By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | January 6, 2025 |
I specifically remember watching award ceremonies like the Grammys and the Oscars as a teenager and thinking that none of the right people ever won, and all the stuff that did win either sucked or I’d never heard of it. But I’d watch anyway because maybe Winona Ryder or Christian Slater might be there, and maybe Dead Poets Society would beat some film called Driving Miss Daisy.
That’s probably similar to the experience my nearly 13-year-old daughters had watching the Golden Globes. They’re into celebrity culture, but they were mostly hoping Zendaya, Selena Gomez, or Ariana Grande would win, and that Wicked and Abbott Elementary would sweep. They were disappointed. They also think Miles Teller is hot, which left me questioning whether they’re actually my daughters.
Anyway, they don’t read my site daily, so they had a lot of questions during the night. We tried to answer them, but sometimes we were just like, “It doesn’t matter. Just watch the show. Now I missed that whole Seth Rogen/Catherine O’Hara bit. And yes, she’s the mom from Home Alone. It’s been 35 years. She’s aged! Jeez!”
I figured some readers might have had similar questions, so here’s my best attempt at answering them:
1. Aubrey Plaza — “Finally, tonight my heart is with Aubrey Plaza and Jeff’s family,” Brady Corbet said at the end of his speech for Best Director for the film The Brutalist.
“Dad? Why did he mention Aubrey Plaza?”, one of my daughters asked. They know her from Parks and Recreation, and finding out that April Ludgate’s husband had died was a lot for them to process. They had lots of questions, most of which we couldn’t answer.
In short, Plaza was married to writer/director Jeff Baena (Life After Beth), whose body was found in his Los Angeles home on Saturday morning. His death has since been ruled a suicide. Baena also co-wrote I Heart Huckabees. He and Plaza married in 2021 after dating for several years. I don’t know the details surrounding his death, but yes, I imagine Aubrey Plaza is very sad. She hasn’t released any statements. (If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.)
2. Margaret Qualley — “Who’s that woman standing next to [Demi Moore]?”, one of my daughters asked. “She’s really pretty. What was she in?”
That’s Margaret Qualley. At this point, she’s been in a lot of movies, but not many younger people or mainstream audiences may have seen—except Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. She’s an extraordinarily talented actress: expressive and very physical. She’s also the daughter of Andie MacDowell, the woman from Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral (yes, what Bill Murray’s character did in Groundhog Day was creepy). Qualley will be in Happy Gilmore 2, so maybe more people will see her work, even if it’s only in an Adam Sandler film.
3. A Different Man — “Hey, I know who that is,” one of my daughters said. “Yes, that’s Bucky Barnes from Captain America: Winter Soldier,” I responded.
“No. I mean, sure, but that’s also Carter Baizen from Gossip Girl.” My daughters are currently binging Gossip Girl. This is when I learned Sebastian Stan was in Gossip Girl. The knowledge exchange goes both ways.
They also wanted to know what A Different Man was about and if they could watch it. Truthfully, I don’t know much because it’s not available in my corner of the world yet. From Jason’s review, it’s about a man with neurofibromatosis—a condition involving head tumors (not the same as Elephant Man syndrome)—who wants to be an actor. It’s an exploration of identity with humor akin to the Coen Brothers or Charlie Kaufman. Probably not suitable for pre-teens binging Gossip Girl, but it seems right up my alley (and Kayleigh, likewise, has raved about it).
4. Is Selena Gomez good in Emilia Pérez, and why does it keep winning awards? Another nominee/winner I haven’t seen. Reviews are mixed. It’s a musical crime drama about a Mexican cartel boss undergoing gender-affirming surgery, streaming on Netflix. Described as “audacious” but also “this year’s Green Book“—for trans issues. Why it keeps winning is unclear to me, except that the Golden Globes tend to like International films more than the Academy Awards, and also, Netflix probably had a lot of money to spend to promote it to the very small set of Golden Globes voters.
5. What is The Brutalist? Good question! It hasn’t been widely released yet, but it’s expanding to cities like Boston this weekend. It’s a three-and-a-half-hour movie about architecture and architects. Jason loved it: “Brady Corbet’s massively scaled but sneakily intimate 3.5-hour epic The Brutalist sets up the American Dream only to dash it to pieces against the cement walls of its formalist structures,” he wrote. Joe Alwyn — Taylor Swift’s ex—is — in it. It’s very dark and not appropriate for young teens.
6. “Oh my God! Why is Emma Stone’s hair so short?” Stone’s pixie cut is likely for her role in Bugonia, where “two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced she’s an alien intent on destroying Earth.” My guess is Emma Stone plays the CEO and had to shave or cut her hair short to look alien-like. It’s her fourth collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos.
7. They give Golden Globes for best stand-up shows? Why? Do people watch those in theaters? No, they stream at home, but yes: It is also very much a live-audience experience, like a concert. And Ali Wong is very funny, but also dating Fear from Inside Out.
This was just the second year this Golden Globe was awarded. Ricky Gervais won last year. He sucks and that special was trash. And Wong’s wasn’t her best — I’d have awarded it to Seth Meyers — but it was very good.
8. What’s The Substance about? — “It’s about an older woman, played by Demi Moore — who won Best Actress — who takes a pill and turns into a younger woman, played by Margaret Qualley.”
“Oh, that sounds great. Like Freaky Friday? Can we watch?”
“No, not like that. It’s body horror.”
“What’s body horror?”
“Uh, you’re not ready for that yet! It’s gory and intense and there’s self-mutilation and nudity and really heavy themes. You can watch it when you’re older.”