Thoughts On The Golden Globes

The Golden Globes have come and gone, and we're a step closer to the Oscars. The Globes are in a lot of ways though of as the "warm up" for the Academy Awards, a sort of preview as to who might be nominated and who might win big.

But even though it's the Oscars little brother, it holds its own esteem and winning a Globe is a good achievement.

Ricky Gervais hosted once again this year, bringing his sharp humor and natural wit to the ceremonies. Read on after the break for the big winners and my thoughts!




Best Supporting Actor-Christian Bale for The Fighter
The first award announced, and a great start. I saw The Fighter before a lot of the other nominated films, but Bale gave one of those performances that I knew right away was worthy of several awards. Once again, he proved he is a very dedicated actor and really brings the character to life, down to the accent and body language of the real-life man he was playing.

Best TV Series, Drama-Boardwalk Empire
My thoughts on this are somewhat brief, as I sadly still haven't seen this series (though I really need to, as it's getting huge praise and Steve Buscemi won a Globe for his role). I will say this-I'm very happy to see Mad Men NOT win for once. It's certainly not a bad show (it's very good actually), but I like to see other shows get the honor. I would've loved to have seen The Walking Dead win, but I knew it was a long shot.

Best Original Score, Motion Picture-The Social Network (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross)
A solid choice, in a category that didn't have a single bad nomination. My personal favorites were the scores for "127 Hours" and The King's Speech, but The Social Network score was great as well, and unique. 

Best Animated Feature Film-Toy Story 3
We all saw it coming, but that doesn't make it any less fantastic. Toy Story 3 was not only the winner in this category, but one of the best films of last year. It would be fantastic to see it win Best Picture in the Oscars but we all know that, unfortunately, that won't happen because of the way the Academy works.

Best Actress, Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)-Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right
A great choice. Bening has already proven to be one of the better actresses working today, and she gave a great performance in the film. You could possibly argue that politics had something to do with the win (as the film tells the story of a same sex couple), but it did handle the subject in a mature, non-preachy way. It's nice to see it recognized.

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture-Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
This was another stacked category, with not a bad nomination in site. I would've loved to see 127 Hours or Inception win, but when I really think about it, Sorkin deserves the win. Why? He took the story of the creation of Facebook, an idea people scoffed at, and turned it into an exciting and interesting film. The Social Network was also supported by great directing and acting, but the writing was what made it one of the best films of the year.

Best Supporting Actress, Melissa Leo for The Fighter
 The first disappointment, in my mind. Don't get me wrong, Leo did a good job. But Helena Bonham Carter really deserved the win for her excellent performance in The King's Speech. Both woman played roles based on real people-but Carter was better in that she played a woman who stood by her husband through the pressure of being a royal member with a stammer. She played the role in a way that fit the tone of the film perfectly, and it seemed like she hardly had to try.

Best Director-David Fincher, The Social Network
Still no love for Christopher Nolan. He really deserved the award not only for Inception, but for most of his films. Still, I can't necessarily complain about Fincher winning the award. As I mentioned earlier, he was part of what made The Social Network a film worth seeing and one of the best of the year.

Best TV Series, Comedy or Musical-Glee
I'm gonna look like the bad guy here, but 30 Rock should have won. I've given Glee a shot, I really have. I can see how it's inspirational for a lot of people, and how it can make them feel like they belong, and there's a merit to that. Having said that, the show has some of the most cliched, lazy writing I've ever seen, and it just turns me off. At least 30 Rock has won in the past...

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy-Paul Giamatti, Barney's Version
Certainly the best outcome in a category that didn't have any strong suits this year. It wasn't a case of bad actors, but random performances-Johhny Depp for Alice In Wonderland? This is what happens, though, when you split the best Actor/Actress/Picture into genres. Maybe the Globes do it to set themselves apart a little from the Academy, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to merge them.

Best Actress, Drama-Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Another win that seemed obvious, but was still well deserved. Portman made Black Swan with her performance as a neurotic, paranoid ballerina who only wants to be perfect. It also feels like a long time coming for Portman, who is one of the better actresses of her generation.

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical-The Kids Are All Right
Again, a category filled in with what felt like incredibly random nominations. Luckily, the one film that really deserved the award won. It's the only film in the category, in my opinion, that is different, refreshing, and characterized by a good story and solid acting. 

Best Actor, Drama-Colin Firth, The King's Speech
In a year with a number of great performances, Firth's very much stood out. From his first scene in The King's Speech he pulls the audience in with mere looks of terror on his face in anticipation of having to speak in front of a large crowd with a crippling stammer. His performance was fully engrossing and one of the best I've seen in a long long time.

Best Motion Picture, Drama-The Social Network
The biggest surprise of the night, to be sure (at least for me). I was anticipating The King's Speech to be the winner, as I'm sure many people were. In my mind, King's Speech deserved the award the most, as overall it was the best in terms of story, writing, directing, and acting. Still, I have to recognize The Social Network for making a great film that helped define a generation (and that's really not hyperbolic). It's very cool to see the film get recognized, but I hope The King's Speech wins the Oscar.

So that's a wrap. Overall this year, the Golden Globes were quite good, and there were no really big snubs.  Ricky Gervais did an excellent job as host, cracking some ballsy jokes that I found myself cracking up at that the PC crowd barely chuckled at, obviously asking themselves "is it OK to laugh at this?"

That's all for me. If you have any reactions or thoughts leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!