I had a dinner date and missed the "news conference," but I've taken a look at the list of winners. As I mentioned earlier I'm not a huge Golden Globes fan, partly because I haven't watched a TV show in 10 years, partly because I don't like the split-genre (Musical/Comedy or Drama) categorization, and partly because the Golden Globes aren't the Oscars.
Was it boring? Who made the announcements? Was it a robot or something cool? I don't know why that would be cool, but it would be more interesting than the head of the HFPA, whoever he or she is.
So Atonement wins, not surprising since it led with the most nominations. Atonement is nowhere near the best film of the year, but I'm not sweating it - the winner of the Best Picture (Drama) hasn't been the same as the Oscar winner for 4 years, and the winner of the Best Picture (Musical/Comedy) almost never wins Oscar.
Two things I'm happy about:
1. Cate Blanchett winning for I'm Not There - she was amazing.
2. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly getting some love for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director.
Two things I'm not too happy about (besides Atonement winning):
1. Casey Affleck not winning for what's definitely one of the top 3 performances of the year in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
2. Ernest Borgnine not winning for Best Actor in a TV Miniseries or Movie. His performance in "A Grandpa for Christmas" was amazing, right?! Uh, just kidding. That's why I don't watch the GG's.
UPDATE: OK, I just saw the rebroadcast on CNN, which had Larry King field a team of annoying people like AJ somebody and Melissa Rivers. That was awful. And my robot prediction from above was eerily close to the actual presenters.
What would have been great, I think, is if Russell Crowe would have come out in his costume from Gladiator and repeatedly yelled, "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?" with a crowd of striking writers cheering and jeering behind him. In fact, that should have been the writers' battle cry for the last two months. Who's their leader?!
Just saw some audioless CNN showing an "Antonement" clip and decided to pull up your page. While I am not interested in either the GG's or the Oscar's I do respect their resonance in the industry.
ReplyDeleteMy problem is with their choices. Atonement? That movie was ok, good if you wearing rose colored glasses. I'll give them the praise that I believe effort was involved. They attempted some creativity where varying results. Aside from that I 'm sure there are better instances of most of the elements used. Maybe the long shot at the beach being the exception but even that, while impressive, still came off showy and a bit out of place too me.
I guess what I am taking my sweet time getting to is that these award shows are vehicles for Hollywood to force excitement on films that don't deserve it while maddeningly ignoring others. Yes it is subjective but if Atonement won an award for best picture I wan't each and every voter to explain their opinion to me personally.
I think resonance is a key word. As much as the glitter and glamour is the focus during the awards season, there's only one Best Picture, and the individual awards can make or break careers. As everybody says, it's the leadoff in your obituary, and people will do anything for one. I'd probably -
ReplyDeleteThe long shot on the beach has apparently come back to bite Joe Wright, as I've seen other people agree with you that it took you out of the movie. Not, "Wow, what an awful experience," but "Wow, how did the steady-cam go backwards over that hill?"
I'm with you on the subjectivity. In fact, in "My Reviews Explained" I try to explain that the point of my reviews is objectivity. A movie gets a score, period. Of course the categories are subjective, but at least it's a start. That's why RT scores are so accurate, too. The more you can qualify it the better.
So I'm taking longer than you to say there should be scorecards, and they should be announced to the public. Best Picture is the movie given the highest score (in a variety of categories) by Academy voters.