The Globes were handed out a week ago today but I have so little respect for them that I didn’t even bother rushing a post in until I found the time to write it.
The big winner of the night was certainly The Social Network, which won 4 out of the 6 categories it was nominated for, including Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score. All the prizes were fully deserved and allow The Social Network to maintain its front runner status heading into the Academy Awards’ final weeks of voting.
On the opposite end, the big loser was The King’s Speech, which had the most nominations (7), but took home only one trophy, for Best Motion Picture Actor – Drama for Colin Firth, who is also widely considered the Oscar shoo-in for Best Actor.
Best Motion Picture Actress, went to Natalie Portman, who is neck and neck in the Oscar race with Annette Bening, who won the Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress – Musical or Comedy for The Kids Are All Right, leaving the balance unchanged. Bening, an early favorite to finally win her first Oscar this year, saw her chances diminish considerably with the release of Portman’s Black Swan. In fact, Portman is now considered the leading contender for the Best Actress Oscar.
It looks like it’s Bening’s fate to once again watch from the sidelines while a younger actress wins the most prestigious acting award when she has a very good chance of winning.
The Kids Are All Right also won Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, a rather easy feat considering that 3 of the nominated movies (RED, The Tourist, and Burlesque) should have never been considered in the first place. The very fact that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association considered them worthy of top honors shows how little they understand (or care about) excellency.
Toy Story 3, predictably and justifiably, won for Best Animated Film, while The Fighter, an unlikely Oscar contender at first, took home the Globes for Best Motion Picture Supporting Actor and Actress for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo respectively. The only real surprise of the night in the Motion Picture categories was Paul Giamatti’s win for Best Motion Picture Actor – Musical or Comedy for the widely unknown Barney’s Version, since even Burlesque’s win for Best Original Song for one of the two songs it was nominated for wasn’t a shock.
In the television categories the trophies were spread more evenly and there were more surprises. Boardwalk Empire took Best Series and Best Actor (for Steve Buscemi) – Drama, while Glee took Best Series – Musical or Comedy, Supporting Actor (for Chris Colfer) and Supporting Actress (for Jane Lynch).
HBO had 3 nominees (The Pacific, Temple Grandin, and You Don’t Know Jack) in the Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television category, but likely fell victim of vote splitting, and Carlos prevailed. Fortunately, Al Pacino and Claire Danes prevailed in the acting categories counterparts.
Showtime was rewarded with Laura Linney’s win for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for The Big C, while FX won likely the biggest upset of the night with Katey Sagal’s win for Best Actress – Drama for Sons of Anarchy, followed in second place by Jim Parson’s for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for The Big Bang Theory.
Overall there were few surprises, especially in the Film categories, and the show moved along very quickly -- too quickly at times, especially when the TV winners were trying to give their speeches and were quickly shooed out.
For me the biggest surprise of the night was how sharp Ricky Gervais’ jabs were, especially those directed at people who were either in the audience or about to walk on stage to introduce an award. Never has an award’s show host been more caustic towards Hollywood royalty, and his second run at the helm of the Globes might turn out to be his last, unless the HFPA decides the ratings are worth the criticism. But if they opted to invite Gervais back as host next year, they might witness an exodus of celebrities who decide to stay home rather than face the public humiliation.
Now let’s forget these fluffy non-awards and move on to more serious ones. After all, the Oscars nominations will be announced in just 2 days.
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