Sunday night’s Golden Globes Awards were a delightful mix of expected (but still great!) wins — from Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldaña to “Shōgun” and “Baby Reindeer” — and real (and really fun!) surprises. In addition to a reminder of what a relief it is when the show has a great host, as it turned out, Nikki Glaser, the Globes delivered surprises in both film and television, with veterans Demi Moore and Colin Farrell picking up awards , while “Anora” and “The Wild Robot” came away empty-handed. Several winners expressed shock in their speeches, including “I’m Still Here” star Fernanda Torres and “Emilia Pérez” director Jacques Audiard. With awards for Best Drama, Best Director and Best Actor in a Drama, The Brutalist more or less emerged as this awards season’s frontrunner.

Of course, it remains to be seen what these surprises mean for awards season as a whole — there’s no real overlap between the Globes and Academy Awards memberships — although, as always, some of the better speeches could have an impact on voters, even if they never want them to would admit it. Oh, and diversity Parent company PMC owns Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Prods. in a joint venture with Eldridge.

Fernanda Torres stuns everyone with a win for actress in a drama

The shock of the evening was that Fernanda Torres won for her performance in “I’m Still Here” as a woman who endures the disappearance of her husband during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Torres’ deeply moving, understated work in the film stands out from the crowd of her fellow nominees – Angelina Jolie sings the opera in “Maria”! Nicole Kidman reveals all in ‘Babygirl’! – all are, as host Viola Davis put it, iconic in their own rights. This year’s Best Actress race is an incredibly crowded field, and Torres’ win here (a surprise to almost everyone other than…) diversityClayton Davis, awards editor, makes this race even more exciting.

The Musical or Comedy category surprised with wins for Demi Moore and Sebastian Stan

In one of the funniest – and more pleasant – surprises of the night, Demi Moore beat out presumed front-runners Cynthia Erivo and Mikey Madison for her role in the body horror shocker The Substance. In her moving speech, Moore said this was the first time in her decades-long career that she had won anything for her acting, and went on to say that early in her career, a producer told her she was a “popcorn actress,” which always made her believe her choices were limited. But that producer was completely wrong – as anyone who saw Moore’s stunning performance in writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s film knows. In The Substance, Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, an aging actress who takes extreme measures in desperation – well, you just have to watch the film to believe it! This year the competition for Best Actress is extremely fierce, but Moore may have given a speech that will guarantee her an Oscar nomination.

Immediately after Moore’s win, Sebastian Stan was invited on stage to accept his appearance in “A Different Man,” in which Stan plays a neurotic actor with the disfiguring disease neurofibromatosis who undergoes an experimental procedure that cures him so thoroughly, that he dies looks like the Winter Soldier. Most experts saw Stan as an underdog in this category, with Jesse Eisenberg being the main contender for his impressive performance in his film A Real Pain. But Stan was a double nominee this year — he praised his other film, the Donald Trump biographical drama “The Apprentice” — and that may have put him over the top.

“Emilia Pérez” beats “Anora” and “Wicked” in the musical/comedy category

In one of the most open categories of an extraordinarily open awards season, “Emilia Pérez” danced with the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy. While the unconventional operetta — about the head of a Mexican cartel (contestant Karla Sofía Gascón) who transforms into a woman after gender-affirming surgery — is the most nominated musical in Globes history, its win here was far from guaranteed. The stripper comedy-drama “Anora” has enchanted audiences since it won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. the blockbuster Broadway musical adaptation “Wicked” has been breaking box office records for weeks; the pitch-black satire “The Substance” has become one of the biggest word-of-mouth hits of the season; and the poignant “A Real Pain” enchanted nearly everyone who saw it. (It says something about this year’s crop of contenders that Luca Guadagnino’s electrifying “Challengers” is also nominated here, practically only because it opened back in April.)

In the end, “Pérez” prevailed against all competitors, and that’s how it is multiple victories – supporting actress, original song and non-English language film, as well as the award for best comedy or musical – has officially put the Netflix film at the top of the awards season.

“Wicked” only achieves box office success

“Wicked” is in many ways the film of the year, as it was a huge box office success, a critically acclaimed awards film, and a rousing cultural event. And although director Jon M. Chu was overlooked for his work, the Globes’ voting panel nominated the film for four awards, with both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the Actress and Supporting Actress categories, and the film itself in the The two best categories were musical or comedy and the new box office category. And in the end, it’s the Golden Globe box office success that “Wicked” walks away with – beating out Ryan Reynolds’ “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which was the favorite – as awards season gets into full swing.

“Anora” doesn’t win anything

At today’s Globes, “Anora” was the only film among the top nominees to win a major film award, the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Given the nominations for Picture (Musical/Comedy), Director, Actress, Supporting Actress and Screenplay, most were expecting a thrilling, heartfelt drama about what happens to the titular exotic dancer and sex worker (Mikey Madison). if she is drawn into the extravagant lifestyle of the spoiled son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn) – would at least win something. Instead, “Anora” was the most prominent candidate who went home empty-handed.

Colin Farrell ices Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd With victory for “The Penguin”

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. may have been disbanded after the Los Angeles Times exposed the various scandals and open secret corruption, but some of the voting weirdness remains – and that’s fun! In this case, Colin Farrell secured a win for HBO’s The Batman spin-off, The Penguin. Farrell played Oswald Cobb under layers of prosthetics, but that didn’t stop him from delivering a surprisingly heartbreaking performance as Oz rose, at great cost, to the top of Gotham’s criminal underworld. Farrell’s win prevented Emmy winner “Baby Reindeer” from winning, although Richard Gadd’s limited series won in the series category and in the supporting actress category, where Jessica Gunning won for her portrayal of stalker Martha.

Tadanobu Asano from “Shōgun” comes out on top in the supporting actor competition

Japanese star Tadanobu Asano lost the Emmys drama supporting actor race in September for his showstopping performance as the opportunistic warlord Yabushige, although “Shōgun” dominated that night. But against stiff competition at the Globes – led by Ebon Moss-Bachrach from “The Bear,” who won the Emmy for comedy supporting actor – he scored a surprise win in the category, which includes drama, comedy and limited shows. And he seemed delighted during his speech, even introducing himself to the audience: “Maybe you don’t know me. I am an actor from Japan and my name is Tadanobu Asano!” Maybe there is a way to bring Yabushige back for season 2? Come on, “Shōgun” creators!

Ali Wong beats Jamie Foxx, Adam Sandler and Globes host Nikki Glaser in the New-ish TV Stand-up category.

This is only the second year the category has recognized stand-up specials as their own category – Ricky Gervais won last year – so there isn’t much precedent to follow. However, even Ali Wong seemed surprised that he won against several heavyweights for his Netflix special Ali Wong: Single Lady, most notably Jamie Foxx for Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was… – who made his first public comments on the Stroke he suffered in 2023. The evening’s host, Nikki Glaser, was also a favorite to win for her HBO special “Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die,” but she had the last laugh (literally). “Maybe I didn’t win tonight,” Glaser said. “But the positive thing is that I just bet $11,000 on Ali Wong on a European gambling site.”