GOLDEN GLOBES 2014 – A MIXED BAG

The 71st Golden Globe Awards offered several hilarious moments, and a few very surprising results. Let’s recall what went down…

MOTION PICTURES

Having not yet watched many of the awards hopeful films this year, I didn’t have any strong opinions on which movies should win or will win this year. Except for Leonardo DiCaprio. He was outstanding in The Wolf Of Wall Street and he absolutely deserved to win for it. I hope this means that the Academy will also go with a similar decision of their Best Actor at the Oscars. It came as no surprise that Cate Blanchett won for Blue Jasmine. What was surprising was seeing Matthew McConaughey winning an award. He’s really evolved as an actor and his win, along with Jared Leto’s, for Best Supporting Actor makes me want to watch Dallas Buyers Club even more. However, the biggest winner among motion pictures at the Golden Globes was American Hustle, winning three, including Best Picture Comedy, Actress Comedy and Supporting Actress. It’s become quite clear that American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave are the frontrunners for the Oscars later in March.

TELEVISION

The television results were an equal mix of satisfactory, surprising and unexpected. BREAKING BAD finally winning a Globe for Best Series Drama was probably the highlight of the TV results, along with Bryan Cranston finally winning for his consistent and stellar performance on the show. Robin Wright’s performance on HOUSE OF CARDS rightfully earned her the win for Best Actress Drama. In the supporting acting categories, it was unfortunate that Aaron Paul didn’t win for his portrayal of Jesse Pinkman. In the comedy categories, it was quite nice to see Amy Poehler win for PARKS AND RECREATION. I don’t remember ever seeing the host at an award show actually winning an award. But the biggest shocker of the evening was BROOKLYN NINE-NINE winning not one, but two Golden Globes, including Andy Samberg taking away the prize for Best Actor Comedy, and the win for Best Series Comedy. The latter was robbed from THE BIG BANG THEORY, I feel. The show has never won and deserves to win more than any other comedy series out there, according to me. I haven’t seen all that much of BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, so I might later just feel that these results were justified, but for now, I’m not all that thrilled. I was happy that Kerry Washington didn’t win for SCANDAL, or Lena Dunham for GIRLS, or that GIRLS didn’t win Best Series Comedy, an award that was wasted on that show last year.

THE SHOW

The first six minutes of the telecast were being spoken of on the red carpet before the show began, and that opening act by hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey were definitely worth talking about. They did an outstanding job, a second time around. Their jokes were fresh and entertaining, while being edgy, yet not offensive to anyone. The bits about Julia Louis-Dreyfus having graduated to film from TV and having airs about it was absolutely hilarious, especially with Louis-Dreyfus’ participation, and Reese Witherspoon sitting beside her. Also, the dig at George Clooney, mentioning how he’d rather float into space and die than be around women his own age, was another really funny moment. Among their later moments on stage, Tina Fey’s introduction of presenter Leonardo DiCaprio was a hoot. “Like a supermodel’s vagina!” she said! 

     

The acceptance speeches were also rather entertaining. The most endearing was probably the very first one—Jennifer Lawrence’s—but the best, in my opinion was Matthew McConaughey’s, complete with a relevant anecdote, and a personal touch, keeping it simple and effective. Alfonso Cuaron’s mention of ‘herpes’ was quite funny. Leonardo DiCaprio’s speech was also nice, with his kind words for Martin Scorsese, and the clever guy took some more time when he came back to present the next award. One speech that dragged on was Jacqueline Bisset’s. It was probably the first time when someone completely ignored the ‘time-up’ track during an acceptance speech. While the tribute to Woody Allen was nice and Diane Keaton’s speech wasn’t boring, I thought it was all just a waste, considering that Allen didn’t even show. While I missed seeing a few awards regulars like Anne Hathaway and Kate Winslet among the attendees, it was nice to see faces that we haven’t in a while, including Jim Carrey, Colin Farrell, and Johnny Depp, even though he seemed high on something and completely disinterested. However, the positives of the show outweighed the negatives. The Golden Globes turned out to be a good start to the Award Season 2014. Here’s looking forward to the next one—the SAG Awards on Saturday.

Click here for a complete list of winners: http://www.goldenglobes.com/golden_globe_winners

What did you think of the Globes this year? Did your favorites win? Did you like the hosts as much as I did? Do share your views below. 

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS 2014 – PREDICTIONS (TV)

It’s the weekend of the Golden Globe Awards, and here’s a look at who’s been nominated, and who’s most likely to take home the Gold!

When the nominations were announced for the 2014 Golden Globe Awards, I was pleasantly surprised to see several new nominees in almost every TV category. While I thought that some were very deserving of their nominations, I was disappointed to see others on the list of nominees. My main concern is that performers like Kerry Washington (who overacts grossly on SCANDAL) are occupying positions in the list that much more deserving performers like Vera Farmiga (for BATES MOTEL) should occupy. Let’s see all the TV categories and consider the possible winners…

Best TV Series, Drama

BREAKING BAD

DOWNTON ABBEY

THE GOOD WIFE

HOUSE OF CARDS

MASTERS OF SEX

This is probably the most impressive list of drama series nominees in recent years. I would have a tough time deciding which one to give it to. None of the last six years’ winners in this category (HOMELAND, BOARDWALK EMPIRE and MAD MEN) are on the list this time, which means the competition is wide open. Freshman dramas HOUSE OF CARDS and MASTERS OF SEX are very strong contenders, and THE GOOD WIFE is literally the best series on network television. While DOWNTON ABBEY has such a fan following, I think this year, they’ll give this one to BREAKING BAD. It’s never won, and the show’s final eight episodes wrapped up the series so beautifully last year. It deserves to win.

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama

Julianna Margulies, THE GOOD WIFE

Tatiana Maslany, ORPHAN BLACK

Taylor Schilling, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

Kerry Washington, SCANDAL

Robin Wright, HOUSE OF CARDS

I personally think that Julianna Margulies has done a tremendous job in the current season of THE GOOD WIFE so far, with all the ongoing changes in her character’s life and relationships, so I would give it to her this year. However, I think the HFPA will reward Robin Wright for her intense silences on HOUSE OF CARDS. (If they give it to Kerry Washington, it’ll reflect quite poorly on them.)

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama

Bryan Cranston, BREAKING BAD

Liev Schreiber, RAY DONOVAN

Michael Sheen, MASTERS OF SEX

Kevin Spacey, HOUSE OF CARDS

James Spader, THE BLACKLIST

I don’t see why James Spader has made it to this list. While he does command attention with his performance on THE BLACKLIST, I still don’t think his material on the show is deserving of a nomination. As was mentioned above for their series, Kevin Spacey and Michael Sheen have delivered exceptionally good performances this last year in HOUSE OF CARDS and MASTERS OF SEX. However, Bryan Cranston’s consistently good performance on BREAKING BAD deserves a win this year, given that he’s never won, and especially because of how he did complete justice to his character’s gut-wrenching last days in the series.

Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy

THE BIG BANG THEORY

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE

GIRLS

MODERN FAMILY

PARKS AND RECREATION

I have a bad feeling that GIRLS will win this year again. I think MODERN FAMILY still deserves to win, because of how consistently good it’s been, till date. But unfortunately, it’s not common for a series to win a second time, if not consecutively. Therefore, I say that this year the HFPA should reward THE BIG BANG THEORY, another consistently good show that has never won.  

Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy

Zooey Deschanel, NEW GIRL

Lena Dunham, GIRLS

Edie Falco, NURSE JACKIE

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, VEEP

Amy Poehler, PARKS AND RECREATION

Last year, this award was stolen from Julia Louis-Dreyfus and given to Lena Dunhum. This year, I think they might repeat last year’s debacle, especially because of Dunham’s character dealing with OCD on GIRLS last year. Host Amy Poehler is a very deserving contender; However, I think it should be Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy

Jason Bateman, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

Don Cheadle, HOUSE OF LIES

Michael J. Fox, THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW

Jim Parsons, THE BIG BANG THEORY

Andy Samberg, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE

Although I would love to see Jim Parsons winning again in this category, I think the HFPA will repeat last year’s result—Don Cheadle. Although I think Michael J. Fox would really deserve a win for his performance on his show.

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie

Jacqueline Bisset, DANCING ON THE EDGE

Janet McTeer, THE WHITE QUEEN

Hayden Panettiere, NASHVILLE

Monica Potter, PARENTHOOD

Sofia Vergara, MODERN FAMILY

Seeing Monica Potter and Hayden Panettiere’s names up there was really a good surprise, because despite their excellent performances in PARENTHOOD and NASHVILLE last year, it wouldn’t have been shocking if they were still ignored. It’s also good to see Sofia Vergara still contending for this award, which she’s never won. I would like it to go to any of these three women, but I think it should be Monica Potter.

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie

Josh Charles, THE GOOD WIFE

Rob Lowe, BEHIND THE CANDELABRA

Aaron Paul, BREAKING BAD

Corey Stoll, HOUSE OF CARDS

Jon Voight, RAY DONOVAN

Josh Charles and Corey Stoll have been brilliant on THE GOOD WIFE and HOUSE OF CARDS this last year, and I wouldn’t mind if either of them won this award, but Aaron Paul’s performance in BREAKING BAD’s final episodes was too amazing for the HFPA to not finally give him an award for a role he has more than done justice to over five seasons of the show. I say this one should go to Aaron Paul.

As for the mini-series TV movie categories, I’m not very familiar with those that have been nominated, except for BEHIND THE CANDELABRA. However, even without knowing much about the others, I’m pretty sure that this year, BEHIND THE CANDELABRA and Michael Douglas are winning.

Who do you think will walk away with Golden Globes? Which performances have been your favorites this past year? Share your views and your excitement over the award season’s first big award show.