good an awards show can be. That’s saying a lot, especially after a year of self-imposed controversy and, in response, understandable industry blacklisting.

But we’ll get to that in a bit.

First, the lead: in the film categories, Steven Spielberg‘s The Fabelmans and Martin McDonagh‘s The Banshees of Inisherin were the night’s big winners, taking home the Best Motion Picture awards for (respectively) Drama and Musical or Comedy. Spielberg also won for Best Director and McDonagh for Best Screenplay.

Everything Everywhere All At Once also garnered major prizes with wins by Michelle Yeoh (Best Actress, Musical or Comedy) and Ke Huy Quan (Best Supporting Actor).

Following a year of scandal (from breaches of journalistic ethics to, of all things for a Foreign Press org, a lack of diversity; they had no black members), the Golden Globes returned after having its broadcast canceled last year.

Having worked to address the controversies (they now have several black members and have changed various rules of conduct), there was still an open question of how many stars would return to the beleaguered ceremony, and if the shows’s notoriously campy, party atmosphere was a thing of the past. In short, was it even worth it to bring this thing back?

The Globes answered that question by showing how good a modern awards show can be.

Granted that’s relative, given how awards show in general have lost a lot of their sheen from the halcyon days of the 20th Century. But the 80th Annual Golden Globes had so many moments that awards shows watchers hope for when they tune in for one of these things, as well as an example of how to rejuvenate a thankless job.

To the latter: Awards show hosting has become a no-win situation, a job in which the host is expected to balance impossible opposite goals (keep things edgy while also gliding things smoothly along) only to see social media nitpick every decision made.

Enter Jerrod Carmichael.

This year’s host threw out the list of expectations and did his own thing. That was clear from the outset, where he took the template of the opening monologue (i.e. a series of wisecracks that name-check relevant nominees and current industry narratives but without going too far so as to not make the crowd too uncomfortable) and, instead, fit the monologue to his stand-up style of storytelling.

Specifically, Carmichael shared a funny, cleverly-crafted tale of how he (a black man) came to be the host of the Golden Globes and, along the way, the only people roasted were the hosts themselves, i.e. the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, rather than random, unassuming targets in the Tinseltown audience.

In addition, rather than delivering it all from a center-stage marker, he strolled back-and-forth across the stage, sharing it all in a very calm, charming manor. The whole thing was very different from what we’ve come to expect from talk show hosts and big name stars, and it felt…nice. (You can watch the whole monologue here.)

That set the stage for the kind of emotional, heartfelt acceptance speeches you genuinely hope for, starting with Everything Everywhere‘s Ke Huy Quan (watch his speech here) who spread his tearful thanks from his first-ever director Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) to the filmmaking duo The Daniels (i.e. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) who gave him this new opportunity after a decades-long drought.

Quan’s speech alone made the whole night worth it, but then, too, so did the gracious eloquence of Supporting Actress winner Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and the equally heartfelt Jennifer Coolidge who, in her speech for TV’s Supporting Actress (The White Lotus) she heaped magnanimous praise upon series chief Mike White, who was in tears hearing every word.

(Speeches from Michelle Yeoh and Best Actor – Musical or Comedy winner Colin Farrell were also highlights.)

All of this was done in an atmosphere that was classier than the norm for the Globes. Yes, it still had that dinner party vibe, but without the “everyone’s drunk and OMG you never know what somebody might say next!” free-for-all tone that the Globes was sold on for years.

Sure, there were some loose lips (as evidenced by a number of censored profanities), but the tone was much more collegial, respectful, and grateful. Even the set and decor had an extra air of elegance.

Hollywood could stand to produce more awards shows like this one. Well done, HFPA. These Globes set a new standard, not by overhauling the awards show formula but simply by tweaking things around the edges in all the right ways.

The 80th Golden Globe Awards were handed out live on Tuesday January 10, 2023 at 8pm EST/7pm CST on NBC and streamed on Peacock.

For a full list of Television Winners, visit the official Golden Globes website.

80th GOLDEN GLOBE MOTION PICTURE WINNERS Films of 2022

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Winner: The Fabelmans

Nominees:
– Avatar: The Way of Water
– Elvis
– TÁR
– Top Gun: Maverick

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Winner: The Banshees of Inisherin

Nominees:
– Babylon
– Everything Everywhere All At Once
– Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
– Triangle of Sadness

Best Male Performance in a Motion Picture – Drama
Winner: Austin Butler, Elvis

Nominees:
– Brendan Fraser, The Whale
– Hugh Jackman, The Son
– Bill Nighy, Living
– Jeremy Pope, The Inspection

Best Female Performance in a Motion Picture – Drama
Winner: Cate Blanchett, TÁR

Nominees:
– Olivia Colman, Empire of Light
– Viola Davis, The Woman King
– Ana de Armas, Blonde
– Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans

Best Male Performance in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Winner: Colin Ferrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Nominees:
– Diego Calva, Babylon
– Daniel Craig, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
– Adam Driver, White Noise
– Ralph Fiennes, The Menu

Best Female Performance in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Winner: Michelle Yeoh , Everything Everywhere All At Once

Nominees:
– Leslie Manville, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
– Margot Robbie, Babylon
– Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu
– Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

Best Male Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture
Winner: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once

Nominees:
– Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
– Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
– Brad Pitt, Babylon
– Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

Best Female Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture
Winner: Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Nominees:
– Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
– Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All At Once
– Dolly De Leon, Triangle of Sadness
– Carey Mulligan, She Said

Best Director
Winner: Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

Nominees:
– James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water
– Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All At Once
– Baz Luhrmann, Elvis
– Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Screenplay
Winner: The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh

Nominees:
– TÁR, Todd Field
– Everything Everywhere All At Once, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
– Women Talking, Sarah Polley
– The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner

Best Original Score
Winner: Babylon, Justin Hurwitz

Nominees:
– The Banshees of Inisherin, Carter Burwell
– Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Alexandre Desplat
– Women Talking, Hildur Guðnadóttir
– The Fabelmans, John Williams

Best Original Song
Winner: “Naatu Naatu” / RRR – M.M. Keeravani, Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj

Nominees:
– “Carolina” / Where the Crawdads Sing – Taylor Swift
– “Ciao Papa” / Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro and Roeban Katz
– “Hold My Hand” /  Top Gun: Maverick – Lady Gaga, BloodPop, Benjamin Rice
– “Lift Me Up” / Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Rihanna, Tems, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson

Best Animated Feature Film
Winner: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Nominees:
– Inu-Oh
– Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
– Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
– Turning Red

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)

Nominees:
– All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
– Close (Belgium / France / Netherlands)
– Decision to Leave (South Korea)
– RRR (India)

The Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award:
Eddie Murphy

The Carol Burnett Career Achievement in Television Award:
Ryan Murphy

For a full list of Television winners, visit the official Golden Globes website.

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Click on links below for other major Critics Group Awards and Guild Nominees that have been announced so far for the 2022 / 23 season:

The 95th Academy Award Nominations
Producers Guild of America Nominees
Directors Guild of America Nominees
Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominees
Chicago Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
American Film Institute Top 10 Films of 2022
National Board of Review
New York Film Critics Circle