Keeping the 2010 Golden Globes in perspective

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that James Cameron and his 3D epic fantasy adventure film Avatar (or, as Arnold Schwarzenegger pronounced it, ‘Avada’) won some big ones at the Golden Globes this year. Given the worldwide box office and general-audience reaction to Avatar being so jaw-droppingly mammoth, it was to be expected. But I still had a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe it could miss out to other deserving films like Inglourious Basterds or The Hurt Locker… but no. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association felt it right to award the film currently sitting #2 on the worldwide all-time box office earnings list. Where’s their sense of dare?

To keep things in perspective, I watched the Golden Globes show from my laptop, sitting at my kitchen table, using breaks in the ceremony (or boring speeches) to feed my two youngsters, change nappies and check the cricket score on the telly. Nothing aligns the planets in your mind quicker than listening to Meryl Streep getting weepy about how much she appreciates life and everything she’s got while I stand and observe holding a shitty nappy in one hand and a half-eaten soggy banana sandwich in the other. Fittingly, Meryl won for her squeaky performance in Julie & Julia, which I reviewed last month.

The show itself was more of the same– just swap out the different handfuls of celebrities, films and television shows and you’ve got the same thing as every other year. From the poor teleprompter jokes to awkward cutaways of (usually) intoxicated celebrities, I found host Ricky Gervais to be a breath of fresh air against the otherwise predictable template. Even the Cecil B. DeMille Award to legendary director Martin Scorsese became strangely violated with sexual innuendo from presenter Robert DeNiro (who was joined by Leonardo DiCaprio). The featurette that played in honour of his films eventually morphed into a trailer for his upcoming film Shutter Island, which was perplexing given the circumstances. Still, it’s always nice to see a wonderful filmmaker being recognised for their talent, and even nicer when the recipient can deliver one of the most coherent thank you speeches of the night.

Besides Ricky Gervais making the show worthwhile, I was very impressed to see Christoph Waltz win Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role as The Jew Hunter in Inglourious Basterds (my favourite of 2009). Waltz completely steals that film and makes it his own in one of the most memorable performances in recent times. His speech was gracious and precise. I only wish Tarantino could have won Best Director or Best Screenplay. Not to be. Best Screenplay went to Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner for Up In The Air, and Best Director went to some guy who made Avada…

It was also nice to see ‘The Dude’ Jeff Bridges win for his lead role in Crazy Heart, a film I highly anticipate seeing this year. Robert Downey Jr. picked up a Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for his role as Sherlock Holmes (recently reviewed by Froley) and proceeded to deliver a change-of-pace speech where he refused to thank his collaborators, cleverly listing the people he refused to thank and thus actually thanking them… I look forward to him taking on more serious roles again sometime soon (please?).

Fellow Aussie Toni Collette received a Globe for her role as Tara in the television comedy United States of Tara, which was fantastic to see even though I was personally rooting for Tina Fey to win for 30 Rock.

My kids finally took a nap in time to enjoy the last few awards of the ceremony.  I thought the show was complete when Kate Winslet took my breath away as she presented the Best Actor award (she could have just stood there and twiddled her thumbs and I would have been impressed — that woman is flat out gorgeous and talented). Then Ricky Gervais wise-cracked that he “likes a drink as much as the next man, unless the next man is Mel Gibson” when he introduced the Aussie to present Best Director, and I figured that would definitely complete the show for me… and then Cameron won for directing Avatar… followed by Avatar winning Best Picture.

And the show went kaput. I’m still baffled.

Is Avatar‘s dominance at the Golden Globes a sign of things to come at the upcoming Oscars? I’m hoping the Academy gets it a little more accurate and looks past the visual effects and box office to recognise some real artistic integrity in other films this year.

Deep down inside, just quietly, I already know the truth.

Here’s a complete list of all the nominees and winners of the 67th Golden Globe Awards (2010):

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

• Mo’Nique, Precious
• Penélope Cruz, Nine
• Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
• Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
• Julianne Moore, A Single Man

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Toni Collette, United States of Tara
• Courteney Cox, Cougar Town
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Lea Michele, Glee

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• John Lithgow, Dexter
• Michael Emerson, Lost
• Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
• William Hurt, Damages
• Jeremy Piven, Entourage

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• Up
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
• Coraline
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• The Princess and the Frog

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA

• Michael C. Hall, Dexter
• Simon Baker, The Mentalist
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Bill Paxton, Big Love

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA

• Glenn Close, Damages
• January Jones, Mad Men
• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Anna Paquin, True Blood
• Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• “The Weary Kind,” Music & Lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (Crazy Heart)
• “Cinema Italiano,” Music & Lyrics by Maury Yeston (Nine)
• “I Want to Come Home,” Music & Lyrics by Paul McCartney (Everybody’s Fine)
• “I Will See You,” Music by James Horner, Simon Franglen; Lyrics by James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell (Avatar)
• “Winter,” Music by U2; Lyrics by Bono (Brothers)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Michael Giacchino, Up
• Marvin Hamlisch, The Informant!
• James Horner, Avatar
• Abel Korzeniowski, A Single Man
• Karen O and Carter Burwell, Where the Wild Things Are

BEST MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Grey Gardens
• Georgia O’Keefe
• Into the Storm
• Little Dorrit
• Taking Chance

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
• Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
• Marion Cotillard, Nine
• Julia Roberts, Duplicity
• Meryl Streep, It’s Complicated

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance
• Kenneth Branagh, Wallander: One Step Behind
• Chiewetel Ejiofor, Endgame
• Brendan Gleeson, Into the Storm
• Jeremy Irons, Georgia O’Keefe

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens
• Joan Allen, Georgia O’Keefe
• Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens
• Anna Paquin, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
• Sigourney Weaver, Prayers for Bobby

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
• Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, District 9
• Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
• Nancy Meyers, It’s Complicated
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• The White Ribbon (Germany)
• Baaria (Italy)
• Broken Embraces (Spain)
• The Maid (Chile)
• A Prophet (France)

BEST TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA

• Mad Men
• Big Love
• Dexter
• House
• True Blood

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Steve Carell, The Office
• David Duchovny, Californication
• Thomas Jane, Hung
• Matthew Morrison, Glee

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Chloë Sevigny, Big Love
• Jane Adams, Hung
• Rose Byrne, Damages
• Jane Lynch, Glee
• Janet McTeer, Into the Storm

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

• Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
• Matt Damon, Invictus
• Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

BEST DIRECTOR

• James Cameron, Avatar
• Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
• Clint Eastwood, Invictus
• Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

BEST TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Glee
• 30 Rock
• Entourage
• Modern Family
• The Office

BEST MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• The Hangover
• (500) Days of Summer
• It’s Complicated
• Julie & Julia
• Nine

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA

• Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
• Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
• Helen Mirren, The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan, An Education
• Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes
• Matt Damon, The Informant!
• Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer
• Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA

• Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
• George Clooney, Up in the Air
• Colin Firth, A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman, Invictus
• Tobey Maguire, Brothers

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious
• Up in the Air

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