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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
The Observer

Golden Globes: the good, the bad and the ugly

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Emily Hoffmann


Hosted for the second consecutive time by comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the Golden Globes were full of stunts ranging from the good to the bad to the just plain ugly.

While perhaps not as funny as last year’s (possibly an unintended consequence of an obvious attempt to be nicer), Poehler and Fey’s monologue was gold — setting up jokes that would be continued throughout the night. From their mispronunciation of “Tam Hunks” to Fey’s zinger about George Clooney, they were full of clever one-liners for a certainly star-packed audience.

The speeches started out a bit rough, as the second award winner of the night, Jacqueline Bisset (who won Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Movie for her role in “Dancing on the Edge”), began a problem that started to plague the night: long, winding speeches with no apparent purpose. Award speeches are hardly ever good, but these were particularly bad — and Bisset’s was the worst of the night.

On the other hand, Robert Downey Jr. shone when he presented the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. He listed off all the ways he would win supposing each nominee were to win, saying, “If it’s Meryl, I could supplement my income by leasing out a shipping container so she can put it with the 200,000 awards she’s already received.”

The award went to Amy Adams for her role in “American Hustle” which also took home awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Jennifer Lawrence) and Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.

“American Hustle” took home the most awards of the night, but going into the awards ceremony was tied for most nominations with “12 Years a Slave” at seven a piece. “12 Years a Slave” took home the award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, though it received no other honors.

As it did at the Emmys, “Breaking Bad” did well in its nominations. The show took home awards for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama (Bryan Cranston) and Best Television Series – Drama. Cranston said his honor was “a lovely way to say goodbye” to the show.

Two of the big surprises of the night were the winners of the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical. Andy Samberg won Best Actor for his role in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” while Amy Poehler won Best Actress for her role in “Parks and Recreation.” Both were caught off guard and noticeably flustered in their speech (though Poehler did celebrate her win by making out with Bono).

Woody Allen was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was not present at the Golden Globes, so Diane Keaton made the acceptance speech for him. Her speech was fine, if a bit long, until the end when she began singing a Girl Scouts favorite to commemorate their friendship.

Emma Thompson presented the award for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture, which went to Spike Jonze for “Her,” by coming out on stage carrying her Louboutins and her drink.

As a whole, the Golden Globes were full of hilarious moments — even if it is, as most award shows are, best watched an hour behind so those lengthy acceptance speeches can be skipped.