‘Drive My Car,’ MJ Rodriguez, Will Smith, ‘Encanto,’ Oh Young-soo, Jane Campion, ‘Succession’ among the 79th Golden Globe winners

Los Angeles --- “Drive My Car,” the Japanese drama film of Ryusuke Hamaguchi won the 79th Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language last Sunday, January 9 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Co-written and directed by Hamaguchi, the film is based on the short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami from his 2014 short story collection, “Men Without Women.”

We asked Filipino actor Perry Dizon, from Maco, Davao de Oro who portrays Peri Dizon and speaks Tagalog in the movie, for his reaction to the win. He e-mailed us his response: “Wow! I don't know how to react to this day's bundle of surprises! Your article, the moment I wake up already made my day and immediately forwarded the link to friends as far as to Evelyn Vargas-Knaebel in Fribourgh, Switzerland.

“I was on a constant talk with Maryanne Gomez in Manila while the proceedings of the Golden Globes were going on through my messenger, then my phone's internet connection got lost.

“The moment it recovered the last message read: What, bro no reaction? When I scrolled up, goosebumps while I was typing my reply.

“And yes, ‘Drive My Car’ is important!

Cast of "Drive My Car." Photo courtesy of Perry Dizon

“Readying for the Oscars, when things are getting crazier every minute of the day? How about this 'double variants' thing surfacing? What about health protocols and travel protocols as well? I'll have to wait for Mr. Yamamoto's and the production's word first. Let's just cross the bridge when we get there, wika nga.

“I ate a lot after Maryanne's blow-by-blow tracking of the proceedings and took a nap fulfilled.

“I celebrated with the cats. I fed them a good number of fish and the adult drank rum.

“You reminded me of calling them. Right, I will drop a message to Yamamoto-san after I send this message.”

The other films in this Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language category included “Parallel Mothers,” “The Hand of God,” “Compartment No. 6,” and “A Hero.”

South Korea’s first Golden Globe win by an Actor in a Supporting Role on Television was when Oh Young-soo (or O Yeong-su), the 77-year-old actor of “Squid Game” (aka No. 001) bagged the award in that category.

“I feel like I am floating on air,” he said. He is the most senior actor nominee in the 2022 Golden Globe Awards and is among the 17 first-time nominees in television.

The other nominees in this category included Billy Crudup in “The Morning Show,” Brett Goldstein in “Ted Lasso,” Kieran Culkin in “Succession,” and Mark Duplass also in “The Morning Show.”

We also had 12 first-time nominees in film or a total of 29 first-time actor nominees for the class of 2022.

Michaela Jae Rodriguez, the singer-actress who is also known as MJ, broke a lot of barriers as the first African American-Latina trans to win in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama for her performance as Bianca Evangelista in Pose.

MJ, who just turned 31 last January 7, reacted on her Instagram account: “OMG OMGGG!!!! Golden Globes. Wow! You talking about sickening birthday present! Thank you! This is the door that is going to open the door for many young talented individuals."

"They will see that it is more than possible. They will see that a young Black Latina girl from Newark, New Jersey who had a dream, to change the minds others would WITH LOVE. LOVE WINS. To my young LGBTQAI babies WE ARE HERE the door is now open. Now reach the stars!!!!" she added.

“To the nominees, we are QUEENS. I’m so happy to share space with you! Each and every last one of you women are phenomenal.”

Also nominated in this category were Jennifer Aniston for “The Morning Show,” Elizabeth Moss for “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Christine Baranski for “The Good Fight,” and Uzo Aduba for “Orange is the New Black.”

Will Smith won his first Golden Globe for his role as Richard Williams, the father of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, for the movie “King Richard.”

The other nominees in this Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama were Benedict Cumberbatch for “The Power of the Dog,” Javier Bardem in “Being the Ricardos,” Denzel Washington in “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” and Mahershala Ali in “Swan Song.”

“Encanto,” the animated movie about a young Colombian girl, Mirabel, who has to face the frustration of being the only member of her family without magical powers, won the Best Motion Picture – Animated.

Filipino animator Mikee Sevilla, who animated Mirabel and the whole family, disclosed that he is now working on his next Disney project as well, but he cannot reveal it yet.

Encanto's Mirabel

In an earlier interview Mikee revealed to us the challenges of creating this family, “I feel like the most challenging and the most fun part is each family member has their own personality and the challenge as an animator is trying to make every character authentic and real and themselves. That was really fun.”

He admitted that he could relate to Mirabel a lot. “When I see her singing in pain, I just want to give her a big hug. I relate so much to how she feels and her longing to belong in her family. Definitely, I can relate to Mirabel.”

Jane Campion, the director of “The Power of the Dog” which also won the Best Motion Picture – Drama, bagged the Best Director – Motion Picture award.

Jane Campion

The 67-year-old New Zealander filmmaker, who bagged the Silver Lion award for the “The Power of the Dog” at last year’s Venice Film Festival, told us at the Lido press conference, “The great loss for everyone is that there’s not just enough feminine voice and narrative describing our worlds, describing who we are so that we come to believe that all of us are a patriarchy when actually that’s not the case.

“Women do think differently and that is what is so beautiful and really interesting. We have seen it a lot more on television because women are really dominating that field and sharing really unique and edgy views.

“But now women are emboldened and supported by not just each other, but by the men as well, that people can see how unequal and unfair it is.”

Also nominated in this category were Steven Spielberg for “West Side Story” (which won the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy), Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast,” who won Best Screenplay-Motion Picture), Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Lost Daughter”).

“Succession,” the story of the power-hungry Roy family, bagged the Best TV Series-Drama award while Jeremy Strong, a first-time Golden Globe winner, bagged the Best Actor in a TV Series-Drama for his portrayal of Kendall, the prodigal son in the Roy family. Also, a first-time Golden Globe winner was 34-year-old Australian Sarah Snook, who portrays the shrewd heiress Shiv Roy in the series. She won in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role on TV category.

Succession members

In an email message to us Sarah said, “The opportunity to play the role of Siobhan Roy on ‘Succession’ has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I am always appreciative when I am able to reach people through my work so any acknowledgment of that is incredibly humbling. I am grateful for this recognition and look forward to watching the committed evolution of the HFPA.”

Special surprises that night were the video messages Jaime Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Jamie Lee Curtis, who introduced the Grantee Overview of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, said in her video:

“For a very long time, I didn't realize that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was, in fact, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and that they used the funds generated by the Golden Globe Awards and the telecast to fund incredible programs throughout our community."

"They fund creators and educators and institutions of higher learning and film preservation organizations. And they do so at a very lowkey, off-the-record evening of giving. And I've been the lucky host of that evening a couple times.

"And so, I just wanted to honor and stand with them in this continued advocacy of great need and great support that the HFPA continue to serve and offer, with their generosity. And I'm proud to be associated with them in this venture.”

Jamie Lee Curtis

Schwarzenegger, who introduced the presenters for the Best Motion Picture-Drama in his video said:

“Tonight, we have had the pleasure of seeing just some of the most incredible philanthropic programs, supported by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the past 27 years. They have not undertaken this journey for accolades, no.

"They have done it because they understand, that to support the arts and creativity, one must cultivate new, original, and diverse voices from all walks of life and all corners of the globe. And I was one of their beneficiaries.

“Let me tell you why. Because when I was finished with my bodybuilding career, and I came to Hollywood and started my movie career, I often heard, ‘Arnold, you should change your last name. No one can pronounce it. What is it? Schwartzen? Schnitzler? Something like that?’

"And then, they told me I should get rid of my accent. And then they said, ‘No, no, no,’ always. The Hollywood Foreign Press said, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ And in 1977, I won the Golden Globe New Star of the Year award.

"And my dream of being the best in my category was becoming a reality now. So, this recognition, by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, meant the world to me because these are the international journalists with a worldview.

"So, I cannot think of anything more fitting than to have some of these incredible new talents from some of these organizations, present our final award for Best Motion Picture Drama.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Among the other first-time Golden Globe winners included Rachel Zegler (Best Actress-Musical or Comedy for “West Side Story”), Ariana Debose (Best Supporting Actress in Any Motion Picture for “West Side Story”), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Best Supporting Actor in Any Motion Picture for “The Power of the Dog”), Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell for “No Time to Die” (Best Original Song-Motion Picture for “No Time to Die”), and Jean Smart (Best Actress in a TV Series-Musical or Comedy for “Hacks”).

The other Golden Globe winners include Nicole Kidman (Best Actress-Drama for “Being the Ricardos”), Andrew Garfield (Best Actor-Musical or Comedy for “Tick, Tick …Boom!”), Hans Zimmer (Best Original Score-Motion Picture for “Dune”), “Hacks” (Best TV Series-Musical or Comedy), “The Underground Railroad” (Best TV Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television), Jason Sudeikis (Best Actor in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy for “Ted Lasso”), Kate Winslet (Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for TV for “Mare of Easttown”), and Michael Keaton (Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for “Dopesick”). —JAB, GMA News.