— by RACHEL COYNE —
The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards aired last night, and frankly, they were kind of dull. There were a handful of good quips from host Ricky Gervais, plenty of slams on NBC and pleas to assist Haiti, and a lot of awkward reciting from the teleprompter. Some of the more notable moments from the evening included:
— Sandra Bullock beat Gabourey Sidibe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. And I rolled my eyes so hard I think I popped a blood vessel.
— “The Hangover” won for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. I definitely thought it was the best movie of all the nominees, but I never expected such a bawdy comedy to actually walk away with the prize. It was sort of disappointing that Zach Galifianakis wasn’t there; I would have liked to have seen how he cleans up for an awards show.
— “Avatar” won for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and while nobody else was surprised, I still wonder how a movie that isn’t even nominated for Best Screenplay, can be considered the “best” overall.
Here is the list of winners in the movie categories:
• Best Motion Picture – Drama: “Avatar”
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama: Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: “The Hangover”
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: Robert Downey Jr. in “Sherlock Holmes”
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire”
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
• Best Animated Feature Film: “Up”
• Best Foreign Language Film: “The White Ribbon”
• Best Director – Motion Picture: James Cameron for “Avatar”
• Best Screenplay – Motion Picture: “Up in the Air” by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
• Best Original Score – Motion Picture: “Up” by Michael Giacchio
• Best Original Song – Motion Picture: “The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart,” with words and music by T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham
“The Hangover” certainly seems like a sort of bravura choice for these kinds of awards shows, which are usually the very definition of vanilla selection. I’ll never mistake “Up” for a better animated film than “Coraline,” though.
How did Avatar win “Best Motion Picture”? I have nothing against it but I didn’t think that it was award-worthy in anything other than special effects.
Not to mention, that the “Best” drama also didn’t have any nominated performances… Such a joke, but not unexpected considering the reputation of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assoc. Fingers crossed that the Oscar commitee doesn’t also drink the pretty 3D kool-aid.
I definitely agree about “Avatar.” I enjoyed the movie, but “The Hurt Locker” or “Up in the Air” definitely deserved the best drama prize more. I was pretty excited that “The Hangover” won though, since comedies like that almost never get recognition.