Best & Worst Of The 2017 Golden Globes

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The 74th Golden Globes made history in more way than one. “La La Land” took seven Golden Globes, more than any film in the award show’s history. The previous record, five wins, was held by five different films, the last being “A Star is Born” in 1977. The show might be most remembered, however, for Meryl Streep’s incredible acceptance speech where she eloquently remarked on the best performance she’d seen over the past year: Donald Trump’s. It was a stunning moment that took the breath out of the room and likely in your own living room.

The rest of the show was full of other memorable moments, obviously. Some good and some not-so good. Keeping all that in mind, here’s a best and worst look at the HFPA’s latest awards endeavor.

READ MORE: All The 2017 Golden Globe Award Acceptance Speeches, Plus The ‘La La Land’ Inspired Opening Musical Number

Best and Worst: The “La La Land” inspired opening
Wonderfully shot, the idea of taking the opening of “La La Land” and translating it to an opening number was in theory a good idea. And even though Jimmy Fallon’s voice sounded weak at first you have to love musical stars such Nicole Kidman and Amy Adams taking part. And the kicker, of course, was Sarah Paulson singing (how can you dislike that?). The other “Game of Thrones” and “Stranger Things” bits were great but then it kept going when it didn’t need to. Was a “City of Stars” dance between Justin Timberlake and Fallon really needed? It just felt a tad out of touch. Moreover, you can expect a number of studios to note their displeasure with the HFPA for the free commercial they basically gave “La La Land” with this bit. When the Oscars or Emmys do a number like this each show makes sure to make it include a number of different movies or TV shows. Making this just about “La La Land” was basically a slap in the face to other the other movie studios who kissed their ass over the past year.

Best: Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech
Honored with a Lifetime Achievement award, Meryl Streep spent much of her speech lauding others and moving the attention to her fellow acting peers. She also spent a big part of her time on stage defending Hollywood, artists, art and the salvation they give us, and zeroing in on the intolerance of President-Elect Donald Trump.

“Who are we? And What is Hollywood anyway?” she asked. “It’s just a bunch of people from other places. I was born and raised and educated in the public schools of New Jersey. Viola (Davis) was born in a share-croppers cabin in South Carolina,” before going on to mention Dev Patel, Ruth Negga, Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams and several other actors.

“Where are their birth certificates?” she said, digging at Trump. “If you kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch except for football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”

Indeed, the one performance that shook Streep the most this year was Donald Trump’s mocking a disabled reporter at one of his pre-election rallies. “It kind of broke my heart… When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose,” she said.

Streep ended her powerhouse speech by urging the audience and millions of viewers watching to donate to the Committee to Protect Journalists, saying, “We’re going to need them, and they’ll need us to safeguard the truth.” The acting legend brought the house down, and now we can all wait with bated breath to see how the petulant Trump will respond. Update: that didn’t take long… see his response below.

Best: Viola Davis’ acceptance speech
Davis started off funny noting “I took all the photos.” But her heartfelt and passionate acceptance speech (“It doesn’t scream money maker, but it does scream art. It does scream heart.”) was wonderful without spoiling a potentially more emotional Oscar speech. Thanking August Wilson for telling her father’s story was poignant and real.

Best: Scene stealer Julia Louis-Dreyfuss
No matter who the host is, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss will find some way to be a scene stealer without ever winning an award. Yeah, she may dominate the Emmys and SAG Awards, but with eight Globe nominations she’s only won once, in 1994 for “Seinfeld.” She’s never won for “Veep” and still has fun whether jumping from the movie table to the TV table when she was double nominated in 2014 or this year when she jumped in to DJ for Questlove out of a commercial break. She’s a Globes meme waiting to happen and we love her for it.

Julia Louis-Dreyfuss Golden Globes

Best: Hugh Laurie’s acceptance speech
“The Night Manger’s” Laurie was an upset winner for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series, Mini-Series or Movie over “The Crown’s” John Lithgow and “People vs. O.J. Simpson’s” Sterling K. Brown. Laurie wasn’t necessarily undeserving, but his speech made up for any grumbling over the win. In under a minute Laurie gave the best political commentary joke of the night. After noting how “amazing” his win was he began, “I suppose more amazing that I’ll be able to say I won this at the last ever Golden Globes. I don’t mean to be gloomy. It just has the words Hollywood, Foreign and Press in the title. I also think to some Republicans even the word Association is sketchy.” Kudos, Mr. Laurie. Kudos.

Best: Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig
90 minutes into the Golden Globes, and the energy was really starting to flag. But leave it to Steve Carell and Kristin Wiig to liven up the joint. The duo came on to introduce the nominees and hand out the trophy for Best Animated Film, seemingly one of the most softball (and forgettable) of categories. But the duo used the time to spin a hilarious, comedic bit where they each recalled the tragic circumstances around their memories of going to see their first animated film. The pair brought the kind of laughter to the Golden Globes that Jimmy Fallon couldn’t conjure, even with all that mugging.

Best: Tribute to Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
It may have been brief, but the Golden Globes tribute to the late mother and daughter, Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, was touching nonetheless and elegant way to address their passing.