Tis the season for an awards show every weekend, or in the case of this week three - the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Awards, and the SAG Awards - all happened in less than seven days.
Somehow, caught in a whirlwind of still enjoying the events of the Golden Globes, I didn't even know the SAG Awards were occurring until I caught the last ten minutes on TV yesterday. Earlier in the week I was treated to running across the Critics Choice airing on The CW - a channel I never watch, and each commercial break advertised an alternate universe of television I didn't even know was airing on a regular basis. (Hart Of Dixie didn't get cancelled after its first season a couple years ago? And what is The Orginals?)
Don't they normally stretch these shin-digs out? Basically the same people have spent this entire week getting dressed all fancy, clapping, maybe giving a speech, sleeping, and then repeat. In most cases the same people won their category at each ceremony. It must be a mighty stretch to work that same bunch of people, all while trying to say something new that many days in a row.
All of these other awards have been building to the event movie fans wait all year for - the Academy Award nominations were also announced this week! Most of the expected contenders will be up for that Oscar come March 2nd, but like usual, there were some left off the list.
Between all these big movie business events, there were many moments to discuss. Here are just a few (but mostly everything Emma Thompson):
Tina + Amy
There will never be enough good things to say about this pair. Between the two of them, their comedy delivery is the perfect combination of truth and zaney. How can you not adore them?
Fey and Poehler are able to accomplish zingers without being mean. It always comes from a place of honesty. Yeah, Leonardo DiCaprio does date a ton of supermodels, and yes, George Clooney always has a lady 10 to 20 years his junior on his arm - why not make a joke about it!
The two got to deliver a fair bit of hilarious entertainment throughout the night, but something that can't be said about other awards shows, I wanted more! Less rambly winners and more bits from the hosts I say.
I just want them to be everywhere all the time. Now that 30 Rock has come and gone, (I am continually mourning its loss), at least Amy Poheler can benefit with a rightfully deserved Best Actress win.
More Funny
Innately wacky ladies are my soul sisters, and besides Tina and Amy, Emma Thompson and Jennifer Lawrence have been making this week especially wonderful.
Thompson running, throwing, giving standing ovations, and just bringing her natural sense of whit and whimsy to the Golden Globes added another highly amusing element to the show. I also appreciate, as she is also an award winning screenwriter, that she always makes a point of acknowledging the importance of a well written story.
Word has it she also owned last night's SAG Awards. Sadly Thompson was once again a loser in her category, but from the one moment I saw at the end of the show, she looked to be enjoying her time drinking out of a blue party cup with a bendy straw. That's all that matters.
I wouldn't call Jacqueline Bisset intentionally funny, but her flustered and wacky acceptance speech, which left me frozen with hands clasps to my cheeks (Macaulay Culkin style) will be remembered for years to come. Not quite as priceless as this Golden Globes moment brought to you by Elizabeth Taylor, but close.
Also, let me know if there is anything more delightful than Jennifer Lawrence making that face while creepin' on T. Swift. I would gladly watch that on a loop for all eternity.
Misses
Speaking of Emma, after loving every moment of her uttering hilariously coarse one-liners as the persnickity P.L. Travers, it's a sad day to see her not get an Oscar nomination for a role she so perfectly embodied. Frankly, it is one of the best roles of her entire career.
Apparently the rest of the Academy were on the (wrong) side that found Saving Mr. Banks too sentimental, because the entire movie was snubbed, except for my boy Thomas Newman, who's nominated for Best Score. Being a Disney fan and Mary Poppins enthusiast, I found it impossible to not be enamored by the entire movie that has an unexpected emotional wallop which left streams of tears running down my face.
It must be a tough movie year, if a wonderfully nostalgic film, with a top to bottom terrific cast (including a surprisingly notable Colin Ferrel), gets overlooked by the Oscars.
This could mean Thompson is less likely to show up at The Academy Awards and it could be the end of her reign of bringing the funny. We wouldn't be upset if The Academy invited this already two-time winner (one for acting, one for screenwriting) to present an award - Ellen might need some help charming the crowd.
For the last twenty years Thompson has always delivered top notch performances, but more recently she is rarely the star of anything and has taken more supporting roles in such films as Love Actually, An Education, Stranger Than Fiction, and in several of the Harry Potter series.
The Oscars haven't come calling since 1996 (!), which made it especially exciting that she was again the star of a movie and getting nominated for a slew of awards. If they allowed 6 nominees, I bet she would have been in there.
I haven't seen enough of the other in contention films to cry out about any more snubs, but get back to me in a month after I crank through as many nominated films as I can.
Hits
Out of the nine contenders for Best Picture I have only seen two - Gravity and Dallas Buyers Club. Both are well deserving of the nominations and eventual wins.
Even though it seems like now Cate Blanchett is a sure thing for Best Actress, I wouldn't count out Bullock. The physically and emotionally demanding job of being on screen for almost every second continues to show that she isn't just a rom-com gal. Bullock can be in any type of movie she wants.
Even if Bullock doesn't win, there is still the possibility of Gravity winning Best Picture, and almost definitely, Best Director. This will be devastating for anyone who was enraptured by the (so I hear) emotional experience of watching 12 Years A Slave, but a blockbuster/mind blowing visual experience like Gravity taking the top prize would delight the masses.
Dallas Buyers Club has almost no way odds of winning Best Picture, but that's all fine and dandy with two male performances that will likely steal the night. The fact that Jordan Catalano could soon have an Oscar is a completely wonderful thought. I had no idea that Jared Leto would be heartbreaking enough to steal nearly every scene they shared away from Matthew McConaughey.
Even still, this is McConaughey's movie. We'd all seen the pictures as he was preparing to play Ron Woodroof - he was down to almost half his usual stature and nearly unrecognizable
No one has had a more diverse filmography in the last couple years, but he had yet to completely transform himself for a part. Other actors like Tam Honks...I mean...Tom Hanks and Christian Bale have done it and ended up with Oscars. Now it's McConaughey's chance, and I couldn't be more thrilled.
Movie fans, we have over a month to catch up on the Best Of 2013 according to The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It's a challenge I'm willing to accept.
Even though it seems like now Cate Blanchett is a sure thing for Best Actress, I wouldn't count out Bullock. The physically and emotionally demanding job of being on screen for almost every second continues to show that she isn't just a rom-com gal. Bullock can be in any type of movie she wants.
Even if Bullock doesn't win, there is still the possibility of Gravity winning Best Picture, and almost definitely, Best Director. This will be devastating for anyone who was enraptured by the (so I hear) emotional experience of watching 12 Years A Slave, but a blockbuster/mind blowing visual experience like Gravity taking the top prize would delight the masses.
Dallas Buyers Club has almost no way odds of winning Best Picture, but that's all fine and dandy with two male performances that will likely steal the night. The fact that Jordan Catalano could soon have an Oscar is a completely wonderful thought. I had no idea that Jared Leto would be heartbreaking enough to steal nearly every scene they shared away from Matthew McConaughey.
Even still, this is McConaughey's movie. We'd all seen the pictures as he was preparing to play Ron Woodroof - he was down to almost half his usual stature and nearly unrecognizable
No one has had a more diverse filmography in the last couple years, but he had yet to completely transform himself for a part. Other actors like Tam Honks...I mean...Tom Hanks and Christian Bale have done it and ended up with Oscars. Now it's McConaughey's chance, and I couldn't be more thrilled.
Movie fans, we have over a month to catch up on the Best Of 2013 according to The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It's a challenge I'm willing to accept.
Side Note: I got swept up by the films that I forgot about the exciting Golden Globe winners in the TV categories: Bryan Cranston! Breaking Bad! Elisabeth Moss! Robin Wright! Amy Poehler! (I already said that one, but yay again.)
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