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Good As Gold!
In line with previous years, The 66th Golden Globes provided a lot of star driven fun in amongst the award giving.
"Hello! Hello! Mama speaking! Mama speaking!"
It took a few stern words from Jennifer Lopez - the first presenter of the evening - to get the rowdy Golden Globes audience into line. With the multitude of stars seated at tables over dinner and drinks (as opposed to the more staid theatre-style seating favoured at events such as the Oscars), this traditionally loose, somewhat freewheeling awards ceremony takes on the appearance of a big, lavish party, with those in attendance seemingly chatting among themselves at every opportunity. As soon as the awards are halted for a commercial break, everyone jumps up and rushes over to talk with someone that they've spotted across the room. Even when you're just watching it on TV, it makes for very enjoyable viewing. Question: just what was Steven Spielberg talking to Bruce Springsteen about?
The night was filled with the usual highlights. Kate Winslet gushed almost uncontrollably when she picked up Best Supporting Actress for The Reader and Best Actress for Revolutionary Road. She banged on for ages in her weepy acceptance speeches, rivalling past on-stage blubbering by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Halle Berry. "You'll have to forgive me - I have a habit of not winning things," she said breathlessly, before going on to thank seemingly everyone that she'd ever met in her entire life. Equally rambling speeches came courtesy of Happy-Go-Lucky star Sally Hawkins (Best Actress, Comedy Or Musical), and In Bruges' Colin Farrell (Best Actress, Comedy Or Musical), who decided to get all cerebral, talking confusingly about love and creativity...or something. The playful Irishman was funnier earlier in the evening when presenting an award. "I've got a cold," he sniffled. "It's not what it used to be," he smiled, referring to his recently rehabbed love of booger sugar.
Genuine joy came in the form of the "little-film-that-could", Slumdog Millionaire, which took out surprise awards for Best Film (Drama), Best Director (Danny Boyle movingly choked back tears when thanking his family), Best Original Score and Best Screenplay. All involved with the film seemed absolutely ecstatic with every consecutive win, and the film proved a popular victor with the crowd.
Equally popular was near-deity Steven Spielberg, who - in a brave and daring move - was awarded the Cecil B. De Mille Award for his services to the film industry, namely for making a lot of movies that have made a lot of money. In his acceptance speech, Spielbs talked about blowing up his train set as a kid to make his first movie, and waxed lyrical about the importance of "mentoring" in the movie business, thankfully failing to mention that he was partly responsible for Michael Bay and his film Transformers.
Controversy came in the form of Vicky Cristina Barcelona winning for Best Film, Comedy Or Musical (it's better than Burn After Reading, In Bruges and Happy-Go-Lucky? Really? Yeah? You think so? Well, at least Mamma Mia! didn't win...small mercies) and the appearance of two very funny Brits. Ricky Gervais strolled onto stage clutching a beer, and berated The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (The Golden Globes' governing body, who vote on all the awards) for not supporting his film Ghost Town. He also had a few choice words for Kate Winslet, who appeared in the Brit comic's first series of Extras. "Well done, Winslet," he pointed at the actress. "I told you, do a Holocaust movie and the awards come, didn't I? The trouble with Holocaust films is that there's no gag reel on the DVD."
The joke was met with much head-shaking and many rueful smiles, but "Sometimes when a man’s alone, all you got are your dogs and they meant the world to me,” Rourke said to a few raised eyebrows.Sacha Baron Cohen, alias Borat, got an even colder response. "This recession is affecting everyone, even celebrities," he said, while presenting an award. "Victoria Beckham hasn't eaten for three weeks. Charlie Sheen has been forced to have sex without paying for it. It's true. And even Madonna has had to get rid of one of her personal assistants...our thoughts go out to you, Guy Ritchie." He copped a high-quality death stare from Salma Hayek and a head shake from Sandra Bullock, along with a chorus of quiet groans and general disapproval.
The audience was far more approving of the posthumous award given out to Heath Ledger, who took home a well deserved Best Supporting Actor Award for his extraordinary work in The Dark Knight, which was inexplicably snubbed in all other departments, picking up no nominations. Christopher Nolan was on hand to accept the award for the late Ledger. "On behalf of all of us who worked with Heath on Dark Knight, I accept this with a mix of sadness and incredible pride," Nolan said. "He will be eternally missed, but he will never be forgotten."
Ledger received a standing ovation, as did comeback king Mickey Rourke, who took home the Best Actor, Drama gong for his stunning, transformative performance in Darren Aronofsky's brilliant The Wrestler, which disappointingly didn't receive a Best Film nomination. After briefly tripping on the stairs on the way to pick up his award, Rourke - looking more rock star than movie star - gave a gutsy, heartfelt speech. Rocking shades and long hair, the actor said that he wasn't good at public speaking ("I was hoping that Robert Downey Jr. might get up here and speak for me") before warmly thanking David Unger, the longtime agent who had stuck by him through the tough years, and dropping a big shout-out to Axl Rose, who had sanctioned the near-gratis use of Guns ‘N' Roses' classic song "Sweet Child O Mine" in the low budget film. When Rourke accused Aronofsky of being "tough", the director playfully flipped him off from the audience. The actor also thanked his beloved dogs. "Sometimes when a man's alone, all you got are your dogs and they meant the world to me," Rourke said to a few raised eyebrows.
With no sappy production numbers, no musical performances and a minimum of hammy, obviously scripted on-stage banter, The 66th Golden Globes stuck with tradition, and proved to be a rippingly entertaining party from beginning to end.
For a full list of winners, head to http://www.goldenglobes.org/.
