At the Golden Globes Sunday night, Hollywood tried to find the best way to balance the seriousness of recent revelations surrounding sexual harassment with a fun, party-like atmosphere. Off the bat, Seth Meyers delivered the best workshopped jokes he could (and in some cases, couldn’t) tell in his monologue, before the show went on with moments both silly (Allison Janney’s bird!) and heartfelt (anything Oprah said whatsoever). Here’s our rundown of the most memorable moments of the ceremony.
HIGH: Willem Dafoe shying away from the spotlight.
HIGH: Amy Poehler refusing to let Seth Meyers provide his set-up and simply delivering the punchline of her joke: “said the peach in Call Me By Your Name, ‘this scene is the pits!’” It was wonderful, though also a reminder that we sort of wish Poehler was still hosting this herself.
LOW: James Franco shoving Tommy Wiseau out of the way during his acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Comedy. Have some respect for your inspiration.
HIGH: Frances McDormand trying to hide from the the camera, providing a perfect reaction GIF for “that face when you’ve made a plea for attention but end up receiving more than you can process at the moment.”
HIGH: Sterling K. Brown starting his acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Drama with the thank-you to his wife he didn’t get to include in his Emmys speech.
LOW: The Greatest Showman’s “baby blah-blah music” beat Mariah Carey’s “The Star” in the Best Original Song category, but luckily she had plenty of fun during the night accidentally sitting in Meryl’s seat.
HIGH: Allison Janney introducing I, Tonya with a fake bird on her shoulder, turning to it, and saying, “Shut up.”
LOW: Martin McDonagh saying his mom probably wanted Lady Bird to win for Best Screenplay. Our moms did, too.
HIGH: Amy Sherman-Palladino bringing joy to the world with her hat, by starting off her acceptance speech for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with “oy, the Spanx!”, and by ending with “I’m going backstage. Is there cheese backstage?”
LOW: Alexandre Desplat winning, looking at his award and saying “different color than the previous one,” which probably should have been something you only think, Andre.
HIGH: Oprah bringing the house down and then rebuilding it with her acceptance speech. “There are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this award,” she began. “It is an honor and it is a privilege share the evening along with all of them.”
HIGH: Natalie Portman introducing the Best Director award with “here are the all-male nominees,” and no really knowing how to react to that.
LOW: Seth Meyers introducing Hugh Grant with “… and from Paddington Bear 2, Hugh Grant.” Seth Meyers was also apparently not aware it was simply called Paddington 2.
HIGH: Greta Gerwig tearing up while watching Saoirse Ronan’s speech, and now so have you.
HIGH: Frances McDormand opening her acceptance speech with message to her fellow nominees: “All you ladies in this categories, bar — tequila’s on me.”
