How shock wins have shaken up the Oscars race

Surprise wins for actresses Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres at the Globes mean there may be more thrills on the way to the Oscars.

This year’s Golden Globes did what these awards do best. Demi Moore shocked the major Oscar race by winning Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her body horror satire. material”, and in the drama category, Fernanda Torres won the award for her role in the Brazilian political film “I’m Still Here.” Both actresses were fairly low on most Oscar prediction lists and were mentioned as unlikely. However, in addition to the unexpected victory, there was also the fact that both gave moving and eloquent acceptance speeches, and now I will definitely put it on the list of candidates..

Let’s be honest about what a glove is. As for the prize, they’re candy and an excuse for a glitzy, star-studded show featuring everyone from Nicole Kidman to Harrison Ford to Zendaya. globes Reorganized 2 years ago When the scandal-hit Hollywood Foreign Press Association was acquired by corporate executives and its membership changed. However, the 334 Globe voters from international publications and websites do not overlap with the more than 9,000 people who can vote for the Oscars. Winning the Globes is all about momentum and presence recognized As a winner, or at least as a contender to be taken seriously. That’s why these wins are such good news for Moore and Torres.

Moore’s performance as a TV personality sidelined in favor of a younger replacement (Margaret Qualley) is strong, but an Oscar campaign needs more than that, and she won the kind of comeback narrative award that voters prefer. have been acquired. She wisely emphasized that during her acceptance. speechstarted with the fact that she had never won an award for acting in her long career. She talks about her own insecurities and how a producer told her 30 years ago that she was a “popcorn actress” who made money but wasn’t taken seriously. It was a good idea, and it was humbling in a good way. And she said this: “When I was feeling down, a creative and outrageous script called “The Substance” came across my desk.” This kind of resurgence plays directly into the hands of voters, just as it did then. Ke Huy Quan wins Oscar for ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ After decades of quitting acting. And it helps that “Substance”’s themes of Hollywood vanity and the need and high cost of stardom resonate with voters.

Torres is a veteran actress but not a Hollywood star, which made her win all the more surprising, but well-deserved. Her fierce yet understated performance is at the heart of Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here, in which she plays a woman whose ex-politician husband is a victim of the disappearance of Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s. She plays a woman who is one of the people. Mr. Torres speech The film included a touching dedication to her own mother, Fernanda Montenegro. Fernanda Montenegro, who plays her character’s mother in the film, was nominated for a Globe and an Oscar 25 years earlier for another Salles film, Central Station. And Ms. Torres was one of the few honorees to comment obliquely on world conditions in her speech, bringing the requisite resilience of her character to today. “Something is happening in the world right now with great fear, and this film helped me think about how to survive in such difficult times,” she said. It’s a hopeful message delivered with tact that Hollywood is likely to welcome.

Of course, these upsets only reminded Moore and Torres in the minds of Oscar voters (and for Moore, BAFTA voters as well). she made the longlist). The Globes can be a terrible predictor because splitting the major categories into comedy and drama doubles the number of nominees. But Moore and Torres survived the toughest competition. Moore beat out Mikey Madison, who is considered the top three Oscar contenders (anora), Carla Sofia Gascon (Emilia Perez), Cynthia Erivo (evil). Torres’ category included Nicole Kidman (baby girl), Angelina Jolie (maria) and Tilda Swinton (next room). All eight of these actresses are currently participating in the Oscar musical chairs game, but a few days ago Moore and Torres weren’t necessarily participants.

Another acting upset, Sebastian Stan’s win for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for “Different Man,” is unlikely to have the same impact. The real competition there is in the drama category, with Oscar front-runners Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) and Timothée Chalamet (completely unknown) and Brody won. Stan’s surprise win, in the face of weak competition, is likely to vindicate his career and cost him the award. Glen Powell hitman and Gabriel LaBelle saturday night It seems like a move to fill that category. After all, it’s rare for a Golden Globe to stir up as much excitement as the Best Actress award. They are more likely to cement their Oscar chances, like Kieran Culkin, who won Best Supporting Actor for Real Pain and appears to have the key to winning an Oscar.

The most important thing about this year’s Golden Globe Awards may be its timing. Voting for Oscar nominations ends next Sunday, January 12th. That means the Globes have arrived just in time for voters to ponder the new awards landscape.