Zzzzz…huh?, wha? Oh…
First and foremost, I have to note Ricky Gervais’s work as emcee. Last year’s stint was a bit stale, I thought, but this year the gloves were off. Way off. Which, for whatever reason, I was okay with tonight. The difference between Gervais and Armond White, though, if you want to go there, is that one is expected (and paid) to act like a clown. The other is not.
And I have to think “That was my favorite film of the year” was a subtle joke. Not that subtle was in his toolbox.
Anyway, kicking things off, Christian Bale’s speech in acceptance of yet another Best Supporting Actor trophy slid off the rails a bit toward the end as he rushed an impromptu shout-out to actor Robert De Niro. Apparently in the press room he said the legend was “the shit,” so maybe that’s similar to what was censored from the telecast. Earlier in the speech, though, he paid lovely homage to “The Fighter” actor and producer Mark Wahlberg. “You can only give a loud performance like mine when you have a quiet, stoic anchor,” he said.
His co-star, Melissa Leo, also took down another televised Best Supporting Actress award, but the speech was a lot less graceful than Friday night’s, I’d say. Still, I thought Helena Bonham Carter had a shot at that one, so chalk it up to another likely inevitability.
I thought Lee Unkrich did a nice job of at least trying to present Toy Story 3″ as a film that deserves a place at the table by noting “historic” box office numbers and that it “beat with a human heart.” And that “were you two even born when the first ‘Toy Story’ came out” joke aimed at presenters Hailee Steinfeld and Justin Bieber was another nice touch in that vein. As was seeing Tom Hanks and Tim Allen on stage together.
When Annette Bening’s name was inevitably announced as winner of the award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, my immediate thought was, “This is her chance to turn the corner on this season, if at all.” Playing the Hollywood royalty card so emphatically might have slayed them. Or brought the race tighter. No, seriously…
One almost thinks the HFPA actively voted for anyone BUT Johnny Depp in the comedy actor field, given the added attention paid to perennial star-f***ing this year, but I might have expected Kevin Spacey before Paul Giamatti. So a fresh change of pace was appreciated there.
I had heard going into the night that Susanne Bier’s “In a Better World” was the one to watch for an upset in the Best Foreign Language Film category but didn’t bother making a predictions (10/14, by the way) change. Lo and behold…
But the original score win for “The Social Network” was the early sign that the film would dominate the evening. Wins for Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture (Drama) soon followed. Lined up like dominoes through February 27 at this point.
I don’t think words can do justice to Robert De Niro’s Rupert Pupkin-esque monologue in acceptance of the Cecil B. De Mille Award. Yeesh. And the HFPA got its TV moment after all with Michael Douglas presenting Best Picture (Drama) after losing the supporting actor category.
Meanwhile, bravo to Michelle Pfeiffer, Bruce Willis and Megan Fox for announcing “Alice in Wonderland,” “Red” and “The Tourist,” respectively, as Best Picture nominees while maintaining a straight face. Could “The Kids Are All Right” have lucked out any sweeter?
And by the way, did Brangelina look like Caesars wondering why the lions were taking so long to kill the Christians to anyone else? Just me? Okay, just wondering.
Anyway, onnward. Check out tonight’s full list of film winners at The Circuit.
[Photo: Getty Images]
Comments
181 responses to “Frontrunners stay strong at the Golden Globes”
DeNiro had me LMAO…great speech.
Loved De Niro’s 3D joke.
Fincher wins. Another non-surprise.
Wow, go Paul Giamatti!
The best person they found to present Black Swan is Alicia Keys? FAIL
Giamatti won! Awesome!
And the Globes salvage a smidgeon of dignity for the Comedy Actor category by giving it to Paul Giamatti.
And he’s giving the best speech of the night.
Wow, LOVED that speech. “Godiva chocolate…(*salivates*) and Halle Berry…”
I was in stitches. He needs to be in more movies.
Giamatti has now won a Golden Globe for TV Mini-Series and Movie Comedy. When will he win for Movie Drama?
Portman wins; also not a surprise.
Portman wins. Next stop: Oscar.
Quick random question: Who’s at Table 114?
How much did Annette and Julianne pay each HFPA member for this one? ;)
Why Tom Hanks doesn’t make more comedies?
Man, these awards are so anti-climatic. I saw all coming, except the Giamatti bit.
Aw, Lisa Cholodenko was left hanging. :(
Is it just me or does Jesse Eisenberg look really hot tonight?
Who’s at Table 114? Harvey Weinstein, perhaps?
I can’t be the only one quietly chuckling that Anne Thompson must be irked that they cut-off Lisa Cholodenko. :)
In all seriousness, very glad that Kids won.
Firth wins; no surprise.
I’m calling it now: The Social Network will win Best Picture at the Oscars. It’s done.
Good night.
The Social Network wins Drama, Director and Screenplay. There hasn’t been this big of a front runner for Oscar since LOTR: ROTK.
Looks like Social Network table was already standing even before michael douglas said the name!
Blah. For as much as I loved Slumdog, I hated it’s dominance. Ditto The Social Network. Good show, though. Good night. :)
Boring night. A few highlights though… first that comes to mind? Emma Stone looking so hot as a blonde.
So The Social Network wins. Awesome. ☺
A pity for Inception to go home without a win, though. Oh well, it has a bunch of tech and arts and crafts awards from everyone and their mom to compensate.
I wonder if TSN can make the same LOTR did and take them all… I think it will depend on the acting nominations… P.S. Rick Gervais was Really bad!
Uh. Megan Fox presented “The Tourist,” Kris. FYI.
I don’t care if it was obvious, Social Network deserves it. Love Andrew, Jesse, and David stayed sitting.
“Thank you God for making me an atheist.” – Best closing line to an awards show?
I want Ricky Gervais at the Oscar.
MovieMan: Thanks. Heh.
@McAllister: Emma Stone, I believe, is a natural blonde. Her director asked her to dye her hair red for “Superbad,” and she kept it for a while.
A million dollar prize has just been announced for the first awards body that awards something other than Social Network.
I saw a crappy quality version of Bale’s speech on YouTube since I wasn’t home yet when the show just started. I agree with what you said; he was doing so well with the speech until the very end when he was trying to slip in a shout out that you say was for Robert De Niro. A bit unnecessary, but I’m glad he won.
“Earlier in the speech, though, he paid lovely homage to “The Fighter” actor and producer Mark Wahlberg. “You can only give a loud performance like mine when you have a quiet, stoic anchor,” he said.”
Spot-on. Bale’s performance was amazing, no-doubt, but Wahlberg is being overlooked because of his performance’s quiet nature.
I was thinking the exact same thing about Brangelina, Kris. Shame they didn’t cut to him when Flincher won, seeing how he’s Fincher’s go to man. That probably was the one time he was excited.
I have to say, I really really enjoyed that. I’m confused at the jibes at DeNiro – I thought the speech was hilarious.
To: Paul Lee, ABC Entertainment President
From: TV viewers across America
Dear Mr. Lee,
I must be the bearer of bad news, as NBC has somehow aired your scheduled February 27 telecast of the Oscars this evening (!!). I do feel a lot of regret in telling you this, as your scheduled Sunday night event, including a now-expanded 90-minute red carpet show has been rendered stupendously and epically irrelevant by the events at the Beverly Hilton this evening.
My suggestion? I would schedule a 3-hour Dancing with the Stars premiere episode, as in moving it up from your previously scheduled date. If you remain determined to air your awards show, a lot of folks may not want to watch a repeat of it, since every mother-frakking single major category, save for original screenplay has pretty much been foretold already with breathtaking unity.
Better luck next year, Mr. Lee. Apologies.
Respectfully yours,
PaulH (representing, he hopes, is a lot of people here)
Oh yeah and what an utter shame about Edgar Ramirez. Really Al Pacino in Jack over Ramirez in Carlos? The worst result of the night.
Edgar Ramirez is the film. Its so foolish to award the film and not him. One can only hope the SAGs will have more sense.
PaulH,
I would have went with something like this:
Dear Mr. Lee,
Some assholes at NBC are hijacking your airwaves and airing their version of the Oscars.
Thanks,
America
Google Cleveland Browns fan letter if you don’t get it.
LMAO, Zac. That’s the short, non-PC version :D
Kris,
The difference between a clown and Golden Globes emcee is that one was not paid to act like a clown. Sorry for thinking they hired Gervais and not David Brent.
Point is, there was no precedent of Gervais behavior in Globes history, he invented himself, all by himself. And I for one, do not think, many at HFPA would feel they got what they bargained for.
Feel free to disagree of course, but in my opinion, Globes lived and die by a sense of Glamour and with Gervais playing the host, that sense is at an all time low.
What exactly is he good for again?
I feel like Leo’s win should be taken with a grain of salt. Steinfeld’s lack of a nomination had nothing to do with her performance, as the film was entirely snubbed. SAG could really show up for her in a big way, but even if they don’t, and I don’t think they will, I don’t think this will be a cake-walk for Leo.
For all of their Cockameemee nominations, I felt that the HFPA played it too safe. I would have paid good money to see the reaction of the room had Jolie taken the prize home over Benning. it was just further proof that they think nominations = ratings.
And I’m usually pretty quiet on these forums, but I just want to note that I think it’s a little scary that there seems to be a general consensus that people are sick of The Social Network dominating the awards circuit. Is it wrong that a thoughtful and expertly crafted film is the general consensus for the Best film of the year? All of the sighing on here and other websites seems to indicate that the public doesn’t hold the film in as high regard as the film industry does. I, personally, don’t see its winning streak as anything other than a very good thing for the future of intellectual, grownup movies. I also don’t believe that it’s indicative of ‘following’. I just think it’s the strongest candidate from the 2010 films to be remembered in 20, 30 years.
Anne Hathaway looked hot at the Golden Globes.
Annette Bening never gives good speeches ( nor energetic speeches) . This can hurt her Oscar chances.
@Kyle t. The same thing happened in 2008 with Slumdog dominance. The thing is, though, 2008 was an extremely weak year for film, and Slumdog was the only film most everyone could really agree on succeeded at the highest level of filmmaking. This year, though, we had so many great films come out that the Social Network dominance just seems uninspired. It’s my #4 picture of the year, granted, and, yes, if my #1 film (Inception) were the dominating one, I’d probably be singing a different tune, but even still, I would acknowledge that this shouldn’t be a year that’s all about one film.
Ricky Gervais was too sarcastic and just not funny this year — way too mean spirited. Should have been Jake Gyllenhaal. This is why the oscars should move to March — there is absolutely no suspense in any of the categories this year — if voters had time to actually see all the films, their choices may change. Remember when the pianist suddenly came on strong when chicago was the front runner — that was when the show was in march. The oscars are just stupid to even think about moving this show any sooner because they will NEVER be the first ones out of the gate –with all these critics awards. The Academy awards is still the most prestigious awards why do they need to assert themselves earlier and reduce their importance and shorten the time that voters and audiences can actually see the nominated performances. In most of the country, you can’t even see Blue valentine or 127 hours or rabbit hole.
I just don’t get how the social network is that great to win award after award. Is inception just too cerebral despite its originality? But I guess compared to black swan, which i thought was a total mess and true grit — a total bore — the social network is the best, but my pick would be inception or the fighter.
And I would much rather see the always a bridesmaid never a bride — amy adams to finally win the oscar — she has long deserved it and this performance was toe to toe with melissa Leo. and the best performance of the year is NOT natalie portman — it’s Nicole Kidman or annette bening.
Do jeff bridges and robert duvall really have to take up deserving slots that should go to ryan gosling and Leonardo dicaprio and/or Mark Wahlberg? Bridges just won and they are not gonna give it to duvall either. the list should always be the best of the best.
The voters for the Oscars are the Critics. Branches do not see movies, voters just vote what critics said they should vote.
have to agree with Maxim. Gervais was mean spirited. How anybody can celebrate this is beyond me. No one minds a few humorous digs, but there was definitely some unpleasant sting in his jokes.
And Armond White is funnier, albeit unintentionally. They are pretty much the same character. They both have an intellectual superiority complex and are extreme attention seekers. I mean, who the heck agrees to host The Golden Globes? Come on is that all that is on offer for Gervais?