Monday, January 13, 2014

#GoldenGlobes' Stature Continues to Grow

I made sure to tune into the opening duo-logue with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and they didn't disappoint.

And the casual, alcohol drenched atmosphere looks a lot more fun than the Oscars.

In any case, at the Los Angeles Times, "Golden Globes' rising sphere of influence":


Amy Poehler landed a joke about slavery, Bono paid moving tribute to Nelson Mandela, Leonardo DiCaprio launched the term "Philomania," and Jacqueline Bisset, well, one doesn't like to conjecture but, in the end, she did leave the stage under her own steam.

After 71 years, the intrinsic value of an award bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. — 85 foreign entertainment journalists with wildly differing credentials — is still the subject of much debate. But there is no denying that lately the Golden Globes has become the gold standard of awards shows.

Though the Oscars veer from horror show (the Franco/Hathaway disaster) to deadly dull back to horror show again (last year's Seth MacFarlane), viewership and respect for the Golden Globes telecast has only risen steadily in recent years.

Last year nearly 20 million people tuned in, a six-year ratings high, while critics (including this one) fell over themselves praising the quick and witty hosting of Poehler and Tina Fey who acknowledged the show's shady past. For years, the Globes ceremonies were best known for its high alcohol content, but lately it's stood out for its ability to create a space where anything can happen. Last year, it was an appearance by President Clinton and an odd non-coming-out speech by Jodie Foster.

Dick Clark Productions, which produces the Globes, and NBC quickly signed the pair for two more years, proof that the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. understands what the film academy still does not: If you want people to watch your televised awards show, you need to make it good television.

It helps that the Globes honors television along with film, which puts it in a unique position of embodying the increased cross-pollination between the two art forms. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Idris Elba were nominated in both television and film this year. More important, the producers can draw on people who know how to work on television, something Poehler and Fey capitalize on both figuratively and literally.

Like many great hosts (Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Bob Hope), the two are successful in both genres and have no problem making fun of the long-held hierarchy. Last year they described the Globes as "the only show in which the beautiful people of film rub shoulders with the rat-faced people of TV." This year they used Louis-Dreyfus to call out the segregated seating.

"Interestingly, Julia has decided to sit in the film section," Fey said as the camera cut to the "Veep" and "Enough Said" star wearing shades and smoking an electronic cigarette.

But in recent years, television has begun out-pacing film in both popularity and critical acclaim...
Continue reading.

And Part I of the opening video is here.

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