Last evening's 72nd annual Golden Globes award show was as enticing as we hoped it would be. From hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's hilarious Emma Stone - human "Big Eyes" - monologue joke to Jeremy Renner's truth serum "Golden Globes" remark (in reference to Jennifer Lopez's bosomy outfit), the celebrity drink-fest and celebration really had it all. But aside from the many laughs and genuine acceptance speeches, it was just refreshing to see a decent amount of upsets in the movie categories. Lately it's felt as though the parity between awards shows has gotten exhaustively monotonous, and last night's Golden Globes sustained its mystery and intrigue by keeping the voting honest. For a full list of winners, click here.
One of the evening's biggest winners was the indie sensation, Boyhood. The cinematic achievement took an unprecedented 12 years to complete so, as expected, filmmaker Richard Linklater took home the Best Director hardware for his Best Picture- Drama winner. Boyhood's matriarch, Patricia Arquette, continued her awards season conquest in the Supporting Actress race, all together validating the film's frontrunner status for the Oscars. Despite my clamoring for Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher as my favorite movie of the year, I would be completely on board with the Boyhood train at February's showcase.
Perhaps the biggest shocker of the night came in the Best Picture - Comedy/Musical competition where the presumed winner, Alejandro G. Inarritu's Birdman, fell victim to the steady challenger, Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel. Although I agreed with the Hollywood Foreign Press and graded Anderson's film slightly higher than Inarritu's, it was surprising to see Birdman lose considering it defeated its foe in both the Best Actor - Comedy/Musical (Michael Keaton won over Ralph Fiennes) and Screenplay races.
Furthermore, the Stephen Hawking biopic, The Theory of Everything, took home a pair of wins at the Globes. As bit of a surprise in the Best Original Score category, the film's leading star, Eddie Redmayne, has been a staunch contender the entire way. Redmayne's Best Actor - Drama win was well-deserved, but his acceptance speech was regrettably cut short due to time constraints. This sets up a mammoth-sized Oscar showdown between Keaton and Redmayne that will be worth keeping an eye on as SAG announces its winners later this month.
Finally, there were a few "sure-things" that went as planned last night as well. In the Best Actress - Drama race Julianne Moore continued her unstoppable march to Oscar glory for her performance in the Alzheimer drama, Still Alice. Furthermore, J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) has been a fantastic storyline this year as he checked another item off the list on his way to a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
It's always difficult to predict how yesterday evening's outcomes will effect the Oscar races. But with nominations being announced this Thursday, Academy members have plenty of time to let the Globes sink in before they cast their final votes. No matter what happens, it will be an entertaining ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment