Golden Globes 2026 Awards (#83)

 all nominations here. 

watching them live on Voyo for the 1st time, interesting to see the breaks without commercials, really, some candid scenes. Even saw Sean Penn smoking at the table !!! And monsieur Cannes, Thierry Fremaux, talking cordially to Guillermo Del Toro ! And later on to Sean Penn. 

Venue: the Beverly Hilton Hotel

presenter: Nikki Glaser -her second year-decent jokes &, including Epstein list and a Spinal tap nod at the end of show.

article here

best of on M. Short and S. Martin "proof that in this industry you are never too old to need (making) Money"

 before this were given

Cecil B de Mille Award to Helen Mirren -

Carol Burnett Award-Sarah  Jessica Parker

Awards:

Supporting actress (out of 6):Teyana Taylor / One Battle After Another

uber surprised, emotional, crying

supporting actor: Stellan Skarsgård / Sentimental Value, best speech-

"cinema should be seen in the cinemas" SS, not Spielberg but Stellan Skarsgard

best actor comedy / musical- Timothée Chalamet -5 noms

Song: K-Pop-Demon Hunters

score: Ludwig Gorranson -Sinners

screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson -One Battle After Another

New category: 

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement: Sinners (surprising, I would also give it to Weapons)

Directing: PTA -One Battle After Another

Animation: K-Pop Demon Hunters

Best Motion Picture - Non-English Language-O Agente secreto/ The Secret Agent (Brazil, Kleber Mendonça Filho)

Best Performance by a Female Actor- Musical or Comedy-Rose Byrne -really, this category ? / If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

Best actress now retitled "Female Actor " drama: Jesse Buckley -Hamnet 

Best actor "male actor"/ drama (out of 6): Wagner Moura -The Secret Agent 

Best Picture: musical/comedy: One Battle After Another 

Best Picture: drama: Hamnet

TV

Noah Willey -The Pitt

Jean Smart-Hacks

Owen Cooper-Makes History at 16 as Youngest Golden Globe Winner for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series-in Adolescence

Seth Rodgen -The Studio /comedy / surrealy this happens mostly like in episode 8 of the show where exec Matt Remick (Rodgen) is pushing for one at the Golden Globes 

best actor miniseries: Stephen Graham -Adolescence

Michelle Willams-Dying for Sex -not there

supporting: Erin Doherty -Adolescence 

best actress / drama: Rhea Seehorn-Pluribus (predicatably, and she was very emotional)

Best Drama: The Pitt (HBO)

Best comedy/musical: The Studio (Apple tv) -on my Top 5 series of 2025

Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: Adolescence (netflix, 4 wins out of Five !!!)

*

Stand-up comedy: Ricky Gervais -Mortality (Gervais not present!) 

*

Podcasts -seriously ?

 - Good Hang with Amy Poehler

the Big winners:

#OneBattleAfterAnother #sinners #Hamnet #Adolescence #ThePitt

RIP Bob Weir

One of the greats and Only Ones, Bobby / Bob Weir, the legendary guitarist of Grateful Dead and later on Dead & Company, Kingfish, etc, is gone at  78 (on Jan. 10th 2026). 

He survived Jerry Garcia (dead at 53 in 1995!!!) for another 31 years !!!

He was still playing last year.

Obit in Rolling Stone

Dead & Company - 08/03/25, Recorded live at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA

Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne @Transilvania Blues Nights 9.01.26

 Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne, THE KING OF BOOGIE-WOOGIE – premieră în România!

 9 ianuarie 2026 | ora 20:00, open doors 18:00 | Transilvania Blues Nights / Clubul Rockstadt, Brașov

event aici: 

Bilete aici:

Exclusive European Tour 2026: 

Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne vine în premieră în România pentru un concert-eveniment la Brașov, fiind recunoscut drept unul dintre cei mai importanți pianişti de blues și boogie-woogie ai lumii.

Cu o carieră ce depășește 50 de ani, Kenny a împărțit scena cu legende ale blues-ului

și rock-ului, precum Jimmy Reed, Pinetop Perkins, Johnnie Johnson, Big Joe Duskin,

Joe Louis Walker și Floyd Dixon, dar și cu artiști celebri de soul și rock, printre care Ike

Turner sau membri ai Santana și Doobie Brothers. Virtuozitatea sa la pian și vocea sa

expresivă au cucerit publicul pe patru continente, fiind apreciat de critici și fani deopotrivă.

Născut în Spokane și crescut în New Orleans, Los Angeles și San Francisco, Kenny a

început să cânte la pian la doar 13 ani, inspirat de gospel-ul tatălui său și de boogie-

woogie-ul descoperit mai târziu. Stilul său combină energia boogie-woogie, eleganța

jazz-ului, ritmul swing-ului și profunzimea blues-ului clasic, transformând fiecare concert

într-o experiență completă și memorabilă.

Duke Robillard îl descrie astfel:

“Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne is a monster piano player, imaginative

songwriter and soulful singer who captures the essence of old school blues

and boogie, while simultaneously sounding totally fresh and contemporary.”

De-a lungul carierei, Kenny a primit numeroase distincții internaționale, printre care:

� Blues Music Award 2024 – Piano Player of the Year

� Blues Blast Magazine – Piano Player of the Year 2023, 2024, 2025

� Living Blues Magazine – Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboard) 2024

� Bobby Blue Bland Lifetime Achievement Award 2023

� Boogie-Woogie Piano Hall of Fame 2017

� Juno Award 2006 – Best Blues Album

� 7 Maple Blues Awards – Piano Player of the Year

Kenny este considerat un maestru care readuce pianul în prim-planul blues-ului contemporan, combinând respectul pentru tradiție cu o energie proaspătă, care face ca fiecare piesă să sune atât clasic, cât și actual.

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Un concert-eveniment în premieră națională și la Brașov, în cadrul Transilvania Blues Nights.

B. There & Let There B. Blues!

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Un eveniment marca Transilvania Blues Nights recomandat de Rock FM și Zile și Nopți

Sponsori: BCR, ButanGas, Dräxlmaier, Tehnic Mihor, BitDatamining, Aplind

Parteneri de ospitalitate: A-Ha Bistro, Coliba Haiducilor, Brașov Old Town Apartments

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 9 ianuarie 2026 | ora 20:00, open doors 18:00 | Transilvania Blues Nights / Clubul Rockstadt, Brașov

Bilete: pre-sale 150 lei  aici/ 180 lei at the door

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https://www.facebook.com/events/1413774146817012

https://get-in.ro/eveniment/concert-kenny-blues-boss-wayne-the-king-of-boogie-woogie-clubul-rockstadt-09-ianuarie-2026/

Top films of 2025

Tough cookie, lost count of how many films I've seen. Over 200, less than 300 ? I started to put them on Letterboxed starting late October but still didn't catch up with the rest.

***

Top of the series is here and films from 2024 are again a problem, The Brutalist and The Substance should've make the 2025 list, as there still are some of 2025 which I haven't seen yet (Hamnet, Resurrection, Sound of Falling ?).

Just caught up with Park Chan-Wook's No Other Choice that makes the list. It's limited in Romanian Cinemas now, so try to see it on the big screen, it's worthy.

Kinda disappointed with Romanian Cinema this year too. I liked Kontinental '25 and that's it. Could 've been also Jude's Dracula but he made it such an intentional mess and duration wise a whole calvary...

But disappointments of the year: the new Running Man by Edgar Wright. And the last Mission: Impossible. Hopefully...Oy...

Top 5 -alphabetically:

all that's clickable as links are my "reviews"

Eddington -Ari Aster

O agente secreto-Kleber Mendonça Filho

One Battle After Another -Paul Thomas Anderson

Sinners -Ryan Cooglar

Sirat -Oliver Laxe

new entry on Jan. 2th 2026:   No Other Choice

Almost Famous ;) -also alphabetically:

Ballad of a Small Player -Edward Berger

Bugonia -Yorgos Lanthimos

Caught Stealing -Darren Aronofsky

Father Mother Sister Brother -Jim Jarmusch

Frankenstein -Guillermo del Toro

In the Hand of Dante -Julian Schnabel 

Nouvelle Vague -Richard Linklater

Nuremberg -James Vanderbilt

The Materialist -Kelly Reichardt

The Phoenician Scheme-Wes Anderson

Tornado - John McLean

Train Dreams- Clint Bentley

Warfare -Alex Garland & Ray Mendoza

Nicolas Cage Award of the Year:  The Surfer  (d. by Lorcan Finnegan) 2024 !

Horror:

28 years Later-Danny Boyle 

Together -Michael Shanks

Weapons -Zach Cregger

Good Boy- Ben Leonberg

The Monkey-Osgood Perkins

Dangerous Animals -Sean Byrne

The Gorge -Scott Derrickson

The Long Walk -Francis Lawrence

The Substance -2024, Coralie Fargeat

Keeper -Osgood Perkins

Comedy:

even weaker as it is, still good fun !!!

This is Spinal Tap 2:  The End Continues by the late Rob Reiner....

Bunny -Ben Jacobsen 

an indie, punkish NY film in the best way, kinetic, quirky, funny, dark comedy, punkimprovised, irreverent. Cool punk songs too.

Documentary:

Soundtrack for a coup d'etat -2024-Johan Grimonprez

the doors -When You're Strange- - Tom DiCillo, from 2009 but remastered in Cinema limited

pink floyd at pompei -1972. Adrian Mabel, remastered in Cinema limited

Devo -2024, Chris Smith   -netflix

Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius) 2025/ Questlove   -netflix

Catch-Up -Four Aces:

Pale Flower- Masashiro Shinoda-1964 

La Traque -1975 Serge Leroy

The Childhood of a Leader -2015 Brady Corbet

Finalmente l'alba - Saverio Costanzo -2023, on which I wrote: 

Rome and Cinecitta 1953. More like a drreamlike story, a false thriller, homage to Fellini and La Dolce Vita, Notti di Cabiria, and linked to a real muder cold case known as the Italian Black Dahlia. Interesting slow film, in the Venice Competition in 2023. Modern beat score, strange and eerie. Song Last Nite by The Stokes (2011) on the end credits. 

3 1/2 out of 5