Golden Globes

Instead of blogging about how terrified I am about the special Senate election happening today in Massachusetts, I'm choosing to focus on something much more inconsequential: Sunday night's Golden Globes telecast, which I finally got around to watching today.

It turns out, I saw a lot of movies in 2009 and actually had seen most of the nominated films. Television-wise, I watched less, but still was pleased to see Mad Men take home the top award for drama, and Glee for comedy (which despite my initial hesitation to jump on the Glee bandwagon, won me over by the end of the season). Also, Chloe Sevigny totally deserved to win for Big Love, though I think it was unexpected (the show only got 3 nominations total and is less hyped than HBO's other shows).

Also good: Meryl (a.k.a. T-Bone) Streep's acceptance speech. The woman has won a bajillion times and still always manages to deliver a poised, seemingly unscripted and heartfelt speech of the perfect length. Bravo, T-Bone!



Robert Downey, Jr.'s speech was also clever and I'm always happy to see him win, even though Sherlock Holmes was a tad disappointing. However, he was one of three offenders in terms of what I consider to be an awards ceremony faux pas: saying in your acceptance speech whom you thought would win as an excuse to not have prepared anything to say.

It's one thing to act surprised and humble; it's another to state specifically which of the nominees you thought would beat you. Because let's face it, they didn't win -- you did -- and it's supposed to be your moment. Also, it's kind of insulting to the other 3 nominees -- did you not think they deserved to win? We already get loser reaction close-ups; a brief acknowledgment of fellow nominees suffices.

RDJ said he thought Matt Damon (The Informant!) would win, screenwriter/director Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) said he thought Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds) would win, and James Cameron (Avatar) said he thought Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) would win. You know what? Probably some other people, including the nominees themselves, might have thought they were going to win too and are bummed out. There's no need to rub it in. We get it, you're surprised. Get on with your speech.

I guess what increasingly bothers me about the Globes is how blatantly it's used as a marketing tool for upcoming movies. All the presenters have films coming out in the next month and many find cutesy ways to promote them. And while I enjoyed Martin Scorsese's tribute, the last few minutes of it was just the trailer for Shutter Island, which no one has seen yet. It could be terrible and it isn't out yet, so why include it in his montage? Given the fact that the release of the film was pushed back, from October to February, and the buzz is mixed, including it in the montage seemed like a desperate move on behalf of the studio releasing it.

In summary, Ricky Gervais was decently funny, Angie and Brad (and Best Supporting Actor winner Alec Baldwin) couldn't be troubled to attend, and per usual, Jennifer Aniston wore a pretty but forgettable black dress. Would it kill her to wear something with color or texture?

But I digress. Time to go back to praying for a Coakley victory in MA.