Last night, I watched the 70th Annual Golden Globe awards. Judging from twitter, so did a lot of other people. All I can say is that I hope my golden globes are as popular as this show when they’re 70 years old.
Why Was I Watching It?
I have to admit that I nearly didn’t watch it because I was in kind of a crappy mood on Sunday night. Seriously,that night, my twitter timeline was a testament to just how annoyed this little redheaded Irish girl can get. But, in the end, I decided that I had to watch the Golden Globes because, even though I don’t care much for rich celebrities, I do love movies, I love TV, and I love award shows. Add to that, I knew that if I didn’t watch the Golden Globes that would mean missing out on a chance to make countless references to my boobs and I just couldn’t do that to my followers on twitter.
What Was It About?
It was about celebrities getting drunk and winning awards and getting bleeped while delivering their acceptance speeches. It was about the fact that the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will do anything to get George Clooney to come hang out with them. It was about Tommy Lee Jones glaring, Jodie Foster rambling, and Quentin Tarantino using the n-word backstage. It was about Ben Affleck winning Best Director and Argo beating Lincoln for best film. It was about star fucking and star mocking. It was the best of award shows and it was the worst of award shows. In short, it was the Golden Globes.
What Worked?
To be honest, the 70th annual Golden Globes were a lot of fun. The show moved quickly and most of the jokes were actually funny. The assembled stars started drinking early and I think that helped out a lot.
Among those who won Golden Globes, the best acceptance speeches were given by Lena Dunham, Christoph Waltz, Ben Affleck, and Daniel Day-Lewis. A lot of people were critical of Anne Hathaway’s acceptance speech but I thought it was sweet and genuine.
My favorite winner was Jennifer Lawrence, mostly because she specifically started her speech by mentioning that she had beaten “Meryl.” Some people on twitter felt that was a bit rude but, quite frankly, I’ve grown tired of Meryl Streep showing up at every awards ceremony looking like grandma in a prom dress.
(Meryl, incidentally, was not at the Golden Globes last night because she had the flu.)
I thought Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig were funny when they did their little introduction for the Best Actress (Comedy/Musical) award but I thought Tommy Lee Jones’ annoyed glare was even funnier.
Tina Fey (who looked great) and Amy Poehler (who did not) were both great hosts and I loved Poelher’s joke about how torturous it must have been for Kathryn Bigelow to be married to James Cameron. That’s one of the great things about the Golden Globes. Unlike at the Oscars, people are willing to make jokes about James Cameron.
Unlike a lot of people, I found Jodie Foster’s “coming out” speech to be funny and wonderfully human. That said, I wasn’t aware that Jodie Foster was ever in the closet. Seriously, worst kept secret ever.
It was a genuinely exciting and nice moment when Argo was announced as the winner for Best Motion Picture (Drama), defeating the heavily favored Lincoln. While I liked both of those films, there is a definite backlash brewing against the seeming inevitability of Lincoln’s victory.
Finally, Sacha Baron Cohen was pretty annoying but, on the plus side, he did take the time to insult Russell Crowe’s singing. As anyone who has ever watched South Park knows, this means that Crowe is going to jump in his tug boat and head off on a quest for vengeance.
And that’s the way things should be.
What Did Not Work?
A lot of people on twitter were really excited when Bill Clinton came out on stage to introduce the clip for Lincoln. Myself, I hit mute as soon as I saw him. I don’t watch awards shows to see redneck politicians. Add to that, having Bill Clinton introduce Lincoln was yet another example of the nonstop hype that has led to people resenting both Steven Spielberg and his latest film.
The Golden Globes used to be a fun precursor to the actual Oscar nominations so it was hard not to be disappointed that, under this new schedule, the Golden Globes were awarded after the Oscar nominations had been announced.
“OMG! Just like me!” Moment
“I’ll show you some Golden Globes!”
Lessons Learned
None. I was too stubborn last night to learn any lessons.
Through the Shattered Lens