Road to the Globes

In case you're not into Hollywood navel-gazing the way I am, the Golden Globes were last night. Before I get to the main event, I need to briefly recap two other movies I saw. I have realized that I am not a fan of the Coen brothers (in my limited experience) and did not enjoy Burn After Reading in the least. I was actually very disappointed. For a comedy, I did not find it funny at all, and there was very little plot or story--it wanted to be a character study which itself worked, but it was part of this larger mess that I have absolutely no idea what to make of.

On Saturday night I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with my dear friends Valerie and Miss Liss. It was a most excellent film! When it ended Melissa was sobbing and I even wiped away a couple of tears. Cate Blanchett continues to be fantastic and wonderful, and the actress who plays the young Daisy did a wonderful job of anticipating Cate. Brad Pitt was also rather good. It's a wonderful and tragic love story rendered beautifully on film, so that even with its 166 minute running time, it never feels slow. I would also like to give a shout-out to Tilda Swinton that wonderful and rather odd-looking woman. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and if you haven't seen it yet, you should go check it out.

My friend Elise hosted our Golden Globe party where I ended up being the only guest, but that's okay. I brought some bubbly to make champagne cocktails, but the bottle remained unopened--the same bottle I originally had for New Year's. Oh well. However, we did eat some brie which was delicious and fancy enough for us. The big winners last night were Slumdog Millionaire, Kate Winslet, 30 Rock, and John Adams. First I have to give the Golden Globes award to Salma Hayek who was very beautiful and busty--having recently given birth--and her dress was gorgeous with generous decolletage.

There weren't a lot of great dresses last night as I had hoped--the Oscars better be amazing! But there were a few. Amy Adams wore a lovely heart-shaped black dress with sequins. January Jones was in a gorgeous, single-strapped, cool blue dress. Laura Linney was lovely draped in a dusty yellow, off the shoulder number. And Susan Sarandon wore a fantastic suit. I also have to say that I quite enjoyed Mickey Rourke's ensemble including his awesome blue belt. Drew Barrymore was also fun with her crazy hair. On the worst dressed list we have Glenn Close is her crazy, gold pants. I don't even know what Renee Zellweger was wearing, but it was quite craptastic. And as much as I dearly love Emma Thompson, she's on the list too. Of course Emma is the intellectual actress not the glamorous celebrity.

Ricky Gervais gave the funniest little speech all night. Of the winners, I gravitated to the ones with more soul. Sally Hawkins, whose slim little frame was racked with sobs, did her very best to get through her speech--and Emma Thompson offered to help, which was lovely. Colin Farrell's speech was about love and curiosity--the anathema to ignorance. And Kate Winslet--who won twice--was so surprised both times it was touching. I had to laugh when she forgot Angelina Jolie though. She also wore a gorgeous dress--probably my favorite of the night.

John Adams basically swept the mini-series categories, as it should have, so I don't even need to see the other ones. Except Bernard and Doris looks like such fun! Mad Men won Best Series-Drama, but was shut out in the other categories it was nominated in. 30 Rock won three times even though I think this season isn't very good. Tina Fey beat Mary-Louise Parker which I can't really support, but at least it wasn't America Ferrera who won. And Tina gave a funny little speech, so I don't hate her.

Heath Ledger won for The Dark Knight which is as it should be. Kate Winslet first won for a supporting role, beating Amy Adams, Penelope Cruz, Viola Davis, and Marisa Tomei--which was pretty steep competition. (Except can anyone else believe Tomei won, actually won, an Oscar for My Cousin Vinny?) Mickey Rourke of course won Best Actor in a Drama, and Kate Winslet surprised everyone, including herself, by winning Best Actress in a Drama. She started her speech by apologizing to the other nominees. Clearly, the correct choice here was Meryl Streep in a tour-de-force role for Doubt. Hopefully the Academy knows better. Of course it's high time that Winslet finally won an Oscar too. I was thrilled when Vicky Christina Barcelona won Best Picture-Comedy. It was so much better than Burn After Reading, and Mamma Mia! was only okay. VCB was funny, thoughtful, interesting, offbeat, and real. If you didn't see it in theaters, don't miss it on DVD. And Slumdog Millionaire won itself Best Score, Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture-Drama which I'm happy for. It really is a great movie. It made me a little sad that one of the other great dramas couldn't have snatched one of those awards though.

All in all it was a fun night and now I'm looking forward to the Oscars! Of course in the mean-time there are still a few movies I need to see. And Sundance is coming here very soon! Now what I really need to focus on are my grad school applications. Shalom.