Monday, January 12, 2009

2009 Golden Globes

Sorry. Helen's running late this morning. You'd think I could be ready for a Monday morning post given I've had the entire weekend to prepare. You'd think.

I like watching the Academy Awards. The glitz, the glamour, the speeches, the competition. Usually, I've seen most of the movies that are nominated and, although not always, the winners aren't much of a surprise.

The Golden Globes are a little different. I like that they include TV because these days we've got some excellent actors and actresses in amazing TV roles. Great writing too. So I think, today, TV holds up to the motion picture industry.

The Golden Globe awards usually include some unexpected surprises for me, and last night was no exception. I probably have my head in the sand, but I didn't even know Mickey Rourke, whose career had tanked before his role in (and I'm guessing on this) Sin City, was up for the best actor award. And when he won, I was stunned. Obviously, I haven't seen The Wrestler for which Bruce Springsteen also took the award for best original song.

Not much of a surprise was Slumdog Millionaire winning for Best Picture. Although I haven't seen it, I've heard a lot of buzz about the movie. Another not such a big surprise was Kate Winslet winning Best Actress for Revolutionary Road. Again, haven't seen it yet, but there's a ton of publicity revolving around this flick.

But here was another surprise. Colin Farrell winning Best Actor-Musical/Comedy for his role in In Bruges. The fact that he won didn't surprise me. Love him or hate him, he's a wonderful actor. The fact that In Bruges is actually considered a comedy (it's certainly NOT a musical) amazed me. Although I loved the movie, I don't remember laughing much at all.

Some other notables. 30 Rock won for best TV comedy, along with Alex Baldwin and Tina Fey for best actor/actress. John Adams (which was wonderful) won for best mini-series. The surprise there was that Tom Hanks and Drew Barrymore were among the producers of that show. Interesting.

Oh, and there were some beautiful gowns. Gorgeous.

Anyone watch the Golden Globes awards last night? Satisfied? Dissatisfied? Surprised? Give us your take. Has anyone seen The Wrestler?

Helen

Here's a complete list of the winners:

Full list of the 2009 Golden Globe Award winners:

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor, Motion Picture, Drama
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Television Series, Drama
Mad Men

Best Actress, Motion Picture, Drama
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Actor, Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Colin Farrell, In Bruges

Best Director, Motion Picture
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actress, Television Series, Musical or Comedy
Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Best Original Score, Motion Picture
A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical
30 Rock

Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
Paul Giamatti, John Adams

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Best Screenplay
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actress, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Linney, John Adams

Best Foreign-Language Film
Waltz With Bashir, Israel

Best Supporting Actor, Motion Picture
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
John Adams

Best Actress, Comedy or Musical
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky

Best Motion Picture, Animated
WALL-E

Best Actress in a Television Series, Drama
Anna Paquin, True Blood

Actor in a Television Series, Drama
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment

Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie
Laura Dern, Recount

Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie
Tom Wilkinson, John Adams

Original Song
“The Wrestler,” The Wrestler; music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen

Supporting Actress, Motion Picture
Kate Winslet, The Reader

19 comments:

Playground Monitor said...

I didn't watch the awards show and I'm not familiar with most of the shows and names listed. I don't get the premium channels like HBO and Showtime, and that cuts out a lot of stuff for me. But I sure as heck think Heath Ledger deserved his award. He was brilliant in Dark Knight. I hope he wins the Ocsar too. It's sad the win is posthumous, but brilliant acting needs to be acknowledged.

Marilyn

Michele Hauf said...

Wow, and I had wanted to see Slumdog but after reading a few bad reviews, didn't. I may have to run out to see it!

the only one I had never heard of it the RV show RECOUNT with Laura Dern. What's that?

Christie Ridgway said...

Slumdog Millionaire is great! I had heard it was "feel good" and boy, I didn't feel good as I watched a lot of the movie (it's about slum kids growing up in India), but it turns out to be uplifting and romantic. The Bollywood musical number at the end is fab too.

I didn't see the award show, Helen, but man, Mickey Rourke looks so weird. I thought maybe they did a lot of makeup for the wrestler role, but then I saw that pic of him from last night and he looks just like he does in the movie. Eeek!

KylieBrant said...

Helen, I rarely have seen many of the films before awards shows because I live in Podunk County, LOL. But my daughter raved about Slum Dog Millionaire.

The fact that Mickey Rourke won something does surprise me. Mostly because back in the day the stuff he was in was almost light porn.

But I am a movie buff and I'm sure I'll see all these movies at some point.

Anonymous said...

I used to watch all these award shows, don't anymore. I usually don't know half of these movies or shows!

When I was in high school (let's see... that would be 10 years ago! HAHA), the academy awards were a BIG deal. We'd have AA watching parties at my house. Now that I think about it, it may have been more of an excuse to invite guys to my house than true interest in who won!

Mickey Rourke is a mighty strange guy. I'd heard about The Wrestler and how great he was in it.

Slumdog movie - nope. Haven't seen it. won't see it. Not my cuppa

Cindy Gerard said...

Hey Helen. thanks for the list. I haven't seen the movies listed either - same goes for the TV shows. Generally I catch up on the good series when they go into reruns on USA :o)
And agreed - M Rourke looks just plain out of it.

Helen Brenna said...

Marilyn, you can actually rent the John Adams show on dvd. It's worth it, if you like that kind of historical stuff.

I get sad every time I think of Heath Ledger. I'd been dreading seeing the dark knight and then broke down over xmas break. He was amazing and I wasn't at all surprised that the role impacted him on a personal level.

Michele, I have no clue what Recount is? Anyone?

LOL, Christie. Mickey R is a strange looking guy, but I've always thought he was a good actor. It was weird seeing him in Sin City - don't think he needed much make up for that role either!!

9 1/2 Weeks, Kylie, and was it Black Orchid, Wild Orchid? Those movies would probably seem tame by today's standards, but back then ... whoa.

Cyndi an AA party sounds fun. Have always wanted to do that.

Helen Brenna said...

I went and looked at a trailer for The Wrestler and wanted to hear Bruce's song. It's a good one, btw. The word that comes along in watching Mickey is grizzled. Yep.

Kathleen Eagle said...

Great post, Helen. I didn't watch, but I checked the paper this morning and cheered for most of the picks. Haven't seen "Slumdog," but it sounds like my kind of story. The TV picks were spot on. "Recount" is an HBO movie about the 2000 election--entertaining and enlightening. Laura Dern played the FL sec of state. She was terrific. See the movie for her if nothing else. And it doesn't matter how you lean politically--the commentary that comes with the movie (it's on dvd) comes from both sides. It's truly a must for our time.

"Mad Men" is amazing, especially for us Boomers who were children in 1960. Well-written, great cast, great period piece. Nice companion piece to the Leave It To Beaver/Father Knows Best view of the times. Fascinating characters, especially the "hero". It really makes you think about things we take for granted now day and wonder about the recent backlash against the Feminist movement. There's always a reactionary period for any progressive movement, which brings some balance, but its important to understand where the people like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan were coming from. It's on AMC, which surprised me, and Season 1 just came out on dvd after Season 2 wrapped in the fall. Seriously, give it a shot.

And "John Adams" is fabulous. Fabulous.

Kathleen Eagle said...

Helen, I'm with you on Mickey Rourke. I've always thought he was a good actor but couldn't get into most of his movies. His characters have usually been sleazy and just plain greasy. I want to see this one, though. I love a good underdog hero/redemption story.

I though "In Bruges" was hysterical, but it didn't get a single laugh out of Clyde. I love satire and dark humor when it's done well. Not Clyde's kind of humor. I thought Ferrell was terrific in it.

We just saw "The Dark Knight" this weekend. I generally get bored with the superhero genre, but Heath Ledger was incredible. He was so good at bringing his character to life in unexpected ways with details, nuances, tics. The "Brokeback Mountain" character was outstanding that way, too.

I haven't seen the Kate Winslet movies yet, but she's usually very good. She was up against some strong contenders.

Kathleen Eagle said...

Off topic--Lois, have I drooled publicly over that sumptuous red February cover yet? SEDUCED BY YOUR SPELL is going to fly off the shelves next month. Congratulation, m'dear!

Jane said...

I'm so happy Kate Winslet finally won. She's been nominated many times, but has never won until yesterday. I'm a big of "Mad Men" and "30 Rock," so I'm thrilled they won.

Helen Brenna said...

Kathy, I love Laura Dern, so I'll have to check out Recount.

Maybe I'll have to watch In Bruges again. I watched it a long time ago.

Totally agree on Lois's cover, Kathy. It's gorgeous!!

And, Jane, it's cool she won TWO awards!!

Unknown said...

Helen, thanks for the updates in your post-- I didn't watch and was wondering who won what.

I'm so pleased that John Adams won so many awards-- it deserved every one and probably more. Fabulous story, fantastic acting and such an authentic feel!

I really loved the movie In Bruges, but I'm with you, Helen. So NOT a comedy. I chuckled once or twice. Mostly it was just odd and ironic. The acting of Gleason and Ferrell, their interplay, was amazing.

Interestingly, as many movies as I saw last year, few of the big winners (or even nominees) were on my list! I'd still like to see Slumdog Millionaire, but I don't recall ever seeing "Happy-Go-Lucky" or "Revolutionary Road" in our listings. And "The Reader" just came out here. Haven't had the pleasure yet. Sheesh.

I keep thinking I've seen parts of Revolutionary Road with Leo and Kate. In fact, I know I did. . . but where? HBO or something?

And I used to think Micky Roarke was hot. Talk about wearing your life on your face. I have zero interest in seeing him in this movie. . . no matter how redemptive it is. Call me shallow.

And where were the really good movies made in the US?

Debra Dixon said...

Helen-- I didn't get to see the awards because I was traveling, so I'm glad to see a list of them.

However, I'm not inspired by the list. Was the year really that uninteresting for me? And I'm thinking it was. Even though I have no problem with the winners, I don't want to see or didn't like the movies.

At the same time I can't really tell you any movies I saw that I thought were Globe worthy.

My favorite movie this year was Transporter 3. That should tell you something!

Helen Brenna said...

Betina, Revolutionary Road was just released, so you've probably seen trailers.

I did a bit of quick reading on Mickey Rourke - curious - he used to be a big boxer, competed for years. Apparently he had to have a lot of reconstructive surgery on his face from all the damage.

I apologize for calling him grizzled.

Deb - Transporter 3. You crack me up.

Unknown said...

Just about all I saw was Kate's acceptance speech. It was fun to see someone so thrilled.

Kathy, thanks a lot. I hope you're right.

Michele Hauf said...

Here's another vote for Transporter III! Not my favorite--that is WANTED--but darn good anyway. Jason Statham. Num.

Kathleen Eagle said...

Just caught the last part of "Inside the Actors' Studio" with Laura Linney. They talked about "John Adams," showed clips, and she read that amazing letter Abigale wrote to John telling him "don't forget the ladies." She was talking about equality. There were some clips. I've watched the series twice through and I'm ready to see it again. Soooo well done.