Award Watch 2011 :: Blogging the Globes

With most of America watching the NFL play-offs (so sorry New England!), a healthy portion of gay America were tuned into the Golden Globes.

The awards are - in their way - something of a play-off of their own. Not that the results would influence the Oscar nominations (the balloting closed last Friday), the winners could influence the final voting. This is why all of Hollywood turn out for the event. Plus the fact that it also includes television and it gives a chance for the Hollywood elite to hang out like it were a company picnic, and you get the Globes. More laid-back and fun. Even the host - Ricky Gervais - drinks on the job.

Here's our ongoing blog...

On the red carpet...

Didn't Christina Aguilera look like she's auditioning to star in a Mae West bio? Doesn't Robert Pattison look great? And, as my viewing companion pointed out, isn't Ryan Gosling cute? Angelina Jolie looked spectacular in emerald green. And Halle Bailey looks very buff and butch... isn't she nominated for Catwoman 2?

Red looks like the color for the night... just check out Sof�a Vergara.

Tony-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones also looks stunning in green. Will that be the color for the night? My companion recalled how much he loved Michael Douglas's ass when he was on Streets of San Francisco.

Looking more like one of the Musketeers than the crack-addicted boxer from The Fighter (for which he is nominated), Christian Bale looks exceedingly handsome.

Sandra Bullock looked a bit like Dracula's daughter - what's with the long hair? Mila Kunis also showed why green is the color of the night. (Can she pull off an upset victory? We're in her corner).

On to the show...

Christian Bale wins!

Didn't Ricky Gervais look like he lost a lot of weight?
and what may become his trademark - a glass of beer - sits o the podium.

An uneasy laugh filled the room when Gervais made a joke about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's being ethical challenged. And kudos for making a joke about the Scientologist with gay issues - John Travolta or Tom Cruise? His opening monologue was pretty short, but it is a long show.

Among his zingers:

At Charlie Sheen: "It's going to be a night of partying and heaving drinking - or as Charlie Sheen calls it: breakfast."

On Sex and the City 2: "There were a lot of big films that didn't get nominated. Nothing for Sex and the City 2. I was sure the Golden Globes for special effects would go to the team that airbrushed that poster."

And on that Scientologist: "Also not nominated I Love You Phillip Morris. Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. Two heterosexual actors pretending to be gay. So, the complete opposite of some famous Scientologist... My lawyers helped me with the wording of that joke."

Christian Bale - our choice - thanked the Hollywood Press Association for their discretion in winning his award. Bale did his best Colin Farrell imitation in accepting his first and well-deserved Globe.

Big upset in the Best Actress in a Television Series Drama -- Kati Sagal for Sons of Anarchy. Sitting way in the back, it took her quite some time to get to the stage. Good thing she looks so good. Azil wants to know if she had work done. And she certainly was gracious.

Go Chris!

Julianne Moore just out with Kevin Spacey to award Best Mini-Series or TV Movie and my companion commented, "she loves the gays, doesn't she?" No surprise - Carlos won. The five-hour movie has received nothing but praise, though because it was broadcast on television (on the Sundance Channel), it is ineligible for an Oscar. Though the film's Carlos Edgar Ramirez looked spectacular on the podium.

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (certainly the most awkwardly named award in awardom) went to... Chris Colfer for Glee, who looked stunned when his name was called. Will this be the first of Glee's may wins? His call-out to gay kids about being bullied was eloquent and to the point. "Screw that, kids!"

’Empire’ rules

My companion is a huge Boardwalk Empire fan so he's thrilled that Steve Buscemi won for Best Actor in a Television Series, Drama. "That fuckin' show is awesome!" he said. Remember Buscemi started playing a man with AIDS in Parting Glances back in the 1980s? It's hard to believe he hadn't won a Globe before.

The producer accepting for Boardwalk Empire's win for Best Television Series, Drama also used the 'f' word in describing the win. Of course, he was bleeped. When will tv get over this thing about four-letter words anyway?

Social Network’s first win

We love Andrew Garfield, even when he trips over reading the teleprompter in his intro to the clip from The Social Network. Ricky Gervais joke about Mark Zuckerberg was pretty funny... First fashion faux-pas of the evening -- Jennifer Lopez looking like she ripped off the living room drapes and ran out of enough material to cover her legs. Diane Warren won for Best Song for "You Haven't Heard the Best of Me" (our pick) from Burlesque. No surprise.

Now Best Original Score. Kudos to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to giving the award to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their industrial soundscapes to The Social Network. Maybe the Association isn't quite as partisan as it seems. Will the evening trend towards The Social Network?

Bening scores

"Were two even born when the first Toy Story came out?" said Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich to Halle Steinfeld and singer Justin Bieber. That the film won Best Animated Feature is no surprise...

Robert Downey Jr. was pretty funny with his randy comments about the nominees for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or a Musical. Again, no big surprise here -- Annette Bening (our pick) wins her second Globe. Bening thanked Julianne Moore first. Again, Moore doesn't win -- will she ever? Bening looked elegant in black and gave a lovely acceptance speech. Will it help in her hunt for her first Oscar? Only time will tell. Too bad our fave Emma Stone didn't pull an upset... Easy A is a gem and she was brilliant in it.

Tilda’s faux pas

That Al Pacino won Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for playing Jack Kevorkian in HBO's You Don't Know Jack kept us from having another opportunity to seeing hunk-of-the-night Edgar Ramirez from coming to the podium.

Considering the raves Ramirez got, is giving this award to Pacino another example of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association sucking up to big stars?

Claire Daines (looking gorgeous in pink) took home another award for Temple Grandin (winning Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television). This was no surprise -- the HBO movie swept the Emmys, it will likely do the same here.

Second fashion faux pas has to go to Tilda Swinton in what appeared to be swanky white pajamas. It may be her way of making a fashion statement, but it was a wrong one.

Fabulous Zacquisha!

A clean-cut Zak Efron (or as we like to call him Zacquisha) ratcheted up the hunk quotient introducing a clip from The Kids are All Right.

Tina Fey and Steve Carrell did a funny bit to introduce the Screenwriting Award. "I heard about that movie on Facebook from a friend I never met," said Carrell referring to The Social Network. That film's Aaron Sorkin won - not that is any surprise. The movie has the best script of the year.

"I am nothing if not falsely humble," said a relaxed Jane Lynch looking as if she was born to walk the red carpet in elegant black. Lynch was on the podium for winning Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. In her off-hand and funny acceptance speech she had a call-out to her wife and kids at home. Is this the year for lesbian moms?

"A category that no one in America cares about," was the way that Ricky Gervais described the Best Foreign Film category. And no one much cared when the Danish film In a Better World won and its director Susanne Bier gave her acceptance speech. The excitement returned when Vanessa Williams announced the winner of Best Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical, but they were quickly dashed when she said that Linney wasn't on hand to accept her award. (Her father died last week.)

DeNiro’s stand up

A stunning, if a bit worked on Jane Fonda introduced Burlesque for her best (and equally worked on) bud Cher. Looking far softer than she does in the movies, Melissa Leo took home this year's Precious award for playing a mom from hell in The Fighter. ("I won a Golden Globe," she crowed). A second acting win for The Fighter - does this bode well for the film to take home the Globe? Nice of her to acknowledge her co-star Amy Adams (her third nomination).

"He looks great," my companion said when Matt Damon came on stage to give Robert DeNiro the Cecil B. DeMille Award. And he does, though we could have done without his lame DeNiro impressions. Just stand there and look good, Matt, that's all we ask.

Watching the clips of DeNiro made us realize that he hasn't made a good movie since Wag the Dog and that was 14 years ago. Still the clips of him from such films as The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Godfather 2, Raging Bull, Casino, Heat, New York, New York and The Untouchables only makes us realize what great screen acting is. Now about Little Fockers... His acceptance speech was pretty funny (for what it is worth.)

Giamatti upsets

A radiant Annette Bening is on to announce the winner for Best Director of a Motion Picture. That David Fincher won bodes well for The Social Network. Though we picked Darren Aronofsky to win, The Social Network is the year's best film. And it was gratifying to see Fincher get acknowledged for a career that includes Se7en, The Fight Club, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Ryan Murphy led the cast of Glee onstage when the Fox series won Best Televison Series, Comedy or Musical; this time he didn't thank Barbra Joan Streisand like he did the last time he won the same award last year. That the show won its third award of the night makes it the big tv winner.

Halle Berry looks buff giving out the Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy. And here was an upset: Paul Giamatti for Barney's Version (yet to released). Whether this win bodes well for his chances for an Oscar remain to be seen. We picked Johnny Depp to win for Alice in Wonderland; but we could only guess whether Giamatti should have won because aside from the Hollywood Foreign Press, no one has seen Barney's Version.

The kids are all right

Jeff Bridges, snubbed this year for True Grit, came out to give out the Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama. No big surprise - Natalie Portman. Her gown deftly hid her baby bump. Thanking her husband (the film's choreographer and featured dancer hunky Benjamin Millepied), she said, "He totally loves to sleep with me," then girlishly giggled. Having followed Portman's career from her starring in The Diary of Ann Frank on Broadway, it's great to see her get acknowledged with this award. And her win does set up the rivalry between herself and Annette Bening for the Best Actress Oscar.

Tom Hanks and an unrecognizable Tim Allen gave the Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical to The Kids Are All Right, which was our choice and the best of the five nominees. When the film's director Lisa Cholodenko stepped up to the microphone, my companion said, "Look, it's Pat!" We loved the movie and are thrilled to see it win. Whether it turns out to be the little LA picture that could remains to be seen next month when the Oscars are given out.

Sandra Bullock is Elvira

It was also no surprise that Colin Firth won Best Actor for The King's Speech. It was the only win for the most nominated film. Firth deserved to win, if only to make up the oversight for his not winning last year for A Single Man. His acceptance speech was eloquent, if a bit boring. We had so hoped for an upset, though, so we'd get to see James Franco up on the podium. Given that he will be co-hosting the Oscars, it was odd not to have seen him as a presenter. Here's a pic of him from the Red Carpet.

And what's with Sandra Bullock? Is she auditioning for the movie about Elvira's life. Her black, stringy hair was completely unattractive and her gown made her look like she walked out of some 19th century Gothic melodrama. This was the fashion faux pas of the evening. Though Helena Bonham Carter's attempt to evoke la vie boheme comes a close second. What were they thinking?

"There must be an easier way to get a standing ovation," said a wan-looking Michael Douglas awarding the Best Motion Picture Drama to The Social Network. The Facebook movie turned out to be the big winner with four (Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Score); second was The Fighter with two (Supporting Actor and Actress) and The Kids Are All Right (Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical and Best Actress, Comedy or Musical). Both Black Swan and The King's Speech settle for one each -- but big ones (Best Actress, Drama for Black Swan, Best Actor, Drama for the King's Speech). Toy Story 3 took home one, Burlesque one, Barney's Version one and In a Better World (the Danish movie) one.
My companion thought the awards a long bore. And they pretty much were. Gervais was funny enough (we liked his parting shot "Thank you to God for making me an athiest"); but the show lacked much drive and, let's face it, there are too many awards. Now with the Globes behind us, let's look forward to the Oscar nominations (on January 25) and the Screen Actors Guild Awards (on January 40).

Lastly, where was Mo'Nique, anyway? Don't last year winners usually present? She will be on hand to present the Oscar nominations in the early morning on January 25.

The Complete List of Winners

MOTION PICTURES:
-- Picture, Drama: "The Social Network."
-- Picture, Musical or Comedy: "The Kids Are All Right."
-- Actor, Drama: Colin Firth, "The King's Speech."
-- Actress, Drama: Natalie Portman, "Black Swan."
-- Director: David Fincher, "The Social Network."
-- Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right."
-- Actor, Musical or Comedy: Paul Giamatti, "Barney's Version."
-- Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, "The Fighter."
-- Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, "The Fighter."
-- Foreign Language: "In a Better World."
-- Animated Film: "Toy Story 3."
-- Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network."
-- Original Score: "The Social Network."
-- Original Song: "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," (written by Diane Warren), "Burlesque."

TELEVISION:
-- Series, Drama: "Boardwalk Empire," HBO.
-- Actor, Drama: Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire."
-- Actress, Drama: Katey Sagal, "Sons of Anarchy."
-- Series, Musical or Comedy: "Glee," Fox.
-- Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory."
-- Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Linney, "The Big C."
-- Miniseries or Movie: "Carlos," Sundance Channel.
-- Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Claire Danes, "Temple Grandin."
-- Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Al Pacino, "You Don't Know Jack."
-- Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jane Lynch, "Glee."
-- Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Chris Colfer, "Glee."

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert De Niro.