Earlier tonight, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) held their annual award show, the Golden Globes. The event, which honors excellence in both film and television, aired on NBC and was hosted by both Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Known more for its partying and casual style, the Globes are still an integral cog of the yearly awards circuit.
In terms of the overall telecast, it seemed a success to me. There were a few hiccups along the way, but for the most part, Fey and Poehler did a great job of keeping things light and fun. Most of the other presenters seemed to have enough alcohol in them to provide witty shots against their fellow thespians. Speeches were generally entertaining and inspired, though in the two times Anne Hathaway took the stage, I was over her act real quick (this is a fun event, and she treated it like it was the more important moment of her life. It's nice to be humble and appreciative, but calm down. You looked silly up there next to everyone else who was just cracking jokes the whole time). But overall, I had my share of laughs, and for the most part, thought the three-hour time went by quicker than you'd expect.
We didn't see a lot of surprises, as these guys are notorious for going with the grain, though a few films and filmmakers definitely helped their respective chances come next month's Academy Awards.
I'm not going to provide much personal commentary in this post, as I plan on discussing everything in greater detail on this week's CinemaCast. So for now, I'll just provide the list of winners, with a few small comments at the end. Also, if you follow or want to catch up with our Twitter feed, I live tweeted the event; that should help get you up to speed if you missed the show.
While there are a handful of Television awards given out at this event, I'm only going to mention the Film awards. For those interested in the television awards, check out the HFPA website above.
Best Motion Picture – Drama
-“Argo” – WINNER
-“Django Unchained”
-“Life of Pi”
-“Lincoln”
-“Zero Dark Thirty”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
-Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln” – WINNER
-Richard Gere, “Arbitrage”
-John Hawkes, “The Sessions”
-Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
-Denzel Washington, “Flight”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
-Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty” – WINNER
-Marion Cotillard, “Rust and Bone”
-Helen Mirren, “Hitchcock”
-Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”
-Rachel Weisz, “The Deep Blue Sea”
Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
-“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
-“Les Misérables” – WINNER
-“Moonrise Kingdom”
-“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”
-“Silver Linings Playbook”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
-Emily Blunt, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”
-Judi Dench, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
-Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”WINNER
-Maggie Smith, “Quartet”
-Meryl Streep, “Hope Springs”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
-Jack Black, “Bernie”
-Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
-Hugh Jackman, “Les Misérables” – WINNER
-Ewan McGregor, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”
-Bill Murray, “Hyde Park on Hudson”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
-Leonardo DiCaprio, “Django Unchained”
-Alan Arkin, “Argo”
-Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”
-Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
-Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained” – WINNER
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
-Amy Adams, “The Master”
-Sally Field, “Lincoln”
-Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables” – WINNER
-Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
-Nicole Kidman, “The Paperboy”
Best Director – Motion Picture
-Ben Affleck, “Argo” – WINNER
-Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty”
-Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
-Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”
-Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
-Mark Boal, “Zero Dark Thirty”
-Tony Kushner, “Lincoln”
-David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
-Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained” – WINNER
-Chris Terrio, “Argo”
Best Animated Feature Film
-“Brave” – WINNER
-“Frankenweenie”
-“Hotel Transylvania”
-“Wreck-It Ralph”
-“Rise of the Guardians”
Best Foreign Language Film
-“Amour” (Austria) – WINNER
-“A Royal Affair” (Denmark)
-“The Intouchables” (France)
-“Kon-Tiki” (Norway/U.K./Denmark)
-“Rust and Bone” (France)
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
-Mychael Danna, “Life of Pi” – WINNER
-Alexandre Desplat, “Argo”
-Dario Marianelli, “Anna Karenina”
-Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil, “Cloud Atlas”
-John Williams, “Lincoln”
Best Original Song – Motion Picture
-“For You” (Monty Powell, Keith Urban) -“Act of Valor”
-“Not Running Anymore” (Jon Bon Jovi) – “Stand Up Guys”
-“Safe & Sound” (Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams, T. Bone Burnett) – “The Hunger Games”
-“Skyfall” (Adele, Paul Epworth) – “Skyfall”- WINNER
-“Suddenly” (Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil) – “Les Misérables”
Overall, a few quick things stand out. First, Ben Affleck and "Argo" are hot right now. Everyone knows at this point that Affleck failed to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Director last week, but since then, he's managed to bring the award home in two separate notable circuits (the other being the Critics' Choice Awards). Granted, both of these guilds are much smaller than the 3,000+ membership of the AMPAS, but you have to think that "Argo" is in a good position right now, even if Affleck is unable to win an award personally.
Quentin Tarantino and "Django Unchained" did well, as Tarantino himself grabbed the award for Best Screenplay and Christoph Waltz for that of Best Supporting Actor. Neither of those were expected (was anything expected for the Screenplay category though?), so The Weinstein Company did well to appeal to this group. Though, Jennifer Lawrence managed the only win of the night for "Silver Linings Playbook", which does not bode well for that film moving forward. It seems clear now who Harvey's horse will be as we enter the stretch run towards the Oscars.
Not much love for "Lincoln" outside of Day-Lewis' win for Best Actor. There's still a lot of time, but from here, it seems like it's a battle between "Argo" and "Les Miserables". Neither have missed at a point yet where you might see someone else sneak in, so for now, I have to imagine it's between these two. But, we'll see where we are again next week...
Overall, what do you guys think? Any big surprises or favorites you saw?