The Golden Globes

Last night was the Golden Globe awards. First let me say that I am a big Ricky Gervais fan - I got into the original version of the The Office when I was traveling to London a lot for a work a few years back. I think it helped that I worked there for a while - it seemed pretty real. I have grown to really enjoy the US version, but it is definitely more farcical and a bit more far-fetched. But, it's very funny.

Anyway, I've pretty much watched anything Gervais has been in since then (well, I still haven't seen The Invention of Lying, but according to Ricky last night, it comes out on DVD this week). So, knowing that he was hosting the Globes made it pretty interesting and as close to Must See TV as any award show has been for me (tied with Neil Patrick Harris hosting the Emmy's, since I guess I'm not gay enough to watch him host the Tony's).

So, I rushed (some running, mostly fast walking) home from the bar yesterday to catch the beginning of the show and make sure it was DVR'd (since I forgot to do that). Yes, we were at the bar to watch the Jets/Chargers game - Sunday afternoon bar-going is normal, right? I made it 4 minutes late - just in time to see Monique take home a trophy (unless BET has been giving out awards for larger black actors (or if Tyler Perry has created his own awards show), I am assuming this is her first award). We missed the introduction (but, I did see it later). But the rest of the show was pretty good.

Normally on these shows, a few people and moments stand out. I'm often surprised when certain people get really big ovations or cheers. It seems kind of random to me. Jeff Bridges got that kind of reaction when he won for Crazy Heart, a country music drama about a down and out singer that finds inspiration in the form of Maggie Gyllenhaal (still hard not to think of her from the S&M scenes in Secretary - an "interesting" movie). The crowd went nuts for him - and during his speech he sounded just like the Dude from The Big Lebowski - was that an auto-biography or something?

Other big reactions were for Meryl Streep (of course), Martin Scorsese (although DeNiro's jokes about Marty's YouTube videos of him having sex with 8MM film were a little strange), Mickey Rourke (what the f happened to his face?), some guy named T-Bone (who wrote a song for Crazy Heart), and Paul McCartney.

But other things that I remember from the show (having now watched Ricky's intro online this morning) include - Keifer Sutherland looking very pissed off (when Ricky mentioned that some of the 24 scenes when Bauer beats the crap out of people might have been Keifer's improv); Harrison Ford looking like he might have had a stroke (and checking any semblance of personality at the door); Felicity Huffman looking good, but not being able to read a single line; Cher looking very ghostly and like a 10-foot tall transvestite doll next to Christina Aguilera; Joan (Ms. Boobs McGee) from Mad Men; Mariah Carey's plunging cleavage; and Joan Allen (mom from Pleasantville) looking down right scary - plastic surgery gone wrong (on par with Mickey Rourke).

The show was a little over the top with Avatar praise - including in many of the announcer outros ("coming up, will Avatar take the top prize?"). You get the feeling that 98% of the crowd thinks that James Cameron is a douche. But, that same 98% don't want to say that, just so they might get a chance in his next movie. And now I wonder, was his guest spot on Entourage nothing more than a calculated move to let people see him as down to earth? I guess it worked, now cut your hair dude.

Some of the winners seem a little odd to me. I guess it was a down year in leading female in a drama when Sandra Bullock can win (nice of her to thank her costume designer and make up person though - oh, and a nice shout out to Jesse James). She did beat out that girl from Precious and Helen Mirren. I thought The Hangover was funny, don't get me wrong. But, award winning funny? Not sure about that. My big question was, where was Zack Galifianakis? It was funny (and awkward) with Mike Tyson hanging around (yes, I think everyone was waiting for him to do something completely IN CHARACTER, but it never happened). But, there was no sign of the bearded man himself.

After watching Robert Downey, Jr's good speech, I guess I can see why he keeps getting chance after chance after each rehab stint. He is quite charming and funny. Drew Barrymore is a ditz, but actually does come of as genuine - I guess she is a genuine ditz?

All in all, a pretty good show (great to watch on DVR, by the way - in a 3-hour show, there was about 1 hours worth of commercials). I still enjoy when they play the music over someone when their speech goes too long. And I'm glad there wasn't one of those awkward montages of all the people that died the past year (sorry, the key grip from Casablanca - his passing hit me hard). But, I was disappointed that there wasn't more Ricky Gervais. Then again, he might have hit it even harder with the shameless self-promotion.