Sunday, January 15, 2012

2012 Golden Globes

Much has been made of Ricky Gervais' return as host since his controversial turn last year. Gervais had poked particular fun at the movie the Tourist and its stars, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. As Depp appeared on stage as the first presenter of this year's show, immediately following Gervais' opening remarks, things seemed less controversial and more, Hollywood's A list is in on the joke.

I correctly predicted that Kate Winslet would win for Mildred Pierce in the best actress for a miniseries or tv movie category. Is there anyone who does not think that she is great? I mean really. Same deal with Claire Danes. She is three for three at the Golden Globes -- this year for Heartland, last year for Temple Grandin and originally for My So-Called Life. And another one, Meryl Streep. She needs to work on her acceptance speech should the opportunity arise at the Oscars, but she is the best.

I love that the Artist won for Best Score -- it has an amazing and necessary score. The man who accepted the award was very emotional and opened with, "I'm sorry, I'm French." So sweet. Nice counter, Madonna saying "um" repeatedly and saying that she is not French and has no excuse when accepting for Best Song. Then she got all Madonna-y and said "my film" probably ten times. I was only made aware of W.E., the movie the song is from, last night. Her appearance on British talk show Graham Norton was mainly focused on the movie. Of course my knowledge of the historical figures whose story it tells, Henry VIII and Wallis Simpson, comes mainly from last year's Best Picture winner, the King's Speech.

I could listen to Brad Pitt talk all day. His introduction of the nominated film Ides of March was especially nice because in turn, George Clooney announced Pitt's nominated movie, Moneyball.

Seth Rogan had fellow presenter for Best Actress in a movie, comedy or musical, Kate Beckinsale, in fits of laughter by saying that he was currently trying to conceal a massive erection. He even raised his eyebrows when she composed herself and was naming the nominees, restarting her laughter. Then I cried at the beautiful speech Michelle Williams gave when accepting the Best Actress award for My Week With Marilyn. That category was what's best about awards shows, the commingling of crass humor and class acts. Something much more frequently achieved at the Golden Globes, where actors sit at round tables with their costars and openly drink.

A blink and you missed it moment, when Eric Stonestreet's nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the television category was announced, his costar on Modern Family Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who was not nominated, all in good fun, held up a sign saying WHATEVER.

Right in tune with last night's SNL sketch of the Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais continued to bring his pint of beer with him to the podium throughout the show. Later he switched to a wine glass (it still frothed like beer). Then Madonna presented Best Foreign Film like a sketch of herself, saying she grew up watching films. No one can talk about things common in the human experience and claim to be the only, special person to do them like Madonna. But she did zing Gervais right back after his "just like a virgin" intro by saying he should come back and do something about it and that she had not kissed a girl on tv in a few years. It was a bit much considering that by that point in the show, Gervais had shown he was all bark and no bite. I would love to know what exactly he said about Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayek. The bleep seemed awfully long nor could I spot any profanities by reading his lips. Same goes for whatever Jean Dujardin said after winning Best Actor for the Artist.

I loved Angelina Jolie's white satin dress with red accents -- her bright ruby lipstick tied it all together beautifully. Red was the color of the night. George Clooney's date Stacy Keibler wore a beautiful red dress (guess that lucky witch is going to get to go to the Oscars too). The architecture of Nicole Kidman's dress was exquisite. Claire Danes dress was unconventional, but I really enjoyed the style. Reese Witherspoon also rocked red and she looked hot. The deep jewel tones of the dress Emma Stone wore were fantastic. Not exactly a fashion comment, but I love seeing Leonard DiCaprio with his blonde Great Gatsby locks. Nice. One final fashion shout out to the ladies of Modern Family. The Dunphy daughters looked gorgeous and Mama Dunphy, Julie Bowen, had amazing hair, a very old Hollywood do. Sofia Vergara was hilarious during Modern Family's acceptance of the Best Comedy tv show award. Her bilingual speech with series co-creator Steve Levitan was hilarious.
Jolie in Atelier Versace
Valentino
Versace
J Mendel
Zac Posen
Lanvin
L to R: Sofia Vergara's blue Vera Wang, tv sisters Sarah Nyland and Ariel Winter both wore Dolce and Gabbana, and Julie Bowen in Reem Arca  
What this all means for the Oscars...
First off, it should be noted that the nomination ballots for the Oscars were due Friday at 5pm Pacific Standard time. The Globes can provide a good indication of what the industry is thinking and what names and films we will hear when the nominees are announced on Tuesday the 24th of January. It is my observation over the years that the winners in the doubled acting categories (comedy or musical and drama) do not always predict the Oscar winners, but they often make nominations a guarantee. It did strike me as interesting that the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was only nominated for actress Rooney Mara and score. This may mean that there is less Oscar momentum for TGWTDT. The Descendants and the Artist were the big winners in the film categories, further adding to their Oscar liklihood. It makes for such a fun Oscar season when the top picks are such likeable movies. Years filled with dreary films are rough.

The winners:
Best Supporting Actor in a Movie: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Laura Dern, Enlightened
Best Miniseries or TV Movie: Downton Abbey
Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce
Best Actor in a TV Series (Drama): Kelsey Grammer, Boss
Best TV Series (Drama): Homeland
Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Best Original Song: “Masterpiece,” W.E.
Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie: Idris Elba, Luther
Best Actress in a Movie (Comedy or Musical): Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Best Animated Movie: The Adventures of Tintin
Best Screenplay: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie: Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Best Foreign Language Movie: A Separation (Iran)
Best Actress in a TV Series (Drama): Claire Danes, Homeland
Best Actor in a TV Series (Comedy or Musical): Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Best Supporting Actress in a Movie: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best TV Series (Comedy or Musical): Modern Family
Best Actor in a Movie (Comedy or Musical): Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Actress in a Movie (Drama): Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Picture (Comedy or Musical): The Artist
Best Actor in a Movie (Drama): George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Picture (Drama): The Descendants

2 comments:

  1. Couple more random thoughts, Colin Firth had the perfectly toned response to Ricky Gervais' jabs at him. He replied without taking himself too seriously and was funny.
    Jimmy Fallon presenting with and asking Adam Levine which of Mick Jagger's moves he has and acting them out, hi-larious.
    Lots of cute French people (the Artist).
    Also loved that the dog from the Artist was there when the movie won and how cute were the Deschanel sisters together?!

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  2. Read today that Ricky Gervais' bleep was just that he could not f-ing understand what Banderas and Hayek said.
    Jean Dujardin was not actually bleeped, he mouthed the last line of his speech in honor of the silent film he won for, the Artist.

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