The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards were held Sunday evening and several events that transpired served as a distinct reminder of why in many ways the Globes is a better all-around show than The Academy Awards. Winning a Golden Globe will never come close in terms of status to winning an Academy Award, but at least the event comes off as more of a big industry celebration than a stuffy, pretentious, self-important showcase for Hollywood-types to pat themselves on the back. Particularly in a down economy, no one really wants to see that. Plus, they serve booze all night long so the odds of someone going on stage and saying something crazy are significantly higher.
The best example of why I like the Globes was Mickey Rourke winning Best Actor in a Dramatic Motion Picture for his role in The Wrestler. Has there ever been a winner any less Hollywood than this guy? The fact that his life has taken some rough turns over the past 20 years has been well-documented, so to see someone who was essentially out of the business get up there on stage was a truly great moment. And the fact that he actually thanked his dogs for being his only friends during his lonely times is really all you need to know. Maybe they'll prove me wrong in a few weeks, but I just don't see the Academy giving a statue to a guy like Rourke.
Some of the other memorable moments from the night include:
- Sacha Baron Cohen talking about how the economy has even taken its toll on the affluent in Hollywood, mentioning that Madonna had to let one of her personal assistants go. "Sorry Guy Richie." The crowd reaction was a mix of stifled laughter and grins, which basically shows how close to home Cohen came with that joke.
- After winning another award for 30 Rock, Tina Fey spoke about how she appreciates what a great year she's had and how those people on the internet (read: nasty blog commenters) can "suck it."
- Mad Men winning the award for Best TV Show (Drama) for the second year in a row. One thing I've always appreciated about The Hollywood Foreign Press is how they're not afraid to give the same show or person awards in back-to-back years, while if someone wins an Oscar one year and gets nominated the next year, you know there's no chance in hell they'll win again. I also believe that a TV show winning a Golden Globe is the highest honor. I refuse to take The Emmy Awards seriously given that their sole purpose is to cover television and they never even nominated The Wire, not once.
- Ricky Gervais mentioning to Kate Winslet how he told her all she had to do to finally win an award was a Holocaust movie.
