Pages

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Golden Globes 2017


Jimmy Fallon came swinging as the host of the 74th Golden Globe Awards.  The opening act was fantastic, mirroring the Los Angeles jammed freeway song-and-dance number from “La La Land,” only with celebrities in their cars lining up on the red carpet to get to the awards show.  It transitioned seamlessly to a modified “City of Stars” piano-playing and gliding-into-the stars dancing scene with Justin Timberlake. 

Unlike previous hosts – Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler –  Fallon didn’t make much of an impression.  He did get one political zinger out.  Golden Globes show is the one place where Americans still honor the popular vote.

The first award of the evening, Best Supporting Actor in the motion picture drama category, went to Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Nocturnal Animals”).  Best Supporting Actress went to Viola Davis (“Fences”).  Frontrunner Casey Affleck scored Best Actor (“Manchesterby the Sea”).  French actress Isabelle Huppert surprisingly earned Best Actress award (“Elle”), besting Hollywood A-listers Amy Adams, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain

Zootopia,” quite possibly the most brilliant animation of all time, won Best Animation. 

As expected, “La La Land” racked up the most wins in the musical/comedy category, including Best Original Score and Best Original Song to begin with.  Ryan Gosling was awarded Best Actor.  He quipped that it wasn’t the first time he was mistaken for Ryan Reynolds.  Singing and dancing his way through the movie was one of the best filming experiences he had.  Emma Stone, Gosling’s co-star, predictably won Best Actress.  Stone cited hope and creativity as the two most important things and that she shared the statue with other working artists. She moved 13 years ago to Los Angeles this week as an aspiring actress.  

Damien Chazelle took home two awards for Best Screenplay and Best Director.   He thanked the producers for taking on a gamble on his proposition for the modern, Los Angeles-set musical, which was not easy to put together.  The movie capped it all by winning Best Picture in the same category. 

Viola Davis presented Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award to arguably the most revered actress in Hollywood today, Meryl Streep.  She stated that Streep made her feel proud for being an artist and that what she had in her – her body, her face, her age – was enough. 

Streep took the stage and made a political joke about Hollywood Foreign Press being the most vilified party, Hollywood – Foreigners – Press.  She went on to reveal which foreign countries where some actors and actresses were born or raised in and sarcastically noted, "Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if you kick us all out, you’ll have nothing to watch except for football and mixed martial arts, which are not arts." 

Streep asked the press to stand up to President-elect Donald Trump, “We need the principled press to hold power to account, to call them on the carpet for every outrage,” after she called out Trump for mocking a disabled reporter during his campaign.  "Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence.  When the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose."  

Streep stirringly ended her speech by quoting the belated Carrie Fisher, "Take your broken heart, make it into art."  

And the Golden Globe goes to…

Best Picture, Drama: “Moonlight”
Best Picture, Comedy or Musical: “La La Land”

Actress, Drama: Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Actor, Drama: Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”

Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, “Fences”
Supporting Actor: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, “Nocturnal Animals”

Actress, Comedy or Musical: Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Actor, Comedy or Musical: Ryan Gosling, “La La Land”

Director: Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”

Screenplay: Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”

Original Score: Justin Hurwitz, “La La Land”
Original Song: “City of Stars,” “La La Land”

Animated Film: “Zootopia”

For a complete list of winners, check out the Golden Globes website here