I know, I’m running way behind this year, but I’ve got to throw in a post about the Golden Globes, even though my respect for the prize isn’t what it used to be and certainly doesn’t rise to the level of the Academy Awards. Let’s just say that, given the continued importance the industry confers to these prizes handed out by about 80 people (in the whole world!!) it’s a little hard to ignore them.
The show flowed nicely and first time presenter Ricky Gervais did a great job. I love his brand of humor and I’ll watch anything he’s in. He is so witty and funny it’s hysterical.
I’ll get right down to a few considerations about the winners and “losers.”
First off, Best Picture went to Avatar and I totally expected Up In the Air to prevail (and I wasn’t the only one, judging by Jason Reitman’s face … ), or maybe Inglorious Basterds, given the audience’s reaction in the room when the film was mentioned. Instead Cameron got to take home the biggest award of the night, and I can’t say it didn’t deserve it, especially after having just seen Up In the Air. The other two candidates never really had a chance, especially after Avatar opened with such a bang.
Cameron also won for Best Director, which is actually quite deserved, considering the amount of time and work that went into the making of Avatar. These two wins all but position the blue juggernaut as the true favorite to win those same Oscar categories in a few weeks.
The Hangover’s win in the Comedy/Musical category wasn’t a big surprise, and since I’ve heard only nice things about this movie, I’ve added it to my Netflix queue. I saw only 2 of the other 4 candidates, and just judging by the word of mouth, The Hangover deserved to win.
The acting categories had few surprises, if any. In the leading categories, Jeff Bridges was a heavy favorite for Drama, and Meryl Streep and Downey Jr. were clear choices for Comedy. On the other hand, I was quite stunned by Sandra Bullock’s win in the Drama category. I had read that Gabourey Sidibe was the biggest obstacle on Streep’s path to her 3rd Oscar, but apparently Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire peaked too early and has now fizzled, while Bullock’s The Blind Side is still going strong and might be her only real chance ever at recognition from the Academy. Hopefully, the nomination will be enough of an honor and Streep will still win her more than deserved and grossly overdue Oscar for Julie and Julia.
Mo’nique’s and Waltz’s wins in the supporting categories were also not stunning. What always puzzled me, rather, is why would the Hollywood Foreign Press Association go to the trouble of wisely splitting the acting awards between Drama and Comedy, which allows the latter to actually get the recognition it deserves, while it’s always left in the dust at the Academy, and not split the supporting categories, as if it were impossible to find supporting players in both categories to award.
The Animation award went, deservedly, to Up, but I’m reading that Fantastic Mr. Fox’s stock is rapidly rising, so Up better watch its back for the Oscar race. Unless it gets a nomination for Best Picture, in which case it likely won’t win anything since I’m not sure it can be nominated in both categories.
Up also won for its beautiful score (by Michael Giacchino) while Up In the Air had to make do with the only win for Screenplay. Song and Foreign awards were completely unknown to me, while I enjoyed Martin Scorsese’s introduction and speech for his Cecil B. DeMille honorary award.
On to the TV awards. Drama: I can’t wait to start watching Mad Men, given all the love it receives from critics of all stripes, and frankly I would have had a tough time picking my favorite from the 3 series I watch that were nominated, Big Love, Dexter, and True Blood. On the Comedy side, Glee, unsurprisingly, prevailed over perennial favorite 30 Rock. I just hope that at some point Modern Family will get recognized because it really deserves it, while I can hardly understand the nomination for Entourage over far funnier comedies (The New Adventures of Old Christine comes to mind).
I’m super happy for Michael C. Hall’s win (Best Actor Drama) for Dexter because he does a hell of a job (and is super hot too, even with that ugly hat on his head!) and for Tony Collette’s for United States of Tara (Best Actress Comedy). The sheer amount of acting she does on that show justifies any award.
Alec Baldwin’s win for 30 Rock (Best Actor Comedy) also is warranted, since he’s always incredibly funny, while both supporting winners, John Lithgow for Dexter and Chloë Sevigny for Big Love, were my favorites and did a stupendous job the past seasons of their shows.
Finally, Grey Gardens, which won for Best Mini-Series or Made for TV movie, is now in my Netflix queue as well, and I’m looking forward to seeing it.
Overall a very enjoyable ceremony with few surprises, a couple nice speeches (Streep never disappoints) and many well deserved awards handed out.
From now on, it’s all about the Oscars.
1 comment:
Ciao Massimo,
just to tell you that the movie that won in the Foreign Language category, The White Ribbon, won 3 awards at the European Film Awards ceremony, therefore it was the logical favorite for the GG race. I think it will be nominated for the Oscars, too, and it will immediately become one of the front-runners. The director of the movie is Michael Haneke, the same of "Funny Games" with Naomi Watts.
Ciao!
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