All of Hollywood’s biggest stars came out to play last night for the Golden Globes. The Globes had more of a party atmosphere this year than ever before. In fact, host Ricky Gervais drank throughout the telecast. But who won? Were my picks spot on? Who was the best dressed? And were the Globes better produced than the Critics’ Choice and People’s Choice Awards? The answers to all these questions and more just as soon as I go see Abadar.
Lets address the success of picks right off the bat, because I’m proud of how well I did. In yesterday’s post I predicted 19 categories and of those, 12 of my picks were correct. Factoring in Best Original Song which I neglected to include in my post, but correctly predicted I was 13/20, or 65% right on the money. Among the categories I correctly predicted Best Actor in A Drama (Film), Best Actor in A Drama (TV), Best Drama (Film), Best Drama (TV), and Best Actress in A Drama (Film). To those of you following along at home that means that Sandra Bullock actually won for The Blind Side, and consequently we all lost. Seriously though, Bullock gave 1 million dollars of her own money to the Haitian Relief Fund so I’m going to give her a pass and pat on the back.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that some of my picks were wrong and, is the case with any award show, The Golden Globes had its fair share of upsets. The night’s biggest surprise was Robert Downey Jr.’s Lead Actor in a Comedy (Film) win for Sherlock Holmes. Largely considered to be a space filler, Downey beat out Joe Gordon-Levitt, Michael Stuhlbarg, Matt Damon and HFPA favorite Daniel Day-Lewis for the prize. Comedy seemed to be full of surprises last night, as The Hangover walked away with the Best Comedy Award (Film) and Toni Collete won Lead Actress in A Comedy (TV) for United States of Tara. Neither was predicted to win their category, though I was glad to see The Hangover recognized rather than Nine. At the same time, I was disappointed by Zach Galifianakis’ absence from the show because I would have loved to see him accept the award.
Addressing the night’s fashion choices, it was definitely a mixed bag. Very few actresses blew me away with their choice of dress. Anna Kendrick, who readers know I adore, underwhelmed in her tree branch themed Marchesa one-shoulder gown. Mariah Carey looked gaudy in her barely there Hervé Léger gown. The usually regal January Jones looked frumpy in her black Lanvin gown and matching headband, while Ginnifer Goodwin’s knee-baring Vionnet design looked more like a curtain she’d been trapped in. That said, the night’s worst dressed award goes to Patricia Arquette who Suze Yalof-Schwartz, executive fashion editor at large for Glamour magazine, said “looked like she was captured by a fisherman’s net, like she was dragged in by the sea.”
Not everyone misfired when choosing an outfit for the evening. Penelope Cruz looked beautiful in a lacy black Giorgio Armani Prive number. Emily Blunt pulled off the ruffled look better than most in a pink dress from Dolce & Gabbana. Kristen Bell looked simply wonderful in knee high white dress, while Lea Michele went for a more epic look in a black Oscar de la Renta gown. The night’s best dressed was an easy pick and goes to Oliva Wilde who looking stunning in a cut-to-there Gucci gown.
What of the production itself? Well, I quite liked host Ricky Gervais’ humor though some found it over the top and vapid. If anything I think we got too little Gervais who appeared every so often to announce the next set of presenters. This is why the Globes usually go host-less, a host simply isn’t a necessity. Still, I say kudos to Ricky who managed to plug almost everything he’s done in recent history while also logging the night’s best quote. “I like to drink as much as the next guy, unless the next guy is Mel Gibson,” said Gervais as he introduced Mel to the crowd. The night’s second best quote came from the Governator, who was charged with introducing Avatar to the crowd despite his inability to pronounce the word. Over and over Arnold said something to the effect of “Abadar.” All in all, the Golden Globes were the most well put together award special so far this season; but that may not last long with the Grammy’s right around the corner.
