Golden Globes usher in yet another award season | The Triangle

Golden Globes usher in yet another award season

Although many still consider the annual Academy Awards, the Oscars, as the be-all-end-all for choosing and rewarding the best works of the year in the movie industry, recently the Golden Globe Awards have been receiving more and more viewers and respect. This year people are predicting the Globes may have gotten more viewers than the Academy Awards will. Maybe it’s because the Golden Globe ceremonies honor not only the best work of the year in film, but in television as well. Tina Fey put it best last year when she said the Globes is where, “the beautiful faces of film meet the ugly faces of TV.” Maybe it’s because the Globes do not give out production awards, like best costume design, that puts most people to sleep. Certainly the Globes seem to pick more entertaining hosts than whoever the Oscars get. But the answer as to why the Golden Globes are becoming a bigger deal in Hollywood and causing more of a stir during award season is probably all of the above.

Photo Courtesy NBC Studios.
Photo Courtesy NBC Studios. Steve McQueen (center) directed “12 Years a Slave,” this year’s recipient of best motion picture, drama. The cast included Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was nominated for best actor in a motion picture, drama for his performance as the film’s protagonist, Solomon Northup.

Because they did such a fantastic job last year, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returned to host. “This is Hollywood, and if something kind of works, they’ll just keep doing it until everybody hates it,” Fey said. Like last year, no one was off limits for the funny ladies to tease. The line that got the biggest laughs came when Fey was describing the plot of “Gravity”: “It’s the story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age.”

Another key difference between the Globes and the Oscars is that the Golden Globes divide the Best Actors and Best Picture categories by comedy and drama. However, this too can cause controversy as the Globes sometimes have a very skewed idea of what defines a comedy. Many people questioned why films like “American Hustle” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” were recognized as comedies, when truer comedies like “This Is The End,” “About Time” and “Anchorman 2” received zero nominations. TV series are easier to categorize because few shows walk the thin line between being a drama and a sitcom.

As the highly acclaimed “Breaking Bad” came to an end this year, lead actor Bryan Cranston won his last Golden Globe for the show. “This is such a lovely way to say goodbye to the show that meant so much to me,” Cranston said. Minutes later, “Breaking Bad” won for best TV drama series. After the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan, said a few words, he let Aaron Paul, Cranston’s co-star, wrap things up by shouting “Yeah, bitch!” into the microphone one last time.

A big surprise of the night was Jennifer Lawrence winning the best supporting actress in a movie award for “American Hustle,” the film that won later for best film, comedy or musical. Many predicted the supporting actress award would go to Lupita Nyong’o for her role in “12 Years a Slave,” which won for best picture, drama. As rare enough as it is for someone to win a Golden Globe twice in a row, it is even rarer for someone to do so at such a young age. Twenty-three-year-old Lawrence won last year for best actress, musical or comedy for “Silver Linings Playbook,” which again, many people would not consider a comedy. If Lawrence also wins the Oscar, she will join an elite group of actors to win the award twice in a row and will be easily the youngest in that group.

Another pleasant surprise was when Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron won best director for “Gravity,” a film that demanded, with no doubt, the most complex and rigorous job from a director in recent years. In the past, award shows have not recognized truly brilliant work from a director and simply have given the directing award based on the film itself and not the actual directing. It is nice to see Cuaron win for pulling off, what I believe to be, one of the greatest cinematic achievements ever.

So whether you watch these award shows for the celebrities, the winners, the fashion or, like me, to get a good laugh from the (sometimes) funny hosts, it is safe to say the Golden Globes will satisfy your cravings. It will be interesting to see if the Academy Awards, the king of award shows, can top the Globes this year. The Oscars air Sunday, March 2 on ABC.