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Golden Globes 2002
A Techtite
Commentary/Review
Well, another year begins, and up comes the
Golden Globes, to pave the way for the Oscars later this year. Admittedly, it is
not a "sure" sign of who will win at both awards shows: after
all, Jim Carrey has
won two Globes, while The Oscars has yet to
nominate him...what's up with that? However, based on their choice of winners this time
around, if the Academy Awards pays no heed, that's probably a good
thing. Why? Because while it's an honor to have just been nominated, and
every nomination deserves to win in some way, the winners seemed very
questionable. If
Al Gore was a nominee, there'd be recounts all the way 'til August.
This isn't to complain about the Golden
Globes themselves, of course; the award, and the ceremonies, are great! This year, however, it seemed a bit too
inclusive for its own good. It's understandable when someone wants to give
credit to the indie-film underdog, and not the blockbusters. However,
sometimes the blockbuster deserves the accolades it receives, and to see
it not receive enough recognition --or any recognition at all-- smells
slightly of foul play. Lord
of the Rings got 4 nominations, only to not win a single one. Is this supposed to
mean there were films last year better than Lord of the Rings...?
I think I missed them.
The winner of best comedy/musical was Moulin
Rouge. This is the most popular, unpopular choice for award
consideration, because with all its flash and color and loudness in
spectacle, it got perhaps the second-lowest critical acclaim of any other
nominee. Indeed, you would have to look at Legally Blonde just to
have Moulin Rouge not garner the honor of "least well-reviewed
film that was still nominated." Don't get me wrong; it was a nominee,
and it deserved to be a nominee. However, did it deserve to win, compared
to Shrek or Gosford
Park? Toy Story 2
won this Best Comedy honor, a few years back. Why couldn't they have done the same thing for Shrek?
Likewise for Best Drama. On the one hand, A
Beautiful Mind won, and it is an understandable choice. However,
nobody can deny that, if you're looking for an epic, nothing compares to Lord
of the Rings. If the fact that it's currently a big
blockbuster is keeping people from awarding it the accolades it deserves,
where were these people when Titanic
won 11 Oscars...? According to Rotten
Tomatoes (an odd web site name, but it's informative anyway), among 110 reviews, 105 gave
Rings a big thumbs-up. It lost to
an understandable choice, though the problem here is
that this was its fourth loss of the night! D'oh!
At least acting categories were more
enjoyable to watch. Sissy Spaceck won a Best Dramatic Actress award; a rare moment
when the Globes gave an award to the right person. Although I would've liked to see
Halle Berry win just as much (for Monster's Ball), Spaceck was an
equally great choice. Likewise for giving Best Dramatic Actor to A
Beautiful Mind's Russell Crowe, and Best Supporting
Actress to his co-star, Jennifer Connelly. After years of being overlooked
by Hollywood, it was nice to see Connelly get a Golden Globe; she's come a
very long way from her role as a supporting character to muppets (in
1986's Labyrinth).
Television winners, however, were a mixed
bag; acting awards were on target, awards their shows were not. First, the good news: Charlie Sheen won for
his new role in Spin City. Michael J. Fox left some big shoes to
fill, and Charlie kept the series afloat under enormous pressure. Jennifer Garner won Best Dramatic TV Actress for Alias,
and Kiefer Sutherland won the similar Best Actor award, for 24.
How, then, does the Foreign press decide to award best drama --DRAMA?!?!???--
to HBO's Six Feet Under, when compared to Alias, 24, CSI,
The West Wing, and The Sopranos?!? I had similar
dropping-draw problems when Sex and the City
won for season 3 --by far its worst offering to date-- when up against Friends, Frasier,
Ally McBeal, and Will & Grace.
As for speeches, any worth mentioning? Not
really. The only
exception was the Sex
and the City's Sarah Jessica Parker, who won Best TV Comedy Actress. For one thing, the camera doesn't lie; her
co-stars were happy for her, yet not amused that they weren't even
nominated...when it's their sex scenes that sell
the show. If the show was up to just Sarah, her no-nudity clause would
lead to the series being a G-rated sex show that would be canned like a
tuna in one season flat. However, I digress; Sarah more than slightly put her foot in her
mouth at the podium, when saying her win was also a win for "...New York, who
will always be fifth lady." What you meant to say, Sarah, was first
lady. Saying NYC is "lady #5" --with 1-to-4 being a quartet of whiney women who sleep around a lot-- is an insult more than a
compliment.
The Cecil B. DeMille award went to Harrison
Ford, a man who is hard to figure in his acceptance speech. His blunt and
nearly-brutal comment about other nominees in this category being
"all dead" was a joke not even the cast of Six Feet
Under would've dared. Maybe he was a bit miffed that his award was handed to him by Ben
Affleck, who replaces Harrison as the character Jack Ryan in the latest
Tom Clancy movie; a role Harrison made
famous, in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.
Indeed, it was inappropriate for Harrison's honorarium to be narrated by his "young replacement" and not by, say, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Carrie
Fisher, Mark Hammil, or the like.
However, if listing Globe faux paus, it was hardly the first (or even worst) of the evening.
So, what was the "sweep" this
year? That would probably go to A Beautiful Mind, though I think
Ron Howard will be asked constantly how he felt about having his film
awarded Best Picture, yet Best Director honors went to Robert Altman for Gosford
Park; a film not even nominated itself for Best Picture. It must've
been equally insulting to Altman, however, to have the Foreign Press imply
that his "Best Directed film" wasn't even worth a Best Picture
nomination. In the end, four wins by Beautiful Mind is hardly a
"sweep", though even this so-so "sweep" is better than
a 4-time snub, when Lord of
the Rings cast and crew had to sit and watch their 4 deserved
Oscar nods go to 4 separate people. Ironic, that this film was filled with
wonderment; and its snub last night was filled with wonder. Somewhere, the
creators of Harry Potter &
the Sorcerer's Stone might be musing that, truly, sometimes it
is not an honor to have just been nominated.
---Techtite
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