'1917,''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' take top prizes at 77th Golden Globe Awards

AFP

Universal's epic war film "1917" and Sony's comedy film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" took home the top prizes at the 77th Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, winning best drama and best comedy, respectively.

The awards, run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, honored the best in film and American television in 2019.

The World War I drama from Sam Mendes "1917" surprisingly won the biggest prize of the night, beating out Warner Bros. Pictures' "Joker" and three films from streaming giant Netflix, namely "The Irishman," "Marriage Story" and "The Two Popes." Netflix led nominations for the 77th Golden Globe Awards with 34 nods in 25 categories spanning motion picture and television.

Mendes also won the award for best director of a motion picture over Bong Joon Ho ("Parasite"), Todd Phillips ("Joker"), Martin Scorsese ("The Irishman") and Quentin Tarantino ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood").

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" took home three trophies, including best comedy, best supporting actor for Brad Pitt and best screenplay for the film's writer and director Tarantino.

Laura Dern walked away with the award for best supporting actress for her role in "Marriage Story." As a favorite of the Golden Globes judges, she has been nominated eight times and won five.

Joaquin Phoenix won his second Golden Globe for best actor for his portrayal of the troubled Arthur Fleck in the psychological thriller "Joker," the highest-grossing R-rated film ever, raking in US$1.06 billion globally.

Renee Zellweger took home her fourth Golden Globe for best actress for her role as Judy Garland in Rupert Goold's "Judy," cementing her status as a Hollywood awards season favorite.

Taron Egerton nabbed the award for best actor for his performance as English pop musical icon Elton John in the biopic "Rocketman."

Elton John himself also took home a statue for best original song "Love Me Again" and got a standing ovation from Hollywood's elite.

Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, becomes the first Asian woman to win best actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy in the Golden Globe Awards history for her role in Chinese-American film director Lulu Wang's "The Farewell."

The film, based in part on Wang's life experiences, follows a Chinese-American girl returning to China to say goodbye to her terminally-ill grandmother.

"I thank Lulu Wang for the role of a lifetime," Awkwafina said from the podium. Joking about her golden statue, she said "if I ever run short of money, I can sell this."

"I can't believe I'm even here. This is crazy," she told Xinhua.

Lum is also the first woman of Asian descent to win a Golden Globe in any lead actress film category. She was born in New York to a Chinese-American father and a South Korean immigrant mother.

Disney suffered a startling upset, when best animated film went to "Missing Link" by Oregon-based Laika Entertainment, only the fourth time that Disney hasn't taken the gold at the Golden Globe Awards.

Disney had three films nominated for the award, including "Frozen 2," "Toy Story 4" and "The Lion King." That upset may be due to the fact that the Disney films in contention were sequels, which rarely get the nod.

The hotly contested best foreign language film category was won by South Korean writer and director Bong Joon Ho's "Parasite," the first Korean film to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and South Korea's entry for Best International Film for the 92nd Academy Awards in February.

Bong teased American viewers in his acceptance speech, saying "once you overcome the 1-inch barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films."

On the television side, Brian Cox nabbed the prize for best actor in a television series, drama for his role on HBO's "Succession," while Olivia Colman took home best actress for Netflix's "The Crown."

"Fleabag" claimed the award for best television series, musical or comedy. Phoebe Waller-Bridge won best actress in a television series, musical or comedy for "Fleabag," while Ramy Youssef was a surprising winner of best actor in a television series, musical or comedy for "Ramy."

The stunning limited series "Chernobyl" took home best television limited series or motion picture made for television award.