The 2009 Golden Globe Awards are in the books, and, for an entertainment junkie like me, it was great fun. On launch day for Big Hollywood, I published my predictions for all 25 categories with plenty of analysis.
I am happy to report that I made 18 winning picks, which is certainly respectable. That includes the winning selections in 13 of the 15 film categories.
BEST PICTURE – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire
MY PICK: Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ACTRESS – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
MY PICK: Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTOR – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
MY PICK: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
BEST PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
MY PICK: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
BEST ACTRESS – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
MY PICK: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
BEST ACTOR – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Colin Farrell – In Bruges
MY PICK: James Franco – Pineapple Express
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
THE WINNER: Kate Winslet – The Reader
MY PICK: Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
THE WINNER: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
MY PICK: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
THE WINNER: Wall-E
MY PICK: Wall-E
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE WINNER: Waltz With Bashir
MY PICK: Waltz With Bashir
BEST DIRECTOR
THE WINNER: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
MY PICK: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
BEST SCREENPLAY
THE WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire by Simon Beaufoy
MY PICK: Slumdog Millionaire by Simon Beaufoy
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
THE WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire by A. R. Rahman
MY PICK: Slumdog Millionaire by A. R. Rahman
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
THE WINNER: “The Wrestler” – The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen
MY PICK: “The Wrestler” – The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Mad Men (AMC)
MY PICK: True Blood (HBO)
BEST ACTRESS TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Anna Paquin – True Blood (HBO)
MY PICK: January Jones – Mad Men (AMC)
BEST ACTOR TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
THE WINNER: Gabriel Byrne – In Treatment (HBO)
MY PICK: Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors (SHOWTIME)
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: 30 Rock (NBC)
MY PICK: 30 Rock (NBC)
BEST ACTRESS TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
MY PICK: Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
BEST ACTOR TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
THE WINNER: Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
MY PICK: Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
BEST MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: John Adams (HBO)
MY PICK: John Adams (HBO)
BEST ACTRESS MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: Laura Linney – John Adams (HBO)
MY PICK: Laura Linney – John Adams (HBO)
BEST ACTOR MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: Paul Giamatti – John Adams (HBO)
MY PICK: Paul Giamatti – John Adams (HBO)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS SERIES, MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: Laura Dern – Recount (HBO)
MY PICK: Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR SERIES, MINISERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
THE WINNER: Tom Wilkinson – John Adams (HBO)
MY PICK: Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Some observations.
*I saw the Slumdog landslide coming. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor. It is storytelling at its very best, and it is a relentlessly optimistic movie. It was already the heavy favorite to win Best Picture at the Oscars, but Benjamin Button, which was shut out tonight and slipped to just $10.5M at the box office this weekend and a new cume of $95M, may be losing momentum. With The Dark Knight a near-certain lock to crack the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards, is there a Slumdog vs. Dark Knight battle brewing for Hollywood’s biggest prize?
*Mickey Rourke’s performance in The Wrestler is a work of raw, visceral genius. Just because he won tonight, it does not mean that he will also grab the Oscar. If you were watching the east coast feed of the show, you would have seen this little interchange where Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky “flipped off” Rourke (it was blacked out on the west coast). Will Academy Award voters risk making Rourke their “prom king?” A big worldwide audience and all of the tradition-steeped drama of the Oscars, and stodgy AMPAS voters would roll the dice with Mickey on national TV talking about “breaking somebody’s balls?” It seems more likely that Sean Penn for Milk or Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon will win Best Actor with no chances of Gus Van Sant or Ron Howard of flipping the bird during their speeches. Also, keep in mind the demographics at work here. Given that the Academy voters are disproportionately middle-aged white men, Clint Eastwood’s performance in Gran Torino seems like a darkhorse. Clint is as distinguished as Mickey is unpredictable.
*Kate Winslet’s double-win is unprecedented. Her complex work as Hannah Schmitz in The Reader is truly a lead and not a supporting role, but those who make such decisions didn’t see it that way. She is even better in Revolutionary Road, and I think she will win Best Actress at the Oscars for the adaptation of Richard Yates classic novel. It is the sort of big, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf-style performance that is classic Oscar-bait. In the end, I predict that AMPAS voters will consolidate behind her work in Rev Road and allow Penelope Cruz to win a well-deserved Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The double-win for Winslet may have been a function of the fact that somehow, this brilliant young star had never won a Golden Globe or Oscar until tonight.
*On the television side, the HBO mini-series John Adams and NBC’s 30 Rock were slam dunks across the board. The HFPA gave Mad Men its Best Drama Award for a second straight year. As I wrote in my final predix piece, the Globes rarely recognize the same series in back-to-back years, so I thought they might recognize True Blood. For my money, Mad Men is the best series on television, so I am pleased. The Golden Globe for Best Actress – Drama went to Anna Paquin for True Blood, so that new HBO series will likely be a threat for a series win next year.
*Laura Dern’s win for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini Series or Movie was not unexpected, but I felt her portrayal of Katherine Harris in HBO’s Recount veered to caricature.
*Ricky Gervais, at this moment, may be the funniest person on the planet, but Sacha Baron Cohen’s material, including a crack at the expense of Madonna’s ex Guy Ritchie, material was met with groans. Seth Rogen received only nervous laughter for an offhand joke about Mickey Rourke’s past cocaine use.
*I was actually impressed with Colin Farrell’s acceptance speech for his surprise win for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for In Bruges. Yes, he rambled a bit, but he is a smart guy, and here’s hoping that the team he praised in his speech can help to keep him on track in his recovery.
*There is something awe-inspiring about Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight. Greatest screen villain of all time? It’s got be be either Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs or Ledger’s Joker. Will TDK director Christopher Nolan give the acceptance speech for Ledger again at the Oscars? He may be the surest winner in history. There was electricity in that ballroom when Demi Moore called his name at the Globes.