The Highs and Lows of the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards
By: Richard Lebeau
Tags: Film, Culture, Awards, Television, Movies

[Note: Of the 11 television categories, I predicted 7 of the winners, correctly. This is up from 5 last year and given how the Globes television awards are notoriously scattershot, I am decently pleased with my performance.]

REVIEWING THE TELECAST

The Host. In each of his first four turns at hosting, Ricky Gervais was irreverent, offensive, and did not hold back at attacking the deepest hypocrisies of Hollywood directly to a room filled with its most powerful people. Sometimes it works better than others, but it was always entertaining. Until tonight. Rather than looking like a gleeful, mischievous little imp ready to rustle some feathers, Gervais looked bored, defensive, and highly irritated. Some of his jokes worked, but most covered overly predictable subject matter and went more for shock value than actual humor. The audience was clearly not amused and — for once — I wasn’t either. It’s time for the HFPA to end this experiment … and hopefully bring back Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

The Presenters. The Globes always have the biggest A-list presenters of all of the awards shows and tonight was no exception. As usual there were the puzzling moments (of all people, Pierce Brosnan presented twice?), questionable pairings (Kerry Washington and Ted Danson are not exactly the most natural pair), and the much-needed comic relief (Will Ferrell and Tiffany Haddish are always such a delight). None were really knockouts but awkward banter and “Wait, who is that?” moments were thankfully few and far between.

The Winners’ Speeches. Michelle Williams followed up her powerful speech at the Emmys with another impassioned plea for gender equality that was by far the night’s dramatic high point. Amusing speeches came from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Olivia Colman, and Brad Pitt. And weird speeches came from Renee Zellweger (who looked a bit uncomfortable being back in the spotlight after her long absence), Quentin Tarantino (who at least looked less hyped up on drugs than usual), and Joaquin Phoenix (seriously, if I have to sit through his speeches for the next few weeks I am going to pull my hair out).

The Lifetime Achievement Awards. It’s hard to believe that Tom Hanks has not won the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in film. But nevertheless, it took until tonight for him to get it. After a beautiful introduction by a poised-as-always Charlize Theron (whom Hanks gave one of her first acting jobs on his directorial debut That Thing You Do!), a truly astonishing clip package was shown that reminded anyone who had forgotten what an amazing big screen legacy he has. He then took the stage to give a lengthy but highly entertaining speech that paid tribute to his family, colleagues, and his role in film history. He also did a wonderful job of highlighting the many important women in front of and behind the camera who shaped his career and life. (Other Hollywood men take note, this is what being a supporter for women in Hollywood looks like.)

The second annual Carol Burnett Award for lifetime achievement in television went to Ellen DeGeneres, a recipient that is also hard to disagree with. After an impressive run on the stand-up circuit, she had a wildly popular 1990s sitcom that made history when she became the first lead on a television series to come out as gay, and has had a hugely popular daytime talk show since 2003. Ellen increasingly has a bit of a complicated legacy, as she continues to make tone deaf comments that show how out of touch she is with much of the fanbase that made her famous and as allegations that the workplace environments she creates are not nearly as friendly as she would lead you to believe. Nevertheless, she is a brilliant comedienne and a pioneer who changed the television landscape. This was highlighted beautifully during her introduction by Kate McKinnon, the openly lesbian Saturday Night Live star, who recounted the profound impact that DeGeneres had on her personally and professionally. Unfortunately, DeGeneres’s speech wasn’t quite the slam dunk it needed to be, as it featured great comic timing and appropriate humility, but was largely impersonal.

Well that’s it for now. Stay tuned as I blog throughout the rest of this incredibly hectic, condensed awards season.