Golden Globe Awards spread the love to ‘all the movies North Korea was OK with’
PUBLISHED : Monday, 12 January, 2015, 1:19pm
UPDATED : Monday, 12 January, 2015, 1:19pm
Associated Press
Tiny Fey, Margaret Cho and Amy Poehler poke fun at North Korea at the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards. Photo: AP
The 72nd annual Golden Globes Awards spread the love around to everyone except North Korea and Bill Cosby.
The awards season favourite, Richard Linklater’s 12-years-in-the-making “Boyhood,” won best movie, drama; best director for Linklater; and best supporting actress for Patricia Arquette.
Perhaps the chief Oscar rival to “Boyhood,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s backstage romp “Birdman,” also fared well. It won best actor in a comedy or musical for its lead, Michael Keaton.
But in a shocker, “Birdman” was upset by Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel” for best film, comedy or musical. The film was Anderson’s biggest box office hit yet, but not an award season favourite.
Kicking off the show, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler wasted no time in mocking Hollywood’s most tender subjects: the hacking of Sony Pictures over “The Interview” and the sexual assault allegations against Cosby.
The hosts welcomed Hollywood’s “despicable, spoiled, minimally talented brats” to the Globes to celebrate “all the movies that North Korea was OK with.” A North Korea government character, played by Margaret Cho, voiced her displeasure.
The hosts also relished their favourite target: George Clooney. Of the night’s Cecil B. DeMille honoree, Fey suggested the lifetime achievement award might have been better off going to his new wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
George Clooney, recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, and wife Amal Clooney arrive on the red carpet. Photo: Reuters
The recent terrorist attack in Paris at the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo hung heavily over the show. Clooney and others wore “Je Suis Charlie” pins, and Helen Mirren was among the people holding up signs that read the same on the red carpet.
Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Theo Kingma drew a standing ovation for a speech pledging support of free speech “from North Korea to Paris.”
The night had an orchestrated but carefree spirit, filled with the usual high dose of glamour, celebrity cameos (Prince!) and even the drink-swilling return of an old Globes villain, the former host Ricky Gervais.
The DreamWorks sequel “How to Train Your Dragon 2” took best animated film over the favourite, “The Lego Movie.” The Stephen Hawking biopic “The Theory of Everything” won best score for Johann Johannsson. The Russian entry “Leviathan” took best foreign language film.
In one of the evening’s most hotly contested categories, best actor in a drama, Eddie Redmayne emerged as victorious for his performance as Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.”
Actor Eddie Redmayne poses backstage with his award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for "The Theory of Everything". Photo: Reuters
Julianne Moore with her award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama for her role in "Still Alice". Photo: Reuters
Julianne Moore won best actress in a drama for her startling performance as an academic with early onset Alzheimer’s in “Still Alice.” Amy Adams surprised in taking best actress in a comedy or musical for her performance in “Big Eyes.”
As the only major awards show to honor both movies and TV, the Globes have also benefited from television’s rise. Fey and Poehler alluded to that by leading the crowd in a call-and-response cheer, chanting “Movies ... Awesome! TV ... Better!”
Amazon, crashing the party like Netflix did before it, celebrated its first Golden Globes for the sexual identity comedy “Transparent,” winning best TV series, musical or comedy. The show’s star, Jeffery Tambor, landed best actor in the category, dedicating his award to the transgender community.
AMC’s adaptation of the Coen brothers’ acclaimed 1996 film, “Fargo,” came in the leading TV contender with five nominations and promptly won best miniseries or movie, as well as best actor, miniseries or movie, for Billy Bob Thornton.
Actors Patricia Arquette and Lorelei Linklater, director Richard Linklater, actors Ellar Coltrane and Ethan Hawke, whose film 'Boyhood' won Best Motion Picture - Drama. Photo: AFP
The Globes have been on a terrific upswing in recent years. Last year’s awards drew 20.9 million viewers, the most since 2004. Accepting the Globe for best original song for “Glory” in the civil rights drama “Selma,” the rapper Common raised the status of the group behind the Globes even higher: “I want to thank God and the Hollywood Foreign Press.”
The Hollywood Foreign Press, a group of mostly freelance journalists, has lately cleaned up its reputation for idiosyncratic choices and awards swayed by celebrity. Last year, the HFPA chose the eventual Academy Awards best-picture winner, “12 Years a Slave,” as best drama and “American Hustle” as best comedy.
