Techtite's TV Reviews!

"...the typical Roberto Benigni wannabe acted like he doesn't understand English very well, as he tirelessly continued his long-winded speech right to the end. Okay, so maybe he doesn't understand English words like "Wrap it Up"...or sign language to cut it short...or music cues to cut it short...or even the sound on his Microphone being cut off."

---from the review

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"And the winners are...not here, exactly." It seemed redundant to just cut-and-paste the whole nomination and winners list, when it's so freely available on the Golden Globes web site, as well as The Internet Movie Database. Check it out if you haven't yet, then come on back to this commentary. You can even send in your thoughts to Techtite's Letters page.

Top Ten Moments That Made Golden Globes 2003 Worth Watching (sort of):

---Seeing Tony Shalhoub's wife in the audience; Brooke Adams. She was a major staple of the movies in a pre-Julia-Roberts age of Hollywood, and it was nice to see her again, if just for a few seconds.

---When Kim Cattrall won as Best TV Comedy Actress, co-nominee Cynthia Nixon gave her a sincere hug, as did series star Sarah Jessica Parker, who was not even nominated. Yet no hug from Kirsten Davis, who was visibly absent at the time the award was handed out. Is this sour grapes from the only star of that show, never to have been nominated...?

---A humble Larry David, saying that his show's win as Best TV Comedy was "...a SAD DAY for the Golden Globes"...!

---Denzel Washington was not present, maybe because surgery to remove Julia Roberts from his arm is not yet complete.

---Brendan Fraser's hilarious flub when honoring the Foreign Press, starting with, "Ladies and gentlemen, please salute me..."

---Keifer Sutherland's proud smile as father Donald won a Best Actor (Mini- Series) award, soon after Keifer, sadly, did not.

---Maybe it's just because she's, of course, Catherine Zeta-Jones, but: did anybody bother to count how many times the camera panned to her in the audience...?

---Lara Flynn Boyle's dress, which made her like a pink ballerina, or a fluffy parakeet, or whatever.

---Edie Falco who's win as Best Dramatic (TV) Actress was while she had laryngitis!

---Eminem was nominated in the Best Song category, yet not a single Disney film was present. No comment.

The Golden Globe Awards, 2003

A Review by Techtite

(review posted January 20th, 2002)

Nobody likes a year when a single movie "sweeps" across all awards categories, on all awards shows. Let's just say such award shows are a Titanic bore, and leave it at that. However, on a year with no clear favorite, is the excitement any better...? Sure, there's suspense in not knowing who will win, and yet much like a small firecracker, the thrills are short lived, with every tear of the envelope. Welcome to The Golden Globe Awards for 2003.

The evening began with Meryl Streep winning as Best Supporting Actress. Now, while I have the deepest of admiration for Meryl Streep, in all she does, such a win made it quite clear The Foreign Press was going to "rubber-stamp it" this year. In the past 25 years of Golden Globe Awards, she's been nominated  --I kid you not-- eighteen times. I know it wasn't likely that personal favorite Queen Latifah would win, though when up against Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, and Cameron Diaz, this was no easy win for Meryl Streep...yet she won anyway. After 17 other nominations, shouldn't this award have gone to someone far less recognized for their talent, like Latifah or Diaz...?

It's not like The Foreign Press was afraid to take chances this year, either. Case in point: Best Actor In a TV Drama was given to Michael Chiklis, for The Shield. which also won as Best TV Drama Series. Comparatively, Curb Your Enthusiasm won Best TV Comedy. Having seen the first season of The Shield, I can see where the Foreign Press was going with this honor for the low-rated cable drama, though if they were going to stick their necks out for the low men on the totem pole, why not go all the way...? Steven Spielberg's Taken was the Best Mini-Series of 2002, yet lost to another "rubber-stamped" choice, about the life of Winston Churchill. Oh well; at least it was nominated...

At times, this mixture of taking chances and not taking chances did mesh very well. Many under-appreciated stars got their due this year, including Jennifer Anniston as Best Actress in a TV Comedy Series (Friends), Tony Shalhoub as Best Actor in a TV Comedy Series (Monk), and Chris Cooper as Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Adaptation). Meanwhile, Richard Gere and Renee Zellweger won for their roles in Chicago; they may be old winners, though they deserved recognition this year as well. Somewhere in between "expected winner" and "under-appreciated star" is Kim Cattrall, who won as Best Actress in a TV Comedy; she's my favorite Sex and the City siren, making it another fine moment. Rounding out the pleasant surprises was Uma Thurman as Best Actress in a Mini-Series (Hysterical Blindness).

Now for the "big" awards. While I am quite pleased that Chicago won Best Comedy/Musical, why did Best Drama go to The Hours...? I would like to ask The Foreign Press how Martin Scorsese could win as Best Director --leading to a standing ovation-- yet not win Best Drama for said film, Gangs of New York. Send me a letter explaining this, thank you. There's just no excuse for handing the award over to a suicidal soap opera, no matter who stars in it to make the film look "prettier" (namely: Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and Julianne Moore). Not to keep ranting about The Hours' numerous wins, though I was a bit miffed that Salma Hayak's superior work in Frida was overlooked, so the Globes could give Kidman her third Best Actress award. Okay, so we're all sad for Nicole that Tom Cruise left her; it's not like she lost both her kidneys in the divorce settlement. She does good work, yes, though did she deserve to win over Salma Hayak's role in Frida? This is debatable.

As for acceptance speeches; poor Edie Falco (Best Actress in a TV Drama: The Sopranos). What a time to have laryngitis! Isn't this always the way it goes, though?: the most interesting people give short, gracious speeches, while the boring ones always give long speeches, without realizing that when the music starts playing that means get of the stage, you nit! Case in point: Best Foreign Film (Talk to Her, from Spain), where the typical Roberto Benigni wannabe acted like he doesn't understand English very well, as he tirelessly continued his long-winded speech right to the end. Okay, so maybe he doesn't understand English words like "Wrap it Up"...or sign language to cut it short...or music cues to cut it short...or even the sound on his Microphone being cut off. That's no excuse for him still gabbing along --only to have the audio department cave in and turn his mike on again-- just so we can hear how he likes "peace." Well, I do too, pal. I also like it when I can go to work in the morning and not have to worry about a 747 crashing through my office window. What's your point?

One parting thought; what was up with the opening song...? Every 10 years or so, someone in Hollywood thinks that we need to be reminded of how classic movies used to have music so bad, men gladly went to war to avoid them. This "Give them the old razzle-dazzle-um" song --with its cutesy mispronouncing of actors names ("Leonardo-um"...? "Salma Hayak-um"...?)-- was an earache that needn't be. It was a glimpse of what's to come...in more ways than one, I'm afraid. The Golden Globes are always a sign of what Oscars will look like each year. For 2003, that sign is not good.

                                                                    ---Techtite

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