Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The 70th Annual Golden Globes: My Reactions


                Well, the awards season is in full swing.  And I, as always, am behind schedule.  As I am currently in Europe and am now suffering from the usual delayed release dates, I will not be able to do my Best of 2012 List as soon as I would like, as there are way too many of the critically acclaimed films I have not yet seen.  I only just saw Beasts of the Southern Wild, and have also not had the chance to see Amour, Paranorman, Django, Zero Dark Thirty, Les Mis, or Argo.  Thankfully, Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty are coming out in Germany later this month, so even if I don’t get to see all of the above films, I will try to get my Top 10 list done by early February.  I am also working on a much belated reaction to the Oscar nominations  (along with my picks for each award), which I will finish once this post is up. 

                Now that the news is out of the way, let’s talk Globes! 

                All in all, I thought it was a fun night.  Tina Fey and Amy Poehler killed (as to be expected), and there was a decent variety to who won what.  At least as far as the movie awards were concerned.  Since I really don’t watch TV, I just zoned out for those.  Although I must say, for once I’m glad Downton Abbey didn’t win anything, because I’m afraid any more accolades at this point would only encourage Julian Fellows to continue the bad trends that started popping up in Season 2.  Well, aside from Maggie Smith winning for being, well....Maggie Smith.  But more on that in another post. 

                There really weren’t any particular recipients that bothered me, outside of a few.  Brave winning Best Animated Feature I just found confusing.  Yes, I liked it a lot, and it took a lot of admirable risks, but never managed to effectively keep all the balls it tried to juggle in the air.  Wreck-It-Ralph, on the other hand, benefited from a lot of great ideas that it managed to successfully balance with solid, strong characters and storytelling.  But oh well.  At least Paranorman got an Oscar nod. 

                It was no surprise that Anne Hathaway took the Globe for Best Supporting Actress (although it’s strange that they divide the Supporting roles between Comedy/Musical and Drama, but not the Leading Roles).  Her performance of “I Dreamed A Dream” is one of THE talked-about things in film right now.  I do not have my own opinion yet, as Les Mis doesn’t come out here until February.  However, as great as I’m sure she is, my vote for the Oscar is still with Sally Fields, and I hope the Academy has immuned themselves to the tide of popular opinion (although there’s usually no reason them not to be).  Mrs. Lincoln is a figure hardly explored in popular culture, as opposed to her historical titan of a husband, and Field’s performance was singularly haunting, giving face to all the emotional anguish felt by Lincolns during their marriage. 

                The only award that really bothered me was Les Mis taking Best Comedy or Musical over Moonrise Kingdom.  Again, I have not yet seen Les Mis, but I HAVE seen The King’s Speech and the John Adams miniseries, both directed by the same man as Les Mis (Tom Hooper).  And, if those are anything to go off of, Tom Hooper has yet to attain the level of off-the-cuff creativity that made Moonrise Kingdom both one of the most fun movie experiences I had this year AND one of the most emotionally resonant.  Les Mis is big music that goes for big, over-the-top emotions, which honestly isn’t as difficult a task as going for small and smart, like Moonrise.  Call it a personal bias I guess. 

                The big surprise, for most people it seemed, was that the “top 2” awards (Best Picture and Director) went to Argo, which has already gotten a distinct lack of love from the Academy (no Director or Actor nod for Affleck).  It’s already pretty much guaranteed that Argo will get no love whatsoever on Oscar Day, so personally, although it will be awhile before I see the film, I’m glad to see it get at least a little attention from the awards people. 

                And that’s……really all I have to say about the Golden Globes.  No one film really swept the awards, there were no HUGE snubs in the nominees (and the categories they give awards for are extremely limited anyway), and no one horribly undeserving got any of the major awards, so I really don’t have any complaints.  Now the OSCARS, on the other hand…..we’ll get to that later this week.  Until then! 

-Judge Richard

 

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