GLOBES AFTERMATH: ‘Slumdog’ landslide damages ‘Benjamin Button”; Winslet double-win unprecedented, but Cruz may still win at Oscars; Will Academy voters roll the dice with Rourke?
by Steve MasonThe 2009 Golden Globe Awards are in the books, and, for an entertainment junkie like me, it was great fun. On launch day for Big Hollywood, I published my predictions for all 25 categories with plenty of analysis.
I am happy to report that I made 18 winning picks, which is certainly respectable. That includes the winning selections in 13 of the 15 film categories.
BEST PICTURE – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire
MY PICK: Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ACTRESS – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
MY PICK: Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTOR – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
MY PICK: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
BEST PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
MY PICK: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
BEST ACTRESS – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
MY PICK: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
BEST ACTOR – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Colin Farrell – In Bruges
MY PICK: James Franco – Pineapple Express
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
THE WINNER: Kate Winslet – The Reader
MY PICK: Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
THE WINNER: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
MY PICK: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
THE WINNER: Wall-E
MY PICK: Wall-E
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE WINNER: Waltz With Bashir
MY PICK: Waltz With Bashir
BEST DIRECTOR
THE WINNER: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
MY PICK: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
BEST SCREENPLAY
THE WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire by Simon Beaufoy
MY PICK: Slumdog Millionaire by Simon Beaufoy
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
THE WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire by A. R. Rahman
MY PICK: Slumdog Millionaire by A. R. Rahman
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
THE WINNER: “The Wrestler” – The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen
MY PICK: “The Wrestler” – The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Mad Men (AMC)
MY PICK: True Blood (HBO)
BEST ACTRESS TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Anna Paquin – True Blood (HBO)
MY PICK: January Jones – Mad Men (AMC)
BEST ACTOR TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Gabriel Byrne – In Treatment (HBO)
MY PICK: Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors (SHOWTIME)
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: 30 Rock (NBC)
MY PICK: 30 Rock (NBC)
BEST ACTRESS TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
MY PICK: Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
BEST ACTOR TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
MY PICK: Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
BEST MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: John Adams (HBO)
MY PICK: John Adams (HBO)
BEST ACTRESS MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: Laura Linney – John Adams (HBO)
MY PICK: Laura Linney – John Adams (HBO)
BEST ACTOR MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: Paul Giamatti – John Adams (HBO)
MY PICK: Paul Giamatti – John Adams (HBO)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS SERIES, MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: Laura Dern – Recount (HBO)
MY PICK: Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR SERIES, MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: Tom Wilkinson – John Adams (HBO)
MY PICK: Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Some observations.
*I saw the Slumdog landslide coming. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor. It is storytelling at its very best, and it is a relentlessly optimistic movie. It was already the heavy favorite to win Best Picture at the Oscars, but Benjamin Button, which was shut out tonight and slipped to just $10.5M at the box office this weekend and a new cume of $95M, may be losing momentum. With The Dark Knight a near-certain lock to crack the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards, is there a Slumdog vs. Dark Knight battle brewing for Hollywood’s biggest prize?
*Mickey Rourke’s performance in The Wrestler is a work of raw, visceral genius. Just because he won tonight, it does not mean that he will also grab the Oscar. If you were watching the east coast feed of the show, you would have seen this little interchange where Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky “flipped off” Rourke (it was blacked out on the west coast). Will Academy Award voters risk making Rourke their “prom king?” A big worldwide audience and all of the tradition-steeped drama of the Oscars, and stodgy AMPAS voters would roll the dice with Mickey on national TV talking about “breaking somebody’s balls?” It seems more likely that Sean Penn for Milk or Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon will win Best Actor with no chances of Gus Van Sant or Ron Howard of flipping the bird during their speeches. Also, keep in mind the demographics at work here. Given that the Academy voters are disproportionately middle-aged white men, Clint Eastwood’s performance in Gran Torino seems like a darkhorse. Clint is as distinguished as Mickey is unpredictable.
*Kate Winslet’s double-win is unprecedented. Her complex work as Hannah Schmitz in The Reader is truly a lead and not a supporting role, but those who make such decisions didn’t see it that way. She is even better in Revolutionary Road, and I think she will win Best Actress at the Oscars for the adaptation of Richard Yates classic novel. It is the sort of big, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf-style performance that is classic Oscar-bait. In the end, I predict that AMPAS voters will consolidate behind her work in Rev Road and allow Penelope Cruz to win a well-deserved Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The double-win for Winslet may have been a function of the fact that somehow, this brilliant young star had never won a Golden Globe or Oscar until tonight.
*On the television side, the HBO mini-series John Adams and NBC’s 30 Rock were slam dunks across the board. The HFPA gave Mad Men its Best Drama Award for a second straight year. As I wrote in my final predix piece, the Globes rarely recognize the same series in back-to-back years, so I thought they might recognize True Blood. For my money, Mad Men is the best series on television, so I am pleased. The Golden Globe for Best Actress – Drama went to Anna Paquin for True Blood, so that new HBO series will likely be a threat for a series win next year.
*Laura Dern’s win for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini Series or Movie was not unexpected, but I felt her portrayal of Katherine Harris in HBO’s Recount veered to caricature.
*Ricky Gervais, at this moment, may be the funniest person on the planet, but Sacha Baron Cohen’s material, including a crack at the expense of Madonna’s ex Guy Ritchie, material was met with groans. Seth Rogen received only nervous laughter for an offhand joke about Mickey Rourke’s past cocaine use.
*I was actually impressed with Colin Farrell’s acceptance speech for his surprise win for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for In Bruges. Yes, he rambled a bit, but he is a smart guy, and here’s hoping that the team he praised in his speech can help to keep him on track in his recovery.
*There is something awe-inspiring about Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight. Greatest screen villain of all time? It’s got be be either Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs or Ledger’s Joker. Will TDK director Christopher Nolan give the acceptance speech for Ledger again at the Oscars? He may be the surest winner in history. There was electricity in that ballroom when Demi Moore called his name at the Globes.
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24 Comments
I’m so glad Ledger won. Perhaps it was expected among the critics, but for a while it sounded like it was going to be a long shot. The only time I remember being so wound up for someone to win was Haley Joel Osment for The Sixth Sense. It was such a stunning performance, made all the more amazing by the fact that he was so young and unknown. I remember getting chills when Michael Caine (one of my favorites) said he wished he’d done as good a job as Haley. The camera flashed to him and I wondered if any accolade could have been more sincere or touching.
I’m going to take your advice and see Slumdog. I can’t get excited about most of the others. I’m not sure if I’m out of touch, or if the really good movies are getting progressively less interesting.
[...] Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » GLOBES AFTERMATH: ‘Slumdog … [...]
[...] Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » GLOBES AFTERMATH: ‘Slumdog … [...]
[...] Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » GLOBES AFTERMATH: ‘Slumdog … [...]
Mad props to Ferrell, I thought In Bruges was one of the best films of the year, and he was better than he’s been in anything recently.
[...] Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » GLOBES AFTERMATH: ‘Slumdog … [...]
I watched the show from Arizona, I’m assuming I got the west coast feed for the show. They didn’t edit out Aronofsky giving Rourke the finger here.
I Loved the Forrest Gump meets City of God concept of Slumdog but there’s something I can’t quite put my finger on that annoys the hell out of me about the lazy “Hollywood” endings that Brits give their movies.
seth rogan you had no right to slam Mickey Roarke I guarantee when he sees you he will bloody your face!!!I will never buy or watch anything you do from this day forward you are not even in the same league loser!!!!
[...] the other one?” Kate also …KATE WINSLET – http://katewinslet-celebfan.blogspot.com/|||GLOBES AFTERMATH: ‘Slumdog’ landslide damages ‘Benjamin Button …*Kate Winslet’s double-win is unprecedented. Her complex work as Hannah Schmitz in The Reader is [...]
Rourke won the GG for his role, but today the press published an interview where he said “everything isn’t George Bush’s fault”. It’ll be interesting to see how the Academy votes now…
Quick note about the Globes (and I love the Globes). While they can’t be bought outright — tho’ some think they can — the Foreign Press voters are a small bunch that is easily swayed, either by attentive studios or in-person appearances by willing actors. It’s a bit tricky to assume they are a leading indicator of any kind; for example, Atonement won Best Picture last year. Needless to say, the Coen brothers mounted the podium at the Oscars.
Anyway to one specific award. I can almost guarantee you that Mickey Rourke worked the HFPA members 24/7, and that includes attending their lunches and having his picture taken with every one of them. It’s easy to match that with the guarantee that Seann Penn did not lift a finger in this regard, and in fact didn’t even bother to attend the ceremony. So the results are hardly a surprise.
A good friend of mine has multiple Emmys in the Best Actor category. I asked him why he never won a Globe. He confirmed the above. He never attended the lunches, never had his picture taken. It was a dog and pony show he decided to avoid. The results didn’t surprise him.
So again. Given how corrupt the HFPA is, it’s always good to take the results with a grain of salt.
On the other hand, I’m rooting like hell for Slumdog, so that was nice.
Glad to hear that “Slumdog” won, certainly the best film with a chance of winning the BP Oscar. (And that’s not a “lazy Hollywood” ending on the film, George, that’s a Dickens ending. I think the best way to descibe the film is Bollywood Dickens.)
And if you’re naming the best screen villian ever, I think you have to add Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber to the mix.
“Great fun”? It was grotesque. Powerline fittingly called the evening of unfunny vulgarity “Golden Filth.”
Raven
“Great fun”? It was grotesque.
Big uptight are we? You could have just watched 24 – because we all know violence is less grotesque than stars using bad language….
Powerline, heh. The go-to site for culture musings. Also known for their killer sense of humor.
I’m sorry, but chronicling the life and loves of a sexy, cradle-robbing concentration camp guard strikes me as the single stupidest idea for a movie in my lifetime (except maybe for Indy IV). I laugh uproariously at the very notion of Kate Winslet doing an Ilsa, She-Wolf of the S.S. vamp with phony accent to boot. “Ahhnd zen vee maak luff.”
Slumdog is all that is good about movies.
We saw the ‘flip’ out here on the West Coast, too. Mickey Rourke is as talented as he is ‘outrageously non-conformist’. Talent is talent. I loved it that they put up with his profanity and the bird flipping.
Hollywood puts up with anything ‘politically incorrect’ as long as they have ‘approved’ , directly or indirectly.
I am glad Mickey is back. Don’t know how long it will last but he sure deserves a shot at it and he got it. Good to see Maria Tomei focused on, at least by her nomination.
There are a lot of great talent in Hollywood and elsewhere. Not everyone gets the recognition they deserve. Kate Winslet has been long overdue to be recognized. How many things has she done that deserved recognition?
I particularly remember her in Sense and Sensibility. She was amazing, as she is in everything else.
I wish these people who make the decisions were a bit more objective in their choosing.
Laura Dern in ‘Recount’ as Katherin Harris is a joke. I thought Laura should have been sued over her characterization of Katherine. To say it ‘ veered toward caricature’ is a huge understatement in my view.
The concept of The Reader is so offensive to me that to see Kate, a wonderful actress in every way, rewarded for this just gives this movie recognition it does not deserve. The premise is SO wrong and offensive.
Slumdog is a horrible movie. It’s sure to produce social disasters (wrongly saying that the path to success in life and particularly love is being a good guy instead of an a-hole).
The movie doesn’t even work on it’s own terms. The girl sleeps with the a-hole gangster brother (loses her virginity to him) and only “settles” for the nice-guy loser hero. The girl is not worth getting if someone else already got her first in the story. The hero gets his brother’s discards, the girl he loved but loved the a-hole bad guy brother. What then is the point?
I agree with whiskey – I wasn’t that impressed by slumdog. I saw it, liked it okay, but it didn’t stick with me the way it has obviously stuck with others. And what was with the dance thing at the end? What was that? Anyway, congrats, I guess, but I wasn’t enthralled the way others were.
Has anyone noticed the creative placement and coloring of subtitles in “Slumdog millionaire” present in any other movie?
If it’s new, it could make foreign films marketable to an American audience on a whole new level.
“The double-win for Winslet may have been a function of the fact that somehow, this brilliant young star had never won a Golden Globe or Oscar until tonight.”
This is precisely why I no longer follow Hollywood awards. Winning a Golden Globe or Oscar should have nothing to do with sentiment and everything to do with performance. Just because Susan Lucci (for example) has been second multiple times is no excuse for handing her an award simply because “she deserves it”.
If Clint’s performance in Gran Torino is the best performance of the year, he should win the award, plain and simple. If it isn’t, he shouldn’t, regardless of how much “he’s earned it”.
Hollywood disgusts me.
So is Slumdog Millionaire conservative or not? I need to know before I watch it.
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