Golden Globes 2011

Ah, Oscar season. I love it! The Academy Awards are like my Superbowl, and that makes the Golden Globes like my Playoffs. Here are some thoughts on last night's awards. I unfortunately haven't seen a chunk of the big award movies this year, so I have to go on what I've heard.

The Globes overall were okay this year. I found host Ricky Gervase to be hit or miss. Sometimes he was right on the money (like his yelling at Steve Carell for killing their "cash cow" by leaving The Office), but he was often just crass and mean-spirited. The best speech of the night went to Robert Downey, Jr. when he presented the Best Actress in a Comedy. I also liked Carell and Tina Fey's riff about writing.

Anyway, here we go with the winners.  If the film title is a link, it leads to my review.  So check them out!

MOVIES:

BEST PICTURE - DRAMA
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Social Network
The King's Speech

WINNER: The Social Network. And deservedly so. Inception was my favorite movie of the year, but I can't argue against The Social Network winning. A brilliantly written and directed film, it deserves all of its accolades.

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Halle Berry - Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

WINNER: Natalie Portman. All five of these actresses supposedly do stellar work, but there is no doubt that this is Natalie Portman's year. She was a lock for the Golden Globe and she's pretty much a lock for the Oscar, too.

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter

WINNER: Colin Firth. See above. This is also Colin Firth's year and deservedly so. This is a awesome performance.

BEST PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids are All Right
Red
The Tourist

WINNER: The Kids are All Right. This category pissed me off. Four out of the five nominees for Best Picture got mostly bad reviews. And I really, really disliked Alice in Wonderland, and am appalled that it was nominated. I have not seen The Kids are All Right, but I think it deserves to win by default!

BEST ACTRESS - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Annette Bening - The Kids are All Right
Anne Hathaway - Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie - The Tourist
Julianne Moore - The Kids are All Right
Emma Stone - Easy A

WINNER: Annette Bening. No surprise here, though I was personally rooting for Anne Hathaway who was a true bright spot in Love and Other Drugs. I also would not have minded Emma Stone winning because...well, I just like Emma Stone.

BEST ACTOR - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Johnny Depp - The Tourist
Johnny Depp - Alice in Wonderland
Paul Giamatti - Barney's Version
Jake Gyllenhaal - Love and Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey - Casino Jack

WINNER: Paul Giamatti. Thank heavens. Johnny Depp was favored for Alice in Wonderland and if he had won for that monstrosity of a performance, I would have had a seizure. Don't get me wrong; I love Johnny Depp, but that role was a mess.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bodham Carter - The King's Speech
Mila Kunis - Black Swan
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

WINNER: Melissa Leo. Big surprise here as I thought Helena Bodham Carter was going to get it. I really liked Melissa Leo's speech, and I heard she was terrific in the film.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale - The Fighter
Michael Douglas - Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield - The Social Network
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech

WINNER: Christian Bale. Another lock. This was Bale's to lose. I liked Geoffrey Rush quite a bit in the King's Speech, but this is Christian Bale's year.

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled
Toy Story 3

WINNER: Toy Story 3. Was there any doubt? It was easily one of the best films of the year.

BEST FOREIGN FILM
Biutiful - Mexico, Spain
The Concert - France
The Edge - Russia
I Am Love - Italy
In a Better World - Denmark

WINNER: In A Better World. Haven't seen any of these. I'm a bit behind in my foreign films...

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
David Fincher - The Social Network
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan - Inception
David O' Russell - The Fighter

WINNER: David Fincher, Social Network. Though I was rooting for Nolan, who kept all the dizzying timelines in Inception in check, I can't fault the Globes for giving it to Fincher. His achievement with Social Network was astonishing. That movie should have been boring, but Fincher put together one of the most best movies of the year.

BEST SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, Danny Boyle - 127 Hours
Christopher Nolan - Inception
Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko - The Kids are All Right
David Seidler - The King's Speech
Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network

WINNER: Aaron Sorkin, for giving Social Network its structure. It's a brilliant script and deserved to win.

BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech
Danny Elfman - Alice in Wonderland
A.R. Rahman - 127 Hours
Trent Rezner and Atticus Ross - The Social Network
Hans Zimmer - Inception

WINNER: The Social Network. Not sure about this one. Trent Rezner and Atticus Ross' music was great in the film, but I think Zimmer's score had to do more heavy lifting, providing Inception with pure momentum. I'm not even the biggest fan of Zimmer and his legion of cronies, but Inception's score probably was more important to the film that Rezner and Ross' was. Still, a good score and a fine win.
BEST SONG
"Bound to You" from Burlesque
"Coming Home" from Country Strong
"I See the Light" from Tangled
"There's a Place for Us" from Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" from Burlesque

WINNER: You Haven't Seen the Last of Me. Cher's big song from Burlesque. Of course, she was going to win. I thought all these songs were unmemorable at best. Where's a good Bond song when you need one?


TELEVISION:

BEST TV SHOW - DRAMA
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Man Men
The Walking Dead

WINNER: Boardwalk Empire. No surprise, though I really enjoyed Walking Dead.

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Julianne Margulies - The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men
Piper Perabo - Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal - Sons of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgewick - The Closer

WINNER: Katey Sagal. Who would have thought that Peggy Bundy would eventually be winning a Golden Globe? But she is a good actress and an anchor in that show, so I am happy to see she won.

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall - Dexter
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Hugh Laurie - House

WINNER: Steve Buscemi. He's a good actor and everyone else has already won a thousand times. So I'm happy to see the love been spread around. Addendum: someone just told me that Hugh Laurie has been nominated every year for House and has never won! I think this makes him the Susan Lucci of the Golden Globes...

BEST TV SHOW - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie

WINNER: Glee. I don't get it. I just don't get it. And I love Modern Family. So this makes me sad...

BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Toni Collette - United States of Tara
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Laura Linney - The Big C
Lea Michele - Glee

WINNER: Laura Linney. Good for her. A hard part in a challenging and rewarding series. I was happy to see this.

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Steve Carell - The Office
Thomas Jane - Hung
Matthew Morrison - Glee
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory

WINNER: Jim Parsons. Okay, this I also don't get. Parsons is really good in Big Bang Theory, but I don't think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I certainly don't think he should be winning every award under the sun. Though I did like his speech...

BEST MINISERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Carlos
The Pacific
Pillars of the Earth
Temple Grandin
You Don't Know Jack

WINNER: Carlos. Wow. I thought that the marketing muscle of HBO would win this one, but Sundance Channel pulled it off. Good for them. I heard Carlos was great.

BEST ACTRESS MINISERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Hayley Atwell - Pillars of the Earth
Claire Danes - Temple Grandin
Judi Dench - Return to Cranford
Romola Garai - Emma
Jennifer Love Hewitt - The Client List

WINNER: Claire Danes. I heard she was superb in Temple Grandin. I loved that the real Temple Grandin was in the audience.

BEST ACTOR MINISERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Idris Elba - Luther
Ian McShane - Pillars of the Earth
Al Pacino - You Don't Know Jack
Dennis Quaid - The Special Relationship
Edgar Ramirez - Carlos

WINNER: Al Pacino. No problems here, though his speech was a bit scary. I love Pacino, but I have concerns for his health. He looked like he was about 89 years old up there...

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS SERIES, MINISERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Hope Davis - The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch - Glee
Kelly MacDonald - Broadwalk Empire
Julia Stiles - Dexter
Sofia Vergara - Modern Family

WINNER: Jane Lynch. As much as I don't enjoy Glee, I have to admit that Lynch is funny and just a superb actress. I personally was rooting for Sophia Vergara because she's hilarious and also hot. What? I can't help it! Have you seen the show?? She's super hot! And she's also hilariously funny. And she's also hot...

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR SERIES, MINISERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Scott Caan - Hawaii Five-O
Chris Colfer - Glee
Chris Noth - The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet- Modern Family
David Strathairn - Temple Grandin

WINNER: Chris Colfer. Again, I don't get Glee, but my wife who is a Glee fanatic often tells me that Colfer has been a highlight of the show, so I guess this is deserved.

And there we go. I'd love to hear what everyone else thought of the Golden Globes! Let me know what you liked and didn't like, either here or on Facebook!