The Golden Globes are the Rodney Dangerfield of awards shows — though Hollywood’s beautiful people show up and walk the red carpet every year, the awards themselves don’t tend to get much respect. At the ceremony Sunday night, the Globes seemed determined to beat everyone else to the joke, as host Ricky Gervais repeatedly jabbed at what he called the “worthless” awards and the crowd responded with knowing, if slightly uncomfortable, laughs.
Yet even amid the cynicism, the Globes also showed off moments of genuine affection for some of the year’s most ambitious movies and some of the industry’s biggest and most durable stars, as Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s brutal western “The Revenant” and Ridley Scott’s sci-fi adventure film “The Martian” earned top prizes and Sylvester Stallone drew a rousing standing ovation for his return to his signature role as Rocky Balboa in “Creed.”
While Gervais delivered the kind of cringe-inducing zingers one would expect in Hollywood’s booziest awards show, taking shots at everyone from Sean Penn to Caitlyn Jenner to Mel Gibson, the 73rd Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel nevertheless delivered quite a few surprises, demonstrating yet again that this awards season has been anything but predictable.
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Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence
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Helen Mirren
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Laverne Cox at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards.
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Amy Adams; Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith; and Lady Gaga
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Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart
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Katy Perry, Taylor Schilling and Kate Hudson
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Christian Bale and wife Sibi Blazic
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Regina King and Rachel Bloom.
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Dwayne Johnson and daughter Simone Alexandra Johnson
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Saoirse Ronan
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Julianne Moore, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jennifer Jason Leigh
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Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis
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Director Tom McCarthy and his guest
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Lily Tomlin, Denis O’Hare and Uzo Aduba
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Liev Schreiber and Damian Lewis
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Brie Larson
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From left, actresses Leslie Mann, Zendaya and Eva Longoria.
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Amy Schumer
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Sylvester Stallone with wife and daughters
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Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler
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David and Jessica Oyelowo
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Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, from left, Laverne Cox and Eva Longoria on the red carpet.
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Elvis Nolasco and Richard Cabral
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Wiz Khalifa
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Lola Kirke poses on the red carpet at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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Emmy Rossum and Sam Esmail
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Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano
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Giuliana Rancic, Debbie Matenopoulos and Ken and Tran Jeong.
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Maria Menounos
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Ernst & Young couriers deliver the envelopes containing the winners to the 73rd Golden Globes at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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Carly Steel, left, Brad Goreski and Louise Roe
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Fans in the bleachers watch the red carpet arrivals.
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Actor Alan Cumming documents the red carpet moment.
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Liz Hernandez, left, Carly Steel and Nancy O’Dell
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Nancy O’Dell at the 73rd Golden Globes at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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Bomb sniffing dogs walked the red carpet January 10, 2016 at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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“The Revenant” was among the biggest winners of the night, earning the top prize for motion picture drama — beating out a varied field that included presumed favorite “Spotlight” as well as “Carol,” “Room” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” — while Iñárritu earned the directing award and star Leonardo DiCaprio took home the lead actor prize.
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In his acceptance speech, Iñárritu nodded to the widely reported challenges the film’s cast and crew faced in making the movie, even as he dismissed their ultimate importance. “Every film is difficult to make ... but we all in this room know very well that pain is temporary, but a film is forever, right?” Iñárritu said. “So who cares?”
“The Martian” also pulled in big victories, taking the prize for motion picture comedy or musical over “Spy,” “The Big Short,” “Trainwreck” and “Joy,” while Matt Damon won a lead actor award for his performance in the film as an astronaut stranded on Mars. (With the wins for “The Martian” and “The Revenant,” as well as Jennifer Lawrence’s lead actress win for “Joy,” it was a particularly strong showing for 20th Century Fox, which released all three films.)
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Comedian and host Ricky Gervais opened the show with jokes that made some laugh hysterically, and others cringe.
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Jennifer Lawrence accepts the award for actress in a motion picture comedy for her role in “Joy.” “Every time I’m up here, it’s because of you,” Lawrence said of her director David O. Russell.
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In the final award of the night, Alejandro G. Inarritu accepts the honor for motion picture drama for his film “The Revenant.”
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Brie Larson accepts the award for actress in a motion picture drama for her role in “Room.” After a long list of folks to shout out, she said, “I’m sorry to anyone I forgot, I’ll write you a thank you card.”
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As Taraji P. Henson walked to the stage to accept her award for actress in a TV drama, she passed out cookies to those around her, including one to Lady Gaga. “Cookies for everyone tonight, my treat,” she said for her winning role playing a character named Cookie in “Empire.” And just as she was asked to wrap up her speech, she refused. “I waited 20 years for this,” Henson said.
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After being announced as a two-time Golden Globe award winner, Jim Carrey made it known that he isn’t just a regular person, he is a two-time Golden Globe award winner. Though, of course, his dreams won’t be fulfilled, as he said, until he becomes a three-time Golden Globe award winner.
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Presenter Morgan Freeman announces the nominees for directing.
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Alejandro G. Inarritu accepts the award for director for “The Revenant.”
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Presenter Andy Samberg sparks laughs.
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Michael Keaton takes the stage to present an award.
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Sophia Bush, left, and Kate Bosworth present an award onstage.
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Maggie Gyllenhaal introduces the nominated film “The Room.”
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Music, what music? Ridley Scott made sure to get in all this “thank yous” while accepting the award for motion picture comedy for “The Martian.”
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From the moment Globes nominations were announced, many complained that “The Martian” didn’t belong in the comedy category at all. (“A comedy’s a film whose #1 goal is to make people laugh,” “Spy” director Paul Feig tweeted in response to the film’s surprising nod.)
Taking the stage to accept the award, the film’s director, Ridley Scott, seemed sympathetic to that view. “Comedy?” he said, waving his hand in an “eh, maybe not so much” motion. “But we’re grateful.”
Coming into the Globes, some had thought that Adam McKay’s financial-crisis dramedy “The Big Short,” another movie that stretched the definition of comedy, could pull out the win. But in giving the award to “The Martian,” the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which hands out the Globes, clearly saw an opportunity to recognize Scott’s entire career as a filmmaker.
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Without question, Amy Adams is enjoying the evening.
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Steve Carell and his wife, Nancy, were among the A-listers at the event.
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Gina Rodriguez smiles for the cameras as she enters the room.
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Christian Slater, left, and Rachel McAdams join the festivities.
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Taraji P. Henson, one of the award winners, has reason to smile.
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Jeffrey Tambor and Kasia Ostlun make their arrival.
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Helen Mirren graces the affair with he presence.
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Michael B. Jordan, center, arrives at the party.
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Brie Larson was a winner for the movie “Room.”
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Amy Schumer and sister Kim Caramele pause amid the hubbub backstage.
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Queen Latifah arrives at the party.
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Natalie Dormer makes her way to the celebration.
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Terrance Howard and Michelle Ghent-Howard join the festivities.
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Brian Wilson arrives.
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While humor is undeniably an essential ingredient in “The Martian,” Damon acknowledged backstage that the film’s inclusion in the comedy category was eyebrow-raising. “No, it’s a musical,” Damon joked. “And the 18-year gap [since his last Globes win] was me working on my singing.”
In other races, the Globes spread the awards love around to both newcomers and industry stalwarts. First-time nominee Brie Larson won the award for lead actress in a drama for her fierce performance in “Room,” while Kate Winslet, who has long been a favorite of the HFPA, earned the supporting actress prize for “Steve Jobs,” which also took home the screenplay award for Aaron Sorkin — a surprisingly strong showing for a film that proved a disappointment at the box office.
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But perhaps the most emotional moment of the night came when Stallone took the stage to claim his award for “Creed” to the strains of the “Rocky” theme song and raucous applause, proving — much as the “Rocky” films themselves have always done — that there’s nothing Hollywood likes better than a good comeback story.
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Golden Globe winners, including Rachel Bloom with her Golden Globe for Actress in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical, stop by the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards press room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Actor Sylvester Stallone, winner of Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture for “Creed,” poses in the press room at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Kate Winslet accepts her Golden Globe for Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Director Alejandro González Iñárritu, left, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio pose with awards for Best Motion Picture, Drama; Best Director, Motion Picture; and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama, for “The Revenant” in the press room at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Winner Oscar Isaac for Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Taraji P. Henson in the press room with her Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Matt Damon, winner for Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Producers Mark Pybus, left, Colin Callender and Rebecca Eaton, winners of Miniseries or Television Film for “Wolf Hall,” pose in the press room at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Jimmy Naples, left, and Sam Smith, winners of the Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for “Writing’s On The Wall” from the movie “Spectre”, at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Aaron Sorkin, winner of Screenplay - Motion Picture for “Steve Jobs” at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 10, 2016.
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Director Laszlo Nemes, center, actor Geza Rohrig, second from left, and other members of the “Son of Saul” team pose with the award for best foreign-language film for “Son of Saul,” in the press room at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday.
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Jennifer Lawrence won the award for lead actress in a motion picture comedy for “Joy.”
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Christian Slater took home the prize for actor in a supporting role in a series, limited series or motion picture made for television, for “Mr. Robot.”
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Gael Garcia Bernal of “Mozart in the Jungle” wins for actor in a TV series, musical or comedy.
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“Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail, center, and the cast pose together after winning the Golden Globe award for best TV series drama.
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Maura Tierney holds her Golden Globe for supporting actress in a limited series/TV Movie for “The Affair.”
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Jon Hamm holds his Golden Globe for “Mad Men.”
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Winners of the best motion picture musical or comedy for “The Martian”: Simon Kinberg, left, Ridley Scott and Michael Schaefer.
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Pete Docter, left, and Jonas Rivera, winners of the best animated feature film for “Inside Out.”
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Lady Gaga with her Golden Globe for actress in a miniseries or a motion picture. She will perform the national anthem at Super Bowl 50.
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Gael Garcia Bernal, Bernadette Peters and Lola Kirke share the Golden Globe for TV series comedy for “Mozart in the Jungle.”
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In his acceptance speech, Stallone noted that his win came nearly 40 years after he received actor and screenplay nominations at the Globes for the original “Rocky” in 1977 — back when the Globes were a far less widely watched affair. “[Back then] I got hit by a tumbleweed,” he joked. “It was a long time ago and a different situation. The view is so beautiful now.”
There were big surprises on the TV side as well, as shows with relatively small audiences scored big, including Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle,” which earned Globes for comedy series and for its star, Gael García Bernal, and the USA Network’s “Mr. Robot,” which earned the drama series award plus one for supporting actor Christian Slater.
In his opening monologue, Gervais took aim at, among other things, Hollywood’s gender pay disparity. Of the mini-trend of all-female remakes of films, including the upcoming “Ghostbusters,” he cracked, “This is brilliant for the studios because they get guaranteed box office results and they don’t have to spend too much money on the cast.”
But at least one person took a few moments to nod to perhaps the biggest elephant in the room, the juggernaut that is “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Noting that the film industry just wrapped a record-setting 2015, with over $11 billion in box office receipts, Scott suggested, in so many words, that the Force was with Hollywood.
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“Our business is like sport,” he said. “We had success [with ‘The Martian’], and ‘Star Wars’’ majestic success is inspiring. You’ve got to stay hungry and keep bouncing the ball.”
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Josh Rottenberg covers the film business for the Los Angeles Times. He was part of the team that was named a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist in breaking news for covering the tragic shooting on the set of the film “Rust.” He co-wrote the 2021 Times investigation into the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. that led NBC to pull the Golden Globe Awards off the air while the organization underwent major reforms. A graduate of Harvard University, he has also written about the entertainment industry for the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Fast Company and other publications.
