Award season is gearing up yet again, with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Oscars all right around the corner. This past Sunday, Ricky Gervais kicked things off in a lackluster fashion while hosting the first big awards ceremony of the season, the Golden Globes on NBC.
Honoring achievements in both film and television, the Golden Globes are held annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an international organization of film journalists based in the Los Angeles area.
Returning to host for his third consecutive year, Gervais brought his usual snide, harsh form of comedy to the show, poking fun at the presenters individually and lampooning the entertainment business in general. Gervais' return as a host was a surprise for many viewers and critics given the comedian's controversial performance at last year's ceremony, which received widespread criticism for its vitriolic mocking of the performers, the HFPA and the ceremony itself.
Yet, Gervais did return, and this time he toned things down quite a bit. Somehow, eliminating much of his boundary-pushing humor dampened the proceedings and made them less entertaining than previous ceremonies. The result is a Golden Globes that will soon be forgotten.
This year's crop of films did not help either. Low-budget, little-known independent movies seemed to rule. While the most critically acclaimed films often came from this category, there were few worth noting this year.
"Midnight in Paris," "The Help," "The Descendants" and "The Artist" rose to the top of the indie heap and garnered the most acclaim this year. The last two films managed to take home the awards for Best Picture and Best Actor in their respective categories of drama and comedy or musical, confirming many of the critical predictions made before the awards show.
With all the publicity surrounding George Clooney's performance in "The Descendants," it should be no surprise that he won, despite the fact that newcomer Michael Fassbender may have been the only truly worthy winner of the award for his remarkable performance in "Shame."
Unfortunately, some of the year's best films were largely ignored. Innovative, compelling features like "Shame" or "Drive" were snubbed due to their graphic nature, failing to receive nominations for Best Picture or Best Director, which went instead to Martin Scorsese for "Hugo."
In the area of television, cable TV shows all but swept the board, with HBO, Starz and Showtime providing the majority of the winners. The new Showtime production "Homeland" took home the award for Best Drama Series while ABC's "Modern Family" won for Best Comedy.
While the majority of the choices may have been accurate, one category seemed slightly off: Best Actor in a Drama Series. Despite winning three Emmys for his portrayal of Walter White in AMC's "Breaking Bad," Bryan Cranston was yet again snubbed at the Globes. This snub is particularly offensive since the series' latest season was undoubtedly its best, boasting an exceptional performance from Cranston. Instead, the award went to Kelsey Grammer for his performance as Tom Kane, a politician coping with dementia in "Boss."
Other notable winners of the night were Meryl Streep for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady," Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn" and Woody Allen for Best Screenplay with "Midnight in Paris."
The yearly Cecil B. DeMille award, honoring the winner for their lifetime achievements in the world of entertainment, was given to Morgan Freeman.
If the Globes actually held some weight in the realm of entertainment, their disappointment this year might actually be, well, a disappointment. Yet, for years the Globes have served as the sloppier, neglected younger brother of the Emmys and Oscars, which represent the highest honors for TV and film respectively.
At the end of the day, the one area where the Globes seem to hold a bit of importance is that of comedy. While the Oscars tend to ignore them and focus on dramas, the Globes give lower-budget, slightly less artistic comedies a chance to be recognized for their worth.
This year's ceremony was certainly a disappointment, not simply because of the films being recognized, but because of the less than enthusiastic performance by Gervais and the multitude of award presenters. Luckily, things are just getting started, and there are far more awards shows to come.
