Pop Verse Pop Culture Universe
It has always been confounding to me that the winners of prestigious industry awards when it comes to TV, films, and books (amongst other industries), always seemed to be ‘critic’s choices’. Now, I recognize that I may have generalized in a massive sweeping motion – while also ignoring things like the People’s Choice Awards – but as a general rule, I find the winners of the awards aren’t usually the ones that I think deserve it.
Last night was the 71st Golden Globe Awards, expertly hosted by the amazing Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (at least this award ceremony knows where it’s at!). What are your thoughts on the nominees and winners this year?
Film
Best motion picture – Drama: The heart-wrenching slavery film, 12 Years a Slave beat out its competition, to no one’s surprise. Why does ‘Drama’ seem to mean endlessly bleak and depressing to the industry? It would have been nice to see Gravity bag this one, though.
Best motion picture – Musical or Comedy: Another winner that was expected, American Hustle. Although, I’m not sure I really saw it as a comedy. I’m not sure what it is – or if it was really good enough to win this award – but hey, what do I know?! Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any of the other nominated films, so I can’t really comment on them.
Best performance in a motion Picture (Drama) – Actor: Three cheers for the lovely Matthew McConaughey. For too long this talented man was relegated to awful, C-grade romantic comedies, but recently he has been getting his feet wet in some roles worthy of his acting chops. I’ve not seen Dallas Buyers Club yet, but I can’t wait.
Best performance in a motion Picture (Drama) – Actress: Aussie! Ausssie! Aussie! Hooray for Cate Blanchett! But a huge nod should go in Sandy B’s direction too – who would’ve thought the beauty queen could act with such depth?!
Best Performance in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) – Actor: Ah, Leo. Will the world ever fall out of love with you? I agree that Christian Bale did not deserve this particular accolade, but what about Joaquin Phoenix? He might be an ass, but believably falling in love with an object?! That’s gotta take some skill!
Best Performance in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) – Actress: The nominees in this category were fairly predictable. Sure, Amy is good, I’ll give her that. But it would have been nice to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus get the gong.
Best supporting performance in a motion picture (Drama, Musical or Comedy) – Actor: Another one for Dallas Buyers Club – I really, really want to see this film! Jared Leto with his amazing legs on show – yes, please! Leto has been focusing on his music career more-so than his acting in recent years. Apparently he picks only the most fun and interesting roles (it’s alright for some, eh?).
Best supporting performance in a motion picture (Drama, Musical or Comedy) – Actress: I’ve heard some snarky reporters and media say things along the lines of ‘enough already’ when it comes to Jennifer Lawrence. To them, I would like to say, ‘shut up!’ Seriously, if you think there’s too much praise for her, you’ve obviously never seen her in anything. She steals every scene she’s in, in every film. She’s brilliant.
Best director: As a SFF fan, I’m hoping that the critical and box office success of Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity means we might see a few more big-budget sci-fi on our screens. It’s also nice to see a film set in space beat out the more typical fare.
Best screenplay: Good choice, Golden Globes. Writing a film about a man falling in love with… an operating system must have been difficult. Props to Spike Jonze for pulling that one off.
Best original score: Alex Ebert won for All Is Lost. I feel terrible that I’ve not paid more attention to the scores last year. I have no comment on this one.
Best original song: Ditto for this category, won by U2 and Danger Mouse for ‘Ordinary Love’ (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom).
Best animated feature film: I am a fan of the Despicable Me franchise, although the second installment was not as good as the first. However, Frozen is far and away the best animated feature I’ve seen recently. I love this film, although perhaps it should have taken the Best Original Song prize too.
Best foreign language film: I’ve been appallingly bad at keeping up with foreign films recently and haven’t seen any of the nominated titles. What do you think?
TV
Best series – Drama: Is this a shock? I doubt it. There is so much hype surrounding this show (Breaking Bad) that it is hard to imagine they would pick anything else. I’m still at the beginning of series 3 – everyone tells me it gets better, but I’m afraid I’m yet to see why this is the most amazing thing ever.
Best series – musical or comedy: Thank goodness for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Some people are surprised at this win. Really? Have you seen the show?! It is hilarious and actually makes me want more sitcoms. As long as they’re like this and not The Big Bang Theory. K?!
Best performance in a television series (Drama) – Actor: No surprise here, nor should it be. I’m not sure anyone could have come close to touching Bryan Cranston in this category. I may not think Breaking Bad is as amazing as everyone else seems to, but I can’t fault Cranston’s amazing performance.
Best performance in a television series (Drama) – Actress: Robin Wright won for her role in House of Cards. I feel pretty crap looking at the nominees on this category – I’ve seen none of these shows. (They are on the –long – list, though!)
Best performance in a television series (Musical or Comedy) – Actor: Can I give enough praise to Brooklyn Nine-Nine? I think not. I’m not sure Samberg is really the stand-out performer in the cast, but he is the star vehicle…
Best performance in a television series (Musical or Comedy) – Actress: Finally, Amy Poehler is recognized for her excellent performance in Parks and Recreation. I love this woman, and who wouldn’t? I do think Julia Louis-Dreyfus is also brilliant in her cringe-worthy performance in Veep, though.
Best performance in a miniseries or television film – Actor: Ever since this man announced to the world that cunnilingus helped him recover from throat cancer, I’ve absolutely been rooting for him. Michael Douglas as Liberace was inspired!
Best performance in a miniseries or television film – Actress: Oh no, not another category that I’m hopelessly ill-informed on. I’m starting to think I don’t watch enough TV. I need to rectify this! Elisabeth Moss won for Top of the Lake. Nice to see her still around!
Best supporting performance in a series, miniseries, or television film – Supporting actor: I have heard good things about Ray Donovan, but have yet to watch it.
Best supporting performance in a series, miniseries, or television film – Supporting actress: Who has watched Dancing on the Edge? I think I need to give up talking about TV given I clearly know nothing…
Best miniseries or television film: I think they got this one right, although I’ve heard excellent things about American Horror Story.
After going through all of the categories, I’m finding that I’m actually agreeing with a fair few of the choices. Perhaps the industry voters aren’t as stuffy, uptight, and incorrect as I had always imagined they were! You learn something new everyday!
