Monday, January 11, 2016

The Golden Globes: My snarky (because they were terrible) review

All you need to know about how utterly absurd the Golden Globes are is that Lady Gaga won one for acting.

And all you need to know about how elegant the Golden Globes are is that Ricky Gervais hosted.

In case you missed it, and 90% of you did, it was a tasteless self-congratulatory charade where 57 waiters (who are the prestigious members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association) hand out meaningless awards to drunk celebrities. It’s the senior prom you were never invited to where they made fun of you during picture taking.

Golden Globes can be bought. (Denzel even admitted that while accepting their Lifetime Achievement Award.) Golden Globes usually go to anyone with a foreign name or accent. Winners included: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Gail Garcia Bernal, and Ennio Morricone (who beat out Alexandre Desplat, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Alva Noto). Seriously, more people vote at the Krispy Kreme shareholders meeting.

Winner Brie Larson said in her acceptance speech that she spent time “getting to know” members of the Hollywood Foreign Press. I guess that means she dines frequently at Toscana. (Although, in her case, she deserved the award even if she didn’t over-tip.)
At least for the last three years they had the charming and hilarious Tina & Amy hosting. This year they essentially went back to “Opie & Anthony.” They hired the one man whose contempt for you is only exceeded by his love for himself; and they hired him for the fourth time. The act wore thin ten minutes into the first time.

Toxic funnyboots Gervais began the evening with a beer on the podium and did a Sean Penn joke within the first five seconds. The next easy target was Caitlin Jenner, then of course Donald Trump (his Bill Cosby jab would come later in the evening). What, no time for Isis? These clams were followed by delightful handjob jokes, testicle jokes, and finally – how he uses a Golden Globe to shove up his ass.  Class-eeee.   This is the glamorous affair that people spend three days to dress up for? Women wear $100,000 gowns to listen to scrotum jokes?

Since this was an NBC broadcast Matt Lauer once again got stuck hosting the Red Carpet show. He could not have looked more uncomfortable. This is the equivalent of working at McDonalds and being assigned to clean the grease trap.

The first Bill Cosby joke was actually delivered by Andy Samberg. Somehow he tied it into Rob Lowe, and they cut to Lowe who was absolutely appalled. His horrified expression was the biggest laugh of the night.

The only time I laughed at something I was supposed to was when presenters Eva Longoria and America Ferrera messed up each other’s names (The Foreign Press mixed up Ferrera with Gina Rodriquez at the nominations announcement).

Of course anything really funny was bleeped out, and that happened at least thirty times. Again, you folks who pay to see these movies and TV shows – you’re not invited.

The categories themselves are a confusing mess. “Best Actress in a Mini-series, comedy, long-form musical, or Lyrica commercial.”

What year did Jim Carrey and Will Farrell stop being funny? 2006? 1993?

Mel fucking Gibson made an appearance. I’m only sorry he wasn’t the presenter when the Holocaust movie won.

The big standing ovations were for Denzel Washington and Sylvester Stallone. Sly had so much Botox that when his mouth moved he looked like Clutch Cargo.

Lady Gaga became Norma Desmond during her acceptance speech. “You help me explore my creativity in ways I never could.” Standing in a room with Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Viola Davis, Brie Larson, and Jane Fonda, Lady Gaga really believes she’s a great actress. At least she wasn’t wearing meat.
THE MARTIAN won for best comedy. Yeah, it was way funnier than TRAINWRECK or SPY. For drama, THE REVENANT was the big winner. Leo won for Best Actor and I guarantee if the bear that mauled him in the film had a name like Alexandre Desplat, the bear would have won Best Supporting Actor.

Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson gave an award to MOZART IN THE JUNGLE and neither knew how to pronounce “Mozart.”

Winners had to wind their way through the banquet hall to get to the stage. That way they could personally thank the Hollywood Foreign Press as they were busing the tables. Best moment was actress extraordinaire, Lady Gaga brushing by Leo DiCaprio and seeing him smirk and roll his eyes.

How smashed was Denzel during his acceptance speech? It’s like he was re-enacting the last half hour of FLIGHT.

And Rachel Bloom must’ve been drinking rum and Jolt cola. She was the Tasmanian Devil wrapped in a shower curtain.

In the Best Animated Film category weren’t you hoping the announcer would say, “Accepting the award for INSIDE OUT is Anger.”

Do you think Lily Tomlin was upset when Jane Fonda lost?

Do you think Jane Fonda was upset when Lily Tomlin lost – twice?

The set looked like Elvis’ indoor firing range.

Jeffrey Tambor lost. Transgenders are out. They’re “so last year.” This year it’s “be kind to indigenous tribes.” Next year: “Protect the Ewoks.”

They should start the cutoff music the minute the winner is announced.

Best golden globes of the night: NBC’s Jaimie Alexander.

Why do they have a Best Foreign Film category? This is the Foreign Press. Aren’t all American movies foreign?

Is there a more frightening sentence in the English language than, “Accepting the award: Quentin Tarantino.”

Jennifer Lawrence came as Charlize Theron.

Congratulations to all the winners. For those who won for obscure shows (anything on streaming platforms, niche cable outlets, and NBC) I hope your Golden Globe will give you more visibility. I’m sure a lot of people are saying, “I guess I should see THE REVENANT. What’s it about?” And then when they find out they’ll say, “Oh. Pass.”

Next year if Ricky Gervais is hosting I’m not even going to bother. Or if Kellie Pickler beats out Cate Blanchett for Best Actress in a Drama.

68 comments :

Scott Cason said...

What exactly IS the Golden Globe award and why is it such a big deal? I don't recall hearing about it up till about 10-15 years ago.

but you are right, it's nothing more than one Hollywood ditch digger telling another Hollywood ditch digger that they dug a nice ditch. In the words of Suzanne Sugarbaker, "Big woop!"

Melissa Banczak said...

I hear Golden Globes and all I can think of is Pia Zadora.

The Bumble Bee Pendant said...

Award season is all about 2 things: people who need their egos to be stroked, and wearing clothes that will put you on the best/worst dressed lists.

Too bad the people who are behind the scenes in movies/television still get no recognition.

Craig Gustafson said...

I didn't watch the Golden Globe Awards, as I had to feed my cat and take out the garbage, and I haven't yet seen Rachel Bloom's show, but I love her music videos. Her songs are in the reasonably proud tradition of Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, Allan Sherman, Weird Al Yankovic and yes, even Yogi Yorgesson.

Later, I looked at the clip of her speech. Cut her some slack. If for some reason you were nominated for an award for the first time, wouldn't you be really surprised and stoked if you had beaten out Larry Gelbart, Mel Brooks, Nat Hiken and Carl Reiner?

Rock Golf said...

Sly had so much Botox that when his mouth moved he looked like Clutch Cargo.


Ken, you owe me a coffee to replace the one I spat out.

Andrea215 said...

Tell us how you REALLY feel?
My two cents:

Jonah Hill-not funny. never was
I actually liked Ricky, but what do I know?
Something about J.law irks my soul. It just seems like she's wrong for every part I've ever seen her play
Movies I need to watch before the Oscars: "Spotlight" and "The Big Short"
the fashion choices left much to be desired but Jaime Alexander? NAILED IT!

Michael said...

Ken - Foreign Press members being waiters is a common joke I have seen elsewhere as well. How much truth is there to this?

Anonymous said...

Seems the problem of the Golden Globes is a massive gap in comedy styles between Gervais and many of the other people attempting to be funny.

Gervais is doing aggressive insult humor, so the "clever/cute" aka, the Tina Fey approach, can't stand up to it, the same way clever/cute doesn't cut it at a roast. You just look like a needy twerp compared the the "hardcore" comedians, since Gervais' style is all about stripping pretense from the get-go.

Also, I consider Gervais as an artist, and he's using this award ceremony as a performance piece. He's not kidding when he says most of the people did awful things to get where they are. That's not a joke. Even now, many writers are strung out on some kind of drug to get through their lives. Currently the trend is micro-dosing LSD. A couple of years ago, Ritalin was all the rage. Most of Robert Downey Jr's career was fueled by a steady flow of cocaine. Mel Gibson loves his alcohol, even though it makes him mean. Nick Nolte was known to show up at a local hollywood movie theater in a drunken stupor, in his pajamas, to watch a movie alone. Many "successful" people still get destroyed by this business. They turn mean and desperate-and weird.

At this point, to not mention this is... weird.

Perhaps if Gervais keeps mentioning the big ugly gorilla in the room, things might change up a little. The "old school" approach to carrying on as if celebrities, because they're successful, can't possibly be horrible people, is probably not going to hold out much longer.

Maybe if there was a Ricky Gervais a few decades ago, standing at a podium and pointing out John Belushi in the audience, and riffing on his massive cocaine habit, and his consorting with low-life drug dealers, Belushi might be alive today. As it went, he was fawned over right into his grave.

-- Bart

Glenn said...

I liked the brief glimpse of Jeffrey Tambor's genuine stoneface as Ricky Gervais launched into a bunch of fratboy jabs at his role in Transparent. Curiously, they didn't go back for any additional reaction shots.

Unknown said...

Where the best joke of night came from two successful, talented Latina women, this low-quality film blog had THIS to say about last night's winners: "Golden Globes usually go to anyone with a foreign name or accent. Winners included: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Gail Garcia Bernal, and Ennio Morricone (who beat out Alexandre Desplat, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Alva Noto)." How racist can you be?

PatGLex said...

As soon as Ricky Gervais was announced as the host, I opted not to watch. Nice to know I didn't really miss anything.

Diogo said...

Rudeness can be funny, but Gervais takes it to the next level. And yet, ratings climbed up again, so he's probably returning for a 5th turn.

Joseph Scarbrough said...

I honestly don't even understand why we even need the Golden Globes. I mean, we have the Oscars for movies, Emmys for TV, Grammys for music (don't even get me started on how country music alone has like four award shows a year), then we have the Golden Globes for . . . all of the above? What's the point? If you ask me, I think we need to either do away with the Golden Globes altogether, or do away with all the others and just have the Golden Globes only. Either way, having been a gofer and stage manager before, I really feel for the people who have to organize and coordinator these shows all the time.

Griff said...

Hey -- there's nothing wrong with Ennio Morricone -- one of the living masters of film music -- receiving an award!

Mike Barer said...

I'm glad we have the GGs just so we can have your review!

Elf said...

Citing Jaimie Alexander for her globes when Katy Perry was there? I can only assume you were taking a potty break while Perry was on stage for that oversight.

At this point I'll keep watching anything Gervais hosts because I get the idea he wants to be fired. Though I'd love for the show to be on HBO or the like so they could do away with the bleeping.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ken,

Personally I love Ricky Gervais and his humor. I love insulting, cringe worthy, snarky stuff. When he dumps on celebs I roar with laughter. Letterman used to be good at it; Kimmel sometimes flashes it. I agree with you about Jim Carrey. Used to be brilliant beyond words funny- now he's older & content. It happens. See: Eddie Murphy & Howard Stern.

As for the categories- how is The Martian a musical/comedy? Makes no sense. Glad Mr. Robot won 2 awards, great show.

You need to keep reviewing award shows, it makes for some of your best work, --LL

Chris said...

First of all, thanks for the Clutch Cargo line. Very, very funny and so true. Which I guess is why I have to disagree with you about Ricky Gervais. The meanness and the truth are the point. I can't be the only one who enjoys seeing these entitled millionaires forced to hear/face the reality of who they are. Not that they think about it for too long, but heck, what if they did?

Ted said...

I think Ricky Gervais must actually be doing his David Brent from "The Office" when he hosts these shows. In real life, he's got to know his jokes aren't funny. Half the nasty references are to things that happened years ago (I still remember him making fun of Robert Downey Jr.'s addiction-fueled behavior nearly a decade after he got sober). The other half just make Gervais himself seem like a jerk. He seems to believe he's the only one who will speak the truth to a bunch of self-congratulatory nitwits, but it was obvious that no one in the room actually wanted to be there. As a result, he just came off as a mean jerk -- and worse, a very bad comedian.

blinky said...

I can't believe you missed the most obvious joke. Lady Gaga came dressed as Vampira! She got best acting for her role in Plan 9 From Outer Space!

CK said...

Best. Review. Of the day!

Patrick said...

Rob Lowe clearly wasnt actually appalled - so thats a bit misleading to say that. He was continuing the joke - remember he is a comedy actor now!

Lady Gaga winning is a joke - the Golden Globes continue to hurt their own credibility every year. No one was better than Kirsten Dunst - in anything.

I actually thought Jim Carrey's 2 time Golden Globe winning actor speech was quite funny.

Jon B. said...

I enjoy Ricky Gervais.

SB said...

It was the perfect phony start for the GGs last night. While the announcer was saying "live!", the shot on our screens was an overhead that was years old - you could easily see the old Robinsons-May and Trader Vics buildings in the shot.

normadesmond said...

we all know these awards are a joke. the reason why we watch is because they all show up. ricky may be a bit crude, but award shows (such as this one) do have it coming. that he asked mel gibson, "what the fuck does sugar tits mean anyhow?" blows my mind. that takes balls.

CarolMR said...

As far as Lady Gaga brushing by DiCaprio, I saw it as a little flirtation enjoyed by both parties.

Mike said...

"And the award goes to Victor Frankenstein for best animation."

SharoneRosen said...

Previous GG shows, I enjoyed Ricky Gervais's brand of snark, they were jokes you didn't see coming. This year, he was already pissed and pissed off when the show started... no good jokes, no surprises, just the uncle who was already drunk before he got to your party and made at the world cuz he didn't have a date.
I admit, however, I genuinely laughed out loud at his sign-off, "on behalf of Mel Gibson and myself, shalom." Sometimes, I'm just too easy.

VincentS said...

Thanks, Ken, for validating my decision not to watch the Golden Globes. And what the hell was it with all that censored cursing? Are they expecting us to believe that wasn't prearranged? I don't care how much alcohol was supposedly consumed. And what did they do that for? Controversy so people will watch next year to hear profanity THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO HEAR? And speaking of vulgarity it's clear that Mel Gibson has now lost his looks as well as his mind.

Peter said...

Ken, were you a David Bowie fan?

Roy DeRousse said...

Thank you for watching this so that I didn't have to. I'm sure that spending a few minutes to read your blog was more fun than hours spent watching the Golden Globes.

Anonymous said...

You laughed once more than I did. The show was horrible. Ricky was horrible and, most importantly, NOT funny. GAGA was the reason I did not watch AHS this season. Well her and the fact that last year was pretty bad. If last night was proof of her "acting" surprised she needs to complete Acting 101. Jonah Hill almost caused me to turn the TV off. How old is he anyway? I was glad to see Jon Hamm win and realized my Sunday nights used to be spent watching Mad Men.I was reading a book while the show played in the background.Janice B.

Jason said...

Without any comment on anyone else in the category, I have to say that Lady Gaga is surprisingly good in AHS:Hotel.

Oliver said...

Can't stand Gervais, who is obnoxious, self-satisfied, comedically lazy and utterly unfunny, so I didn't bother watching the event for the first time in years. To be fair, at least his trashy shtick has been booked at the right sort of ceremony, unlike when the Academy decided to book McFarlane for the Oscars.

Delighted that Rachel Bloom won. Hopefully it will bring some more eyeballs to the excellent Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

cinemanut said...

It took me ages to realize that was Jim Carrey and not Dr. Andrew Weil.

Mark Fearing said...

I don't know...I think the way everyone in 'the business' is soon upset that he dared to say something tasteless is pretty amusing. Awards like this are ridiculous. The wealthy and beautiful gather to preen and accept love from one another encouraging the beliefe that what they do is so worthy of attention that it's ridiculous that anyone would DARE to undermine the common self-adoration society...I don't know about appropriate or in appropriate attitudes when something so ridiculous is going on. But the indignation from all those associated with it might be telling that something did hit too close to home. Maybe I'm wrong, but Ken even you have admitted this 'stuff' is all taken way too seriously. Reminds me of Dave Letterman's quote recently about how when he was on the air he thought it was the most important thing in the world. Then he leaves an realizes that for most 'the world' what he did amounted to a few moments of amusement maybe a few times aw week. If we are to believe that these are the most important storytellers of our era with audiences waiting to see them - take a look at You Tube hits, the great, ugly democratic station. The kid playing a video game probably has more hits than all of the 'primetime' shows, and all their 'amazing talented' people combined these days. The industry is startling close to being an entertainment afterthought but they don't seem to get it.

Andy Rose said...

I'm not a big Ricky Gervais fan. It's become clear over the years that, although he's not as clueless as David Brent, he's every bit as obnoxious and full of himself in real life as his most famous character was.

That said, I have to agree with @normadesmond that his moment with Mel Gibson was remarkable. He's taken the piss out of Mel before at this show, and I'm sure Gibson's people thought that letting Ricky introduce him again would show that Mel is in on the joke. (Tina Fey has talked about her annoyance with this sort of thing before, particularly when truly terrible, risible people are allowed to guest on Saturday Night Live.) Ricky could have stayed off stage and assumed that people knew that he wasn't part of whatever Mel Gibson was trying to accomplish, but instead Ricky came back out and hit Mel with something I'm sure he wasn't expecting... just about the most biting thing he could say, short of, "You're still an anti-Semitic drunk, and I still don't like you." Mel Gibson may not be as powerful in Hollywood as he once was, but that still took some balls.

Stephen Marks said...

Yesterday Ken said "....tomorrow I'll try and be funnier" and guess what, he was. He pointed to the right field bleachers for a called shot. Ken Ruth. Sadly Ken left nothing for the rest of us to slag, oh well another day.

VP81955 said...

The Golden Globes: Outrageous for the sake of being outrageous. (Yawn.)

YEKIMI said...

Only reason I'm passing on The Revenant is because of the length of the damn movie. Over 2 1/2 hours! My bladder can't hold out that long!

Charles H. Bryan said...

I can't say that I watched all of it last night, because I spent quite a bit of time checking email and so forth. And, in fact, a couple of times I had to check twitter to see if someone could supply the censored portion of the show -- it's how I learned Gervais' censored question to Gibson was "What the fuck does 'sugartits' even mean?".

I have my explanation as to why the show exists: people watch it to see celebrities on display, and those people tend to watch it live, like sports. This appeals to advertisers, and that appeals to the network, and the show must appeal to publicists and studio marketing departments and couture rental shops.

When several RECIPIENTS during an awards broadcast joke about how the awards basically go to the highest bidder or biggest schmoozer, everyone attending is in on the grift. (Ha! I enjoyed using the word 'grift' in a sentence. That was satisfying.) The GG is an honor to those who probably won't receive other honors (or to those who the extremely polite).

So, based on that, I understand more why the Golden Globes show exists than why the NFL Pro Bowl exists. The Golden Globes are the hype machine.

BTW, to the commenter above, I don't see the racism in a joke based on an observation that the HFPA tends to give its awards to people who were born or who work overseas. "How racist can you be?" Based on a general human history, I think how racist someone can be gets worse than that joke.

Jahn Ghalt said...

Perhaps if I hadn't DVR'ed the show and blasted through most of the speeches I'd be testy about the Golden Globes this year. I'd barely know about them if not for all the Mad Men nominations for my favorite actors from that series.

(and I'll say that Jon Hamm normally does a better job in that impromptu role)

I am so outside that I'm sure most of the "inside" allusions in this post flew over my head (and thanks for explaining the one time you laughed, Mr. Levine).

I'll second Michael's question about the HFP being mostly "waiters" - Their Wikipedia entry seems to indicate that that small tribe (fewer than 100 members) all have day jobs with collectively 250-milllion readers (was that figure fabricated?).

I guess I'm easy, too. Jim Carrey made me laugh doing the same joke for a minute-and-a-half. It may be I haven't seen him in a comdey since the 90's (when did Dumb and Dumber come out?).

Sly struck me as a modest man who understands (and admitted that) his fame comes from one role. Unlike Denzel's standing O, Sly's was not done out of duty.

Jeff Maxwell said...

The host needn't be an alter boy, but there is no lack of meanness in the world. Why become Jihad Gervais and bring more of it to the Golden Globes? After all, the folks there are just actors, entertainers who, for the most part, have an ability to engage us long enough to watch a story. If you want to be a tough guy, go after some bad guys, not a bunch of silly, pretty people who really can't hurt you.

I vote for the 2017 Globes to written and directed by Ken Levine.

Gary said...

I can understand people finding Ricky Gervais unfunny, but in all fairness if ANY comedian was going to do a topical monologue, he or she would have to touch on the exact same subjects (Sean Penn, Caitlin Jenner, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, etc.). Watch any monologue on any current late night talk show.

Gary said...

I can understand people not liking Ricky Gervais, but in all fairness if ANY comedian was going to do a topical monologue, he or she would have to touch on the same subjects (Sean Penn, Caitlin Jenner, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, etc.). Watch any monologue on any current talk show.

Diane D. said...

Well. Between Ken's post and the comments, this is a huge overdose of snark. I didn't see the show, and it sounds like RG was totally obnoxious, but I don't understand all the hate for the nominees and winners. If I didn't know it before, reading this blog for 2+ years has taught me that this is a brutal business. Many successful writers, directors, actors and all the others have been through hell to achieve whatever success and fame they have. What is wrong with a few award shows once a year to celebrate their achievements? They are almost unanimous in saying nothing means more to them than the recognition of their peers. No one has to watch the shows if they don't want to.

Phantom Dreamer said...

The only problem with Gervais hosting is that he didn't bring Jennifer Lawrence down a peg or too. She needs an ego adjustment.

MikeK.Pa. said...

I'm waiting for Pia Zadora to receive a Golden Globe Lifetime Achievement award. It's long overdue and she can afford it (to go with her first GG for best "new (fleeting) star"). Gervais is cringe-worthy, but I had the same reaction watching Andy Kaufman - and Hollywood made a biopic about him. Maybe there's one down the road for Ricky.

Anonymous said...

Love Gervais bringing down the actors, who seem to think they are super important.

Mel Gibson has denied saying the comment to Kimmel, who beat Gervais to the punch.

Pizzagod said...

I didn't watch-and I don't think I missed a damn thing.

I think you soft pedaled it. From what I heard it was a far worse abortion than anything that's been on lately.

Klee said...

I actually loved they paired him with Mel. Mel could've acted he has "some" sense of humor. Awful individual who should be boycotted . Glad to see Ricky came back after he heard the colostomy bag " joke".

Joseph Scarbrough said...

@Phantom Dreamer I couldn't agree more, she's tremendously overrated (painfully so), and it's really begun inflating her ego (that and suddenly becoming best friends with Amy Schumer only makes matters worse).

Johnny Hy said...

Are you sure that was Matt Lauer hosting the Red Carpet. I thought it was Ben Kingsley

D. McEwan said...

I confess to laughing at some of Gervaise's lines, the ones we got to hear. It would be nice if certain celebs (I'm looking at YOU, Jonah Hill) remembered they were on network TV, and did material that could actually be broadcast. Silent comedy movies are fine. Silent verbal jokes are pointless. One might almost suspect Hill of being a self-indulgent douchebag rather than a comedian.

The Ricky and Mel moment was riveting: two men who clearly loathe each other, and not bothering to hide it. The tension was wonderful, and that Ricky would say what he did (Though he could have phrased it in a way that could have been broadcast) to Mel, and in public, well, Ricky rose a little in my estimation again at that moment.

Sylvester Stallone wins an acting award over Mark Rylance? Is any further proof needed that the Golden Globes are still just as absurd as they were the year Pia Zadora's husband bought "Best Newcomer" for her? And the standing ovation for Stallone made me sick. I hit Fast-Forward, and did not hear a word he garbled.

Thank Heaven Matt Damon won for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy. We wouldn't want anyone actually giving a comedy performance stealing the award. (And I noticed that one of the other nominees was that load of laughs and rage-aholic Christian Bale. How the Hell did Steve Carell get nominated? He IS funny. Actually being funny; what a cheap ploy to use when going for a comedy-performance award!)

Maybe they should split the comedy category to "Best Intentional Comedy" and "Best Unintentional Comedy."

Mike said...

Regarding Gibson/Gervais, for decades, the story has been that Mel doesn't like the English. Braveheart was a clue.

Barry Traylor said...

Ken, I thank you from the bottom of my heart that you watched the globes so I did not have to waste any of my life span on it. There was about a 1% chance I would have watched until I heard who was hosting it. Then my interest fell to below zero.

Unkystan said...

The Hollywood Foreign Press is basically the European Pennysaver. Zero credibility.

ELS said...

ITEM: Ricky Gervais really seemed to perform as if this were the final dress rehearsal. Could he have been more snarky, less funny, and angry at his audience? I dunno... that's not intended as a challenge, but if it is, I'm not giving him a chance to prove it to ME.

ITEM: Stallone as Clutch Cargo. Best thing I've read this month. I'd watch that cartoon!

ITEM: When did Will Ferrel stop being funny? When did he START?

ITEM: When did Mel Gibson lose his accent?

ITEM: Denzel Washington - yeah, what happened there? Tom Hanks did a very nice introduction, and then... Denzel brought up his whole family? SERIOUSLY? I'm not sure how much they contributed to his acting career, but I don't remember seeing them. And if you know you're getting an achievement reward, stick to iced tea. It was kinda sad.

Anonymous said...

Mike, Braveheart, The Patriot, Gallipoli. He probably auditioned to play Gandhi.

MikeN said...

Jimmy Kimmel beat Gervais to it by years. Mel Gibson denied making the comment, while saying "It's a great line. I wish I had said it."

Pat Reeder said...

Giving Lady Gaga an acting award makes more sense than giving her a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal for standing next to Tony Bennett and shouting lyrics that Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn actually used to sing.

Mike said...

@Anonymous@6:47AM: Cheers.

Cameron Yarde said...

As crazy as The Golden Globes seem I think Wolf Hall and Lady Gaga deserved their wins. Peri Gilpin not being nominated for season 2 of Frasier is a true outrage!

John said...

C'mon, Levine. Most streaming platform shows have higher visibility and more buzz than almost any cable or network shows, The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and Mad Men excepted (and two of those are over). It's a brave new world.

Mark Fearing said...

BTW, have you watched Extras? Did you like the show?

D. McEwan said...

"ELS said...
ITEM: When did Will Ferrel stop being funny? When did he START?"


Thank you! I have never found him remotely amusing, and tend to avoid anything he's in.

"Mike said...
Regarding Gibson/Gervais, for decades, the story has been that Mel doesn't like the English. Braveheart was a clue."


Nor Jews, nor gays, nor atheists. Nor people who make jokes to his face about what an asshole he is, as Ricky did. Is there anyone Mel likes? I mean besides himself.

I haven't seen Lady Gaga's winning performance, so for all I know, she may have been good. She is certainly quite talented.

Brian said...

Loved The Martian and I'm glad it won something. I wouldn't classify it as a comedy though. For more The Martian fun google "Honest Trailers The Martian"

Joseph Scarbrough said...

In regards to Will Ferrell, the only thing he's done that's worth seeing is ELF. I know a lot of people disregard the movie as "just another fluffy holiday movie," but it's really more than that - Jon Favreau did a wonderful at capturing the spirit of old-fashioned, classic holiday movies and specials while still maintaining a contemporary (for the Turn of the Millennium, anyway) setting; it's got a really unique cast (James Caan, Mary Steenbergen, Zooey Deschanel, Ed Asner, and Bob Newhart); but this is the only time I've ever seen Will Ferrell actually play a character with depth. Yeah, Buddy the Elf is the source of a lot of Christmas memes and such, but really, the character is something I've never seen Will Ferrell play before or since: Buddy is a fish out of water, so there's an innocence and naviete to him that makes him a sympathetic and endearing character, as opposed to the usual one-dimensional, bland, unlikeable, sketchshow-esque characters Ferrell typically plays.

Ironically, I know there are people out there that actually like Will Ferrell playing said one-dimensional, bland, unlikeable, sketchshow-esque characters and actually say that ELF is actually his worst movie because of it.