Golden Globes Recap: Where does the Oscar race stand?

The Golden Globes are the biggest party in Hollywood and it was quite a show last night. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey did a good time keeping the show going and their opening monologue was quite hysterical. Some of the jokes fell flat for me, but overall, I was entertained. The Globes are also the first major awards show of the season and they set the tone for what's to come. They're not typically known for lining up with the Oscars, but there were some interesting choices last night that could be signs of big things to come. Here are six of the big shifts that happened last night and where the Oscar race stands because of it:

-The Grand Budapest Hotel is an Oscar front-runner

Who would've thought that Wes Anderson's quirky little indie smash would be collecting awards at the end of the year? The March release was originally thought to be an Oscar dark horse, but is now at the front of the pack. The Grand Budapest Hotel lost in the Best Actor, Director and Screenplay categories, but took home the night's second-biggest prize- Best Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical. The film upset the heavy favorite Birdman and dark horse contender Into the Woods to take home the prize. It was a pleasant surprise for film fans around the world and it solidified what all the Oscar prognosticators had been thinking in recent weeks- The Grand Budapest Hotel is the real deal.

-Simmons, Moore and Arquette are sure things

The acting races are pretty uninteresting this year (with the exception of Best Actor) and the Golden Globes only confirmed that last night. Heavy front-runners J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette won Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively, establishing their status as the ones to beat. Arqutte has Streep to worry about, so she isn't quite a shoo-in yet, but Simmons is as close to a guarantee as we're going to get all season. And Julianne Moore should definitely be saving a spot in her trophy case for the Best Actress Oscar. Her performance in Still Alice looks to be unstoppable.

-Amy Adams could get nominated for Best Actress

Much to my surprise, Amy Adams has not received much recognition for her terrific performance as tormented painter Margaret Keane in Big Eyes. However, Adams might be a stronger contender than we previously thought. She won the award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical last night and could make the final five when nominations are announced on Thursday. Right now, she's fighting Jennifer Aniston for the final spot and I'm betting that Adams is the one who makes the cut.

-Best Animated Film is much tighter than we initially thought

One of the most shocking and disheartening surprises last night was when Dreamworks' mediocre How to Train Your Dragon 2 defeated the superb LEGO Movie in the Best Animated feature category. For months, many had assumed that The LEGO Movie was a guarantee. That might not be the case now. This is a very tight race.

-It's looking like Redmayne vs. Keaton in the Best Actor category

Michael Keaton was always going to win the Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical award at the Globes. His closest competition was Ralph Fiennes for The Grand Budapest Hotel and that film had a much better shot in other categories. However, the more interesting race was Best Actor in a Drama, which saw the face-off between Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch. Redmayne ended up being victorious, which majorly boosts his Oscar momentum. It's Redmayne vs. Keaton right now, in my opinion. And unless something majorly changes, it will be that way for a while.

-Boyhood is the front-runner for Best Picture

Ever since Boyhood premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, it's been the Oscar front-runner. I figured that around awards season, something would come and push it out of the way, but nothing happened. The closest competition was Selma and nothing came from that. However, after the Globes win last night, we can definitely say that Boyhood is the front-runner for Best Picture. It's got the best story and all the momentum in the world. Grand Budapest Hotel has a shot at an upset, but that's still not likely. It's looking like Boyhood will be on the podium come Oscar night.

Those were the six things that I noticed last night at the Golden Globes. Be sure to come back Wednesday for my final Oscar nomination predictions!

Image Credits: National Geographic, Mashable, Variety, Forbes, Live for Films, Time Out