Monday, January 12, 2009

Golden Globes Wrap Up


I'm not gonna lie - despite Slumdog sweeping everything and making me sad, this was one of my favorite Globes in years.

We had hilarious truly hilarious moments (Tracy Morgan, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais), truly emotional moments (Chris Nolan accepting for Heath Ledger, Mickey Rourke) and plenty of genuine surprises with appropriately genuine reactions (Colin Farrell, Kate Winslet).
I loved seeing the difference in reaction between Winslet's first win (Ah, I was maybe expecting this, okay, cool, let's dance, this is awesome!) and her second (what the hell?! what the fuck?! what do you mean?! what's going on?! AHHHH) and watching Sally Hawkins flip her shit, having no idea what to do in a room full of that much talent (Note to Sally - you're that talented too! Don't worry!) Both of these women, by the way, received live advice from Emma Thompson. Is she like, the mother hen for all British actresses? She should be. I love her.

Lovely moments aside, I'm disappointed that Slumdog continues its overrated momentum. I liked the movie just fine. A lot even! But all the overpraise it's getting is making my resentment grow. Especially because for the first time in...forever? my favorite film of the year is maybe the most commercial Oscar bait there is (Benjamin Button) but now I feel like I shouldn't be rooting for it to win over the "little movie that could." It's very frustrating. To me, Slumdog was a lovely little fairy tale that was ultimately predictable & hollow. It didn't affect me on that personal level the way Benjamin Button did, or for that matter the way Dark Knight, The Wrestler, Let The Right One In & Happy Go Lucky did either. But momentum is a powerful thing. Then again...so is backlash...

So what does all of this mean for the Oscars? Slumdog is close to tying it up, but I'm still holding out hope that maybe one year my favorite movie of the year will actually win Best Picture. And maybe that year is now. Best Actor is swinging more in Rourke's direction, but expect everyone to be biting their nails on Oscar night in the hopes that Sean Penn doesn't steal it away from him. Don't get me wrong, Penn was amazing, but Rourke was my favorite and my pick to take the prize. Supporting Actor is in the bag and if any stupid backlash starts, then people are dumb and that's all there is to it. Actress & Supporting Actress are more up in the air than ever, since Ms. Winslet most certainly won't be taking home two Oscars in one night. So which prize will be she be winning? And who will take the other? I'd be thrilled with Hawkins taking home Actress if Winslet takes Supporting, so I'll stick with that for now.

By the way, Kate & Leo are blatantly in love and I feel bad for Sam Mendes, but am wholly fascinated by the whole damn thing. She said she was proud to get to say in front of all these people that she loves Leo and has loved him for 13 years...waaaay before she ever met her husband. HELLo. I wonder if my live blogging fan fiction came true. At the end of the day, Kate's probably too classy for those kind of shenanigans. But I wouldn't judge her if she wasn't.

What do you think the Globes mean for this year's Oscars? What was your favorite moment? How awkward was it when Kate Winslet forget Angelina? How much does Ari Folman look like the animated version of himself, like seriously, it's creepy.

Deal with it Cate Blanchett!

6 comments:

EruditeChick said...

Dude, rewind to Sally Hawkins winning. And look at her as she takes someone's arm to walk up the stairs. She pulls this doubletake that is AMAZING, and her face is like "OH MY GOD MERYL STREEP JUST SPOKE TO ME OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK."

It's amazing.

Teddy Diefenbach said...

Totally agree on the Button vs Slumdog issue. However (and I don't even know if this was televised b/c I was too busy rewatching Battlestar to watch the Globes), Slumdog's score was incredible and totally deserving of that win.

Anonymous said...

Sally Hawkins, in all her timid cuteness when she won, made me want to watch Happy Go Lucky immediately. I just have to watch all her movies now. To me, that was genuine. Too bad I can't say the same about Kate Winslet. Her reaction when she won had the exact opposite effect on me. I couldn't tell if she was drunk or in the middle of shooting a movie. I don't care if I ever watch another one of her films after that. Sorry.

LoquaciousMuse said...

The first time she won, she didn't do anything for me. The second time was cool cause she was sooo not expecting it. But I TOTALLY agree about Sally Hawkins and I'm so glad that her win had that reaction on people. Happy Go Lucky deserves to seen by as many people as possible. Not enough movies are so joyful and lovely.

Anonymous said...

Kate Winslet did NOT play a "supporting" role in The Reader...she was the female lead and, as much as I love her, it was not fair to put her in that category.

LoquaciousMuse said...

Techincally, german kid/ralph finnes was the lead though. Wow, I don't even remember his character's name. That movie apparently did not stick with me too much...