It's awards season, with all the various critics' groups and guilds nominating hither and yon, and a a whole lot of pundits trying to read them all like tea leaves to figure out who will be in Oscar's inner circle when the time comes.The Golden Globes are always fun, mostly because they are decided by about twelve people who have foreign press credentials good enough to get onto the voters' list, they mean absolutely nothing in terms of Oscar prognostications (see first point about number of voters), they give awards to comedies, which Oscar often overlooks, the ceremony itself brings movie and TV people together at little tables where everyone seems to be smashed, and... Well, they're just goofy, that's all. They also have a preference for European actors, including Brits, which I, personally, appreciate.
So this year, who have the Golden Globes decided to shine upon?A quick look at the nominations tells you that they like George Clooney, since both "The Descendants" and "The Ides of March" have been nominated, along with Clooney himself as Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama) for "The Descendants" and as Best Director of a Motion Picture for "The Ides of March," they like Ryan Gosling, nominating him for both "The Ides of March" on the Drama side and "Crazy Stupid Love" on the Comedy side, they inexplicably think "My Week with Marilyn" is a comedy, they inexplicably think Kristen Wiig is funnier than Melissa McCarthy (as IF), and they gave some love to "Midnight in Paris" and "Puss in Boots," both of which I loved. They also gave some love to "The Artist," which I keep hoping will show up somewhere close -- seriously, anywhere -- within my lifetime.
On the television side, I'm not invested in anything they nominated, although I do think "Homeland," "Game of Thrones," "Modern Family," "Downton Abbey" and Amy Poehler in "Parks and Recreation" are worth recipients of any awards they're nominated for.
Here's a look at some of the major categories; the complete list is available at the Golden Globes site.
BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse
BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Flowers of War (China)
In the Land of Blood and Honey (USA)
The Kid with a Bike (Belgium)
A Separation (Iran)
The Skin I Live In (Spain)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
Viola Davis (The Help)
Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar)
Michael Fassbender (Shame)
Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March)
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jodie Foster (Carnage)
Charlize Theron (Young Adult)
Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids)
Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
Kate Winslet (Carnage)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Brendan Gleeson (The Guard)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50)
Ryan Gosling (Crazy, Stupid, Love)
Owen Wilson (Midnight in Paris)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Berenice Bejo (The Artist)
Jessica Chastain (The Help)
Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn)
Albert Brooks (Drive)
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
Viggo Mortensen (A Dangerous Method)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
George Clooney (The Ides of March)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Martin Scorsese (Hugo)
BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon (The Ides of March)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (The Descendants)
Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian (Moneyball)
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
American Horror Story (FX)
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Boss (Starz)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Homeland (Showtime)
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Enlightened (HBO)
Episodes (Showtime)
Glee (Fox)
Modern Family (ABC)
New Girl (FOX)
BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Cinema Verite (HBO)
Downton Abbey (PBS)
The Hour (BBC America)
Mildred Pierce (HBO)
Too Big to Fail (HBO)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Claire Danes (Homeland)
Mireille Enos (The Killing)
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)
Madeleine Stowe (Revenge)
Callie Thorne (Necessary Roughness)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Kelsey Grammer (Boss)
Jeremy Irons (The Borgias)
Damian Lewis (Homeland)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Laura Dern (Enlightened)
Zooey Deschanel (New Girl)
Tina Fey (30 Rock)
Laura Linney (The Big C)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
David Duchovny (Californication)
Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory)
Thomas Jane (Hung)
Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Romolai Garai (The Hour)
Diane Lane (Cinema Verite)
Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey)
Emily Watson (Appropriate Adult)
Kate Winslet (Mildred Pierce)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey)
Idris Elba (Luther)
William Hurt (Too Big to Fail)
Bill Nighy (Page Eight)
Dominic West (The Hour)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story)
Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire)
Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
Evan Rachel Wood (Mildred Pierce)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
Paul Giamatti (Too Big to Fail)
Guy Pearce (Mildred Pierce)
Tim Robbins (Cinema Verite)
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)
The blogs Monkey See (at NPR) and What's Alan Watching? (at Hitfix) made similar comments about the Golden Globes today, and you're all absolutely correct. I especially like Alan's comments
ReplyDelete"The HFPA is easily distracted by both very famous names and shiny new things, and the members can be very easily lobbied.
...there is absolutely no reason to get worked up over any weird thing the HFPA decides to do.... It's the Golden Globes. They are ridiculous by design, and only as relevant as we choose to make them."
He was talking specifically about the TV categories, but it applies to the movies equally well. And it's pretty much what you said too, of course.
It's very hard to take seriously when you know how small their membership is. The whole thing seems to be designed to make the Hollywood Foreign Press Association seem cool and important because they get their own televised awards show and people like George Clooney and Brad and Angie show up. Whereas, of course, they only get a televised awards show BECAUSE George and Brad and Angie show up. So somebody did some smart marketing there to get the whole thing rolling. Last time I heard, I think they had 89 members or something.
ReplyDelete