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SYFY WIRE Golden Globes

Golden Globes 2020: Joker's wild with two big wins while the rest of genre folds

By Josh Weiss
Joaquin Phoenix Joker

The 77th Golden Globe Awards were held in Los Angeles tonight, and the world of genre was mainly (and sadly) shut out from this year's list of winners.

Warner Bros.' Joker, which laughed its way to four major nominations, fared the best out of all the competitors by snagging two statues for Best Original Score (Hildur Guðnadóttir) and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (Joaquin Phoenix)

Per Variety, Guðnadóttir is the "first solo woman" to win a Golden Globe in her category, which included Randy Newman (Marriage Story), Alexandre Desplat (Little Women), Daniel Pemberton (Motherless Brooklyn), and Thomas Newman (1917).

"This is truly speechless. This is unbelievable," said the composer during her acceptance speech. "Thank you, Todd, for inviting me on the journey of a lifetime, for all the trust and faith [and for] your openess. Thank you, Joaquin, for making my job really easy with a spectacular, unbelievable performance. It's mind-blowing."

The film was also up for Best Director (Todd Phillips, who also co-wrote the screenplay) and Best Picture - Drama. Despite its two big losses, the DC origin flick about the birth of Batman's greatest nemesis is still a considerable awards season contender and may very well find itself the owner of an Academy Award or two once we reach the annual ceremony on Sunday, February 9.

Laika scored its first-ever Golden Globe for Missing Link. Directed by Chris Butler, the stop-motion film centers on Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman), a 19th Century explorer, who embarks on a dangerous and comedic adventure with the elusive Bigfoot (Zach Galifianakis). 

"Well, I'm flabbergasted," Butler said upon accepting the award. "It takes a lot of people to make one of these movies. There [were] 450 talented artists, craftspeople, technicians, [and] engineers, who made this movie possible ... I am genuinely shocked."

The animation studio was previously nominated for 2009's Coraline, but did not win. In addition to making Laika history, Missing Link also beat out three Disney heavyweights (Frozen II, The Lion King, and Toy Story 4), as well as The Hidden World, the highly-anticipated threequel to DreamWork's How to Train Your Dragon.

Missing Link

Knives Out, Rian Johnson's take on the classic whodunit genre, was slaughtered under mysterious circumstances, losing out on wins for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (Daniel Craig); Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (Ana De Armas); and Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.

Jojo Rabbit, a coming-of-age satire from writer/director Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), wasn't able to get its goose-stepping hands on statues for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (Roman Griffin Davis).

The category for Best Original Song was dominated by genre projects like Frozen II ("Into the Unknown"), The Lion King ("Spirit"), and yes, even Cats ("Beautiful Ghosts"). However, none of them were a match for the legendary musical stylings of Elton John and Bernie Taupin—both of whom took home the gold for their work on Rocketman's "I'm Gonna Love Me Again."

Knives Out Daniel Craig Ana de Almas

Jojo Rabbit

Game of Thrones' final season went out with a whimper, since Kit Harington (Jon Snow) could not defeat Succession's Brian Cox for Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series. The divisive eighth season of HBO's high fantasy series wasn't nominated for any other prizes.

When it came to Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, both Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) and Paul Rudd (Living With Yourself) unfortunately went home empty-handed.

For the full list of this year's winners, click here.