Last year, the pressing story surrounding the Golden Globes was Ridley Scott's sci-fi/drama, The Martian, taking home the trophy for Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. While the film had its fair share of rich comedic moments (mainly from the snark and wit of Matt Damon's stranded botanist, Mark Watney), the core story of a rescue mission to save Watney from dying on Mars was far from what many would consider a comedy, and amassed shock from film-goers everywhere. Even director Ridley Scott was dumbfounded. "Comedy?" was Scott's puzzled, yet gracious response to the win.
This year, however, is a completely different story. While no musicals were nominated in 2016, 2017's ballot possesses two of them (John Carney's Sing Street and Damien Chazelle's La La Land). Another fantastic surprise is Tim Miller's superhero flick, Deadpool, receiving a Globe nod. While it may not seem like a film that would attract any attention from the Hollywood Foreign Press, there is no denying that it was hysterical. Thanks to a phenomenal ad campaign and positive word-of-mouth, Marvel's unexpected hit broke box office records, including "Biggest R-rated opening weekend," and, "Biggest 20th Century Fox Debut," according to Scott Mendelson of Forbes.com.
While La La Land seems like the clear-cut winner in this category, it's not too crazy to think that Deadpool actually has a shot of pulling off the victory. After all, $754 million dollars from domestic and overseas ticket sales, as stated by techtimes.com, don't lie. People really enjoyed the film, and it seems that the Hollywood Foreign Press did as well.
Regardless of which picture snatches the gold Sunday night, the real winner will be this category in general. The nominated films (Mike Mills' 20th Century Women, Deadpool, Stephen Frears' Florence Foster Jenkins, La La Land, and Sing Street) are all wildly diverse, yet not too dissimilar. Florence Foster Jenkins, while not a musical, focuses on the title character's (played masterfully by Meryl Streep) dream of becoming an opera singer, despite her horrendous singing voice. 20th Century Women is a period piece that takes place in the 70's. Sing Street is a period piece that takes place in the 80's. La La Land hit us with the catchy tune Another Day in the Sun in the first frame, as Deadpool displayed its nostalgia for 90's music with Salt-n-Peppa's hit Shoop in the first fifteen minutes.
What do these rather obvious points prove, you may be asking? If anything, they prove that memorable music and smart, gut-busting comedy is earning the respect it deserves, without having to resort to handing a drama, with some comedic relief, the statue.