When an awards show host is really bad, it’s reassuring to know that following the opening monologue you’re really not going to see much more of him.
Last night’s Golden Globes had the opposite problem. Hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler set the tone so perfectly in their opening — every joke was a slam dunk — that once they left the stage it was all downhill. Given the time constraints and all those pesky awards to give out, I’m not sure how exactly Fey and Poehler could have been integrated into the rest of the show, but their absence was sorely missed.
The show was sloppily produced. From teleprompter mishaps and fumbled stage cues to the fact that every award winner had to complete an obstacle course to make it to the stage, it was a big mess.
Early winner Jacqueline Bisset set the tone. After making her way to the stage by way of the kitchen she delivered the night’s most awkward speech, featuring long pauses, occasional profanity and a complete disregard for the play-off music. Usually it isn’t until the third hour that Globe attendees appear that drunk.
But back to the good stuff — Fey and Poehler. Their best-received joke was the suggestion that Gravity was 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.” It was a cousin to last year’s hilarious James Cameron torture joke.
I loved Poehler’s line that 12 Years a Slave changed her mind about slavery. And Fey’s joke that Matthew McConoughey lost 45 pounds to appear in Dallas Buyers Club, or what actresses call “being in a movie.” Honestly, I wish they had just skipped the awards and let these two loose for two hours.
But of course they did hand out awards, and did a pretty nice job of spreading the wealth.
12 Years a Slave appeared to be heading for a complete shut-out when it picked up one of the night’s biggest awards, Best Motion Picture – Drama. Dallas Buyers Club nabbed trophies for Best Actor in a Drama and Best Supporting Actor (perhaps a preview of coming Oscar attractions). The Wolf of Wall Street‘s Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor in a Comedy, and pointed out how odd a fit that category is for an actor not known for delivering laughs.
American Hustle had the best night overall, winning the Best Motion Picture – Comedy award and landing lead and supporting wins for Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence, respectively. Lawrence seems to have overtaken previous front-runner Lupita N’Yongo and could be on her way to back-to-back Oscar wins as well.
Cate Blanchett predictably took home the Best Actress in a Drama award, the closest to a sure thing this awards season. Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director for his work on Gravity in what appears to be a two-man race between him and Steve McQueen for the Oscar. And Spike Jonze was a surprise winner for his Her screenplay.
I didn’t find myself rooting hard for anybody in particular, so I’m generally pleased with this lineup. I would love for Inside Llewyn Davis to sweep anything it’s up for, but I know that’s not going to happen. The Oscar race got both clearer and fuzzier, depending on the category, which makes the Oscar pool more fun. I hate when you can predict every winner three months out.
On the TV side I was (of course) thrilled with the wins for Breaking Bad and Bryan Cranston. I hoped Aaron Paul would complete the sweep but Jon Voight got in the way. There’s always the Emmys.
Diane Keaton delivered a charming tribute to Woody Allen, who predictably didn’t show up to receive his Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award. Her speech turned a bit awkward when she launched into song but before that she paid Allen his due for creating so many memorable roles for women.
I was surprised to see a bunch of anti-Woody Allen sentiment flying around the Web following the show, much of it kicked up by a Ronan Farrow tweet calling him a child molester. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was part of an elaborate Harvey Weinstein campaign to discredit the Blue Jasmine director and hurt Cate Blanchett’s chances by association.
Throw in Meryl Streep’s recent take-down of Walt Disney as a misogynistic anti-Semite, staining Saving Mr. Banks even while praising its lead actress, Emma Thompson, and the Best Actress race really has a whiff of ugly politics this year. Maybe it’s all a coincidence.
So now on to the Academy Award nominations, announced later this week, and then the main event on March 2. If any film came out of last night with momentum, it’s American Hustle, which does fit rather comfortably into the Argo template, but it’s far from a sure thing.
See you at the Oscars. All right, all right, all right…
Meet Me In Montauk 
I missed the Streep criticism of Disney, but I loved every minute of her on screen last night. Her reaction to the joke that her role in August proves there are still great roles for Meryl over 60 was a high point of the evening for me.
Also loved Andy Samberg thanking his “team” and Matt Damon doing just fine without his glasses by demonstrating that some in Hollywood (not Michael Bay!!) can operate without the assist from a Teleprompter.
I read somewhere this morning that the Clooney joke, which was my favorite, had been delivered by Colbert earlier this year. Sure hope that’s not true. I also loved their joke about Joaquin being from the future ;). They did a great job. Now if only the rest of the show could be nearly as good as they are.
All I can say is thank god for fast forward! We made the wise decision to watch True Detective at 9 and tape the globes. By the time we started watching them, we could fast forward through all the commercials (of course), most of the speeches, and made the trips up to the stage very fast 🙂 It was an awful show, and the only highlights for me were looking at Meryl and Julia (so beautiful); the Breaking Bad awards; Cate Blanchet’s win; and John Voight’s award for my new favorite show (Donovan). Poor Drew Barrymore, I know she’s pregnant, but why where an outfit that looks like a Macy’s parade float instead of something more subtle. Clay, already discussed J. Bisset so I won’t go there (poor thing). Did not hear the news about the Disney trashing, and heard about Ronan’s criticism of Woody–too bad. I loved Diane Keaton’s speech (would have liked it better without the song) though. Thought the co-hosts were ok, maybe more of them would have helped as Clay suggested. As you said–On to the Oscars!