The Golden Globes were held on Sunday night and while the awards do not carry the prestige of the Academy Awards, many people believe that the Globes can be helpful in helping provide some insight into which films and performers may be considered favorites at the Oscars. However, based on recent history, the Golden Globes and the Oscars rarely seem to mesh up.

Excluding this year because the Oscars have not yet happened, the film that won Best Picture at the Golden Globes has gone on to win the same award at the Academy Awards only six times in the previous 12 years. Making that even more damning is the fact that the Hollywood Foreign Press hands out two best pictures (Drama and Comedy/Musical) annually.

The number of actors and actresses that sweep the awards, keeping in mind that the Golden Globes hand out two trophies for acting as well, remains relatively low, with only eight actors and eight actresses repeating. (Kate Winslet won Golden Globes as both lead and Supporting Actress a few years ago and ultimately did win an Oscar but for her supporting role. It was weird.)

The reason that all of this information is relevant is because Ben Affleck and his film “Argo” was a big winner on Sunday night at the Globes, with Affleck securing Best Director despite not being nominated for an Oscar and “Argo” winning Best Picture in the Drama category.

Because of the wins, many pundits are saying the Oscar race for Best Picture, which was already a three-film race between “Lincoln,” “Les Miserables,” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” with “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Django Unchained” still lurking on the periphery of the race, is now wide open and basically any film can win. However, if recent history has proven anything, it’s that the race is as open now as it was prior to the Golden Globes, which have little apparent bearing on the Oscar race.

A few other thoughts from Sunday night’s ceremony:

·       --For much of the build to “Awards Season,” it seemed like everyone was fighting for second place in the Best Actor category behind Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln.” However, it seems that Joaquin Phoenix has begun seeing a groundswell of support. When his film “The Master” was released way back in September, Phoenix was given the highest praises for his performance. However, one of the perils of an early release is that by the time Awards Season rolls around, many of those films are forgotten. (For example, “Moonrise Kingdom.”)

Based on the reaction that Phoenix got at the Golden Globes, which was arguably the loudest of the night in a room full of actors, it would seem that support for his performance has grown and it is important to remember that for the Academy Awards, voters only decide the category of their branch, actors vote for actors. While DDL is almost certainly still the favorite to win his record-setting third Best Actor Oscar, Joaquin Phoenix winning would not be the upset that many think.

·        --The race between the winners of the two Best Actress awards (Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence) is going to be an interesting one to watch. Both have justifiably received incredible praise for their very different performances. At this point, the award is probably Chastain’s to lose only because she was the lone nominee for “Zero Dark Thirty.” Many people could justify a vote for her by saying she carried the movie while saying Lawrence was one of many since the film is represented in all four acting categories.

That thinking has a big flaw, however, because of the sheer number of nominations that “Silver Linings Playbook” has garnered this year. It has been nominated in literally every major category and to not win at least one Oscar (Lawrence is the only one with a chance) would be viewed as a major defeat for the film and a poor reflection on the Academy.

·        --Does Tommy Lee Jones hate Will Ferrell or just award shows? Or was he disappointed that he did not win? Whatever the reason, his Grumpy Cat face was undoubtedly among the highlights of the show.