Golden Globes Results and Banter

I suppose it could have been worse for me. I correctly predicted exactly half — 7 out of 14 — of the Golden Globe winners for the film categories. Of course, as I said, my picks took personal preference into account in some cases, so that was bound to skew my accuracy. Oh well, I guess I should be happy considering I haven’t even seen some of these movies yet.

My picks and the results for the Golden Globe movie awards are below. My correct picks are underlined and in bold. 

• Picture (Drama): The Descendants
• Picture (Comedy or Musical): The Artist
• Director: Alexander Payne, The Descendants (Actual winner: Martin Scorsese, Hugo)
• Actor (Drama): Brad Pitt, Moneyball (Actual winner: George Clooney, The Descendants)
• Actress (Drama): Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Actual winner: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady)
• Actor (Comedy or Musical): Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris (Actual winner: Jean Dujardin, The Artist)
• Actress (Comedy or Musical): Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
• Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
  
• Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants (Actual winner: Octavia Spencer, The Help)
• Screenplay: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
• Animated Film: The Adventures of Tintin
• Foreign Language Film: A Separation
• Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Actual winner: Ludovic Bource, The Artist)
• Song: “The Living Proof,” The Help (Actual winner: “Masterpiece,” W.E.)

Some thoughts, organized in no particular way:

• Was there an easier pick than A Separation for Best Foreign film? I haven’t even seen it but I had no doubts it would win.
• Not far behind A Separation for easiest pick were Best Drama and Best Comedy/Musical for The Descendants and The Artist, respectively.
• Good to see Henrik Vanger Christopher Plummer win an award. A victory for Canadians!
• I wonder why Woody Allen couldn’t be there to pick up his Best Screenplay award. Midnight in Paris is one of the best things he’s done in awhile (review coming soon? Maybe).
• Salma Hayek is in her mid-40s and still looks incredible.
• Less Madonna and more Ricky Gervais would have made for a better evening.
• Why did the Packers play so poorly?
• I haven’t seen The Iron Lady, but I don’t think it’s outlandish to say that Meryl Streep won largely based on pedigree. Make no mistake — she’s probably the greatest actress ever, but I really thought Rooney Mara deserved the award for her mesmerizing portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. To be fair, though, I haven’t seen We Need to Talk About Kevin; I heard Tilda Swinton’s performance was breathtaking.
• To expand on my previous point, some attentive readers might recall that I mentioned wanting to see Gary Oldman at least get nominated for an Oscar as a means of career recognition if nothing else. So why am I against this notion with respect to Streep? Simple: She’s already won four billion awards. We know she’s the best ever. Oldman, on the other hand, has never been nominated for an Oscar despite a brilliant career.
• How great was it to see Natalie Portman again, after she basically fell off the map with the birth of her baby boy?
• Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was just made available on Spotify, and my further discovery of its intricacy and creativity, combined with the clout of Reznor and Ross based on their wins last year for The Social Network, made me think that they had a good shot to take home the Best Original Score Golden Globe. But alas, it was The Artist that stole their thunder. It looks like one of those films designed SOLELY to win awards, but nevertheless (and partially because of that), I’m curious to see it.
• I haven’t seen The Help and it looks wholly unappealing, but I might be obligated to watch it, given my status of rising film commentator.
• Jean Dujardin may have won the award (for The Artist), but Owen Wilson’s performance in Midnight in Paris was perhaps the best thing he’s ever done. In years past, Woody Allen would have had that role, but Wilson stepped in and did a remarkable job channeling Allen while simultaneously adding in his own unique idiosyncrasies.