The 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards was nothing special. But at least it takes itself less seriously than the Oscars, and is therefore more fun.
JAN 23, 2011 – A DECIDEDLY ODD CONTRADICTION appears at work with the Golden Globes, the annual awards handed out by an oft-derided bunch of journalists who club themselves under the reasonably impressive-sounding title of Hollywood Foreign Press Association. No one takes the proceedings seriously – and perhaps rightly so. For what respect can you accord an awards show that has Johnny Depp nominated for both Alice in Wonderland and The Tourist, in a category other than Best Pay Cheque Casher? The HFPA doesn’t help matters with its strange rites and rituals, like anointing a Miss Golden Globe each year, the scion of a showbiz family. (This time it was Gia Mantegna, daughter of Joe.) And what does Miss Golden Globe do but stand by the wings, directing stage traffic this way and that. Look beyond the privileged aura of a coming-out cotillion, and the position seems no more than a glorified usher. You won’t find a counterpart on the Oscar stage.
No wonder the winners are emboldened to make light of – even mock – their wins. Picking up his lose-or-gain-weight-and-win-an-award statuette (aka the Raging Bull trophy) for The Fighter, Christian Bale smirked that he wasn’t sure who the HFPA were, but now that he’d won, he realised how just wise and perceptive these guys really are. He omitted the part about what good and gracious hosts they are. Table after table had as its centerpiece a silver bucket of iced Moët, and the air of nonchalance so filled the hall that the host, Ricky Gervais, brought with him a glass of beer and wet this throat before uttering the evening’s first words. And yet, despite the jokes, the Golden Globes, once handed, provoke furious speculation. They are widely seen as a bellwether for the Oscars, and bookmakers are no doubt upping the odds that The Social Network will be much friended by the Academy, or that Colin Firth, the stammering ruler of The King’s Speech, will win the display-a-disability-and-win-an-award statuette (aka the Rain Man trophy).
The Golden Globes and the Oscars have often announced the same winners, but the latter have, over the years, acquired the well-buffed sheen of prestige – and that’s more than a little unfair. All awards, ultimately, are meaningless. At least, they don’t mean anything in any absolute sense – they’re just a reflection of the tastes and prejudices and biases of a given set of voters in a given year. And the Globes score over the Oscars not only in showcasing stars in a relaxed mood – there are, after all, those bottles of Moët; the camera caught Angelina Jolie resting against Brad Pitt’s shoulder as if this weren’t a globally televised event but an evening by the fireplace at the Pitt-Jolie mansion – but also by separately recognising comedy and drama. This is an awards ceremony where the deceptively lightweight The Kids Are All Right can walk home with Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, while The Social Network expectedly takes home Best Motion Picture – Drama. This is the feature that redeems the Globes, this acknowledgement of Best Apple along with Best Orange, unlike the Oscars that are notorious for sidelining lighter films (or at least, lighter-toned films) in favour of Motion Pictures with Mighty Themes.
Otherwise, an awards show is an awards show is an awards show. The emcee begins with a few poison-laced barbs, all in good spirit. (Sample shocker from Gervais: “I’d like to quash this ridiculous rumour going around that the only reason The Tourist was nominated was so that the foreign press could hang out with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. That is rubbish. That is not the only reason. They also accepted bribes.”) And then it’s an endless procession of (a) lame scripted banter between presenters (the lamest being Chris Hemsworth, the future Thor, and Chris Evans, the upcoming Captain America, commenting that the TV actresses nominated in the supporting category were “superheroes of acting”); and (b) tedious acceptance speeches with breathless thank-yous directed, apparently, at everyone in the phone book. Accepting her award for Temple Grandin, Claire Danes confessed, “I have to rattle these names off because everybody was so vital.” Well, who isn’t in the massively collaborative effort of making movies? Or do what David Fincher did, reading out a script from sheets of paper – at least the ums were minimised.
As always, the best acceptance speeches were the shortest. Clutching his prize for playing the gay student in the television series Glee, Chris Colfer negotiated a message-heavy meditation with heart and humour. “To all the amazing kids that watch our show, and the kids that our show celebrates who are constantly told ‘no’ by the people and the environments, by bullies at school that they can’t be who they are or have what they want because of who they are, well… screw that kids!” Through the other speeches, the mind roamed freely, alighting on the occasional interesting celebrity – here’s Michelle Pfeiffer; there’s a cadaverous Michael Douglas, scarily emaciated after his recent bout with cancer; but where’s AR Rahman, whose score for 127 Hours brought about the evening’s one true will-he-won’t-he moment? And is that what Olivier Assayas looks like? The creator of Irma Vep, you’d imagine, would ooze dangerous edge, but here he is, a cheerful cherub with what appears to be a headful of happy thoughts.
Jon Hamm just could not stop beaming when his name was announced as nominee for the superlative TV drama Mad Men. He was rightfully proud of his work, his show – and how many Indian television actors can say that? Looking at the quality and range of American television – through drama (Boardwalk Empire, Dexter) and comedy (Modern Family) and even musicals like Glee – you wonder why Indian television has no space for anything but soaps and reality shows. Instead of pursuing the fickle box office with feature film ventures, prostrating before vain stars and artless producers, why don’t talented filmmakers look towards TV? A weekly show even comes with guaranteed regular income, and you don’t have to second-guess what the audience wants. Looking at the astonishing variety of television shows at the Golden Globes, you have to ask why we don’t make better TV. Or are we a country where every filmmaker harbours one desire only, and that’s to see his name stretching across a big, big screen?
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Gradwolf
January 23, 2011
I don’t think there is market for TV shows like Mad Men or Boardwalk Empire. I mean, something out of the reality TV or family soaps. Of course someone has to try it out but I am not really sure. And forget Hindi, it is a far cry for the Tamil television! I remember Amrita writing good things about this show called Mahi Way which I think stayed away from the soap cliches.(It’s written by Devika Bhagat who co-wrote Manorama Six Feet Under and Aisha)
PS
I wonder if you’ve got this request already but I’d enjoy a Between Reviews on Aadukalam! Truly the film to beat this year.
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Gradwolf
January 23, 2011
Another thing I wanted to ask. You’ve seen the films The Kids Are All Right et al? And you follow some of the TV shows mentioned? Would love to hear what you think. Absolutely love Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire is pretty good too
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complicateur
January 23, 2011
Thank you for pointing out the lack of ‘willingness’ (or talent – chicken or egg question this) to make good TV. With local television channels having a captive, repeat audience I’d assume they would be more willing to give them some quality programming. But no, we shall rise to mediocrity at every given opportunity.
This is not to say that horrible reality shows don’t occupy primetime or all of MTV’s programming outside our shores. But there is still the great writing on TV for those willing to filter out the filth. Here there are hardly any options. Just absolute tedium in the medium.
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bran1gan
January 23, 2011
Gradwolf / complicateur: Gautham Menon has said in the latest AV that he’s directing a cop show for TV and that he’s talking to the big channels about it. So I think if someone takes a step and shows what can be done, the audience isn’t going to say no. I am not saying we need a replica of Mad Men here — one of the advantages of being in a global village is that we can enjoy a Singam, a VTV, an Udaan, a Band Baaja Baaraat, a Dabangg, a Dhobi Ghat, a Black Swan. All are different products catering to different markets. But at least let’s do good soaps or family dramas. The rest of good TV we can pick and choose from elsewhere.
Haven’t seen any of the Pongal releases yet. I liked Kids Are All Right — deceptively featherlight sit-com-like texture and a very affecting set of characters. Loved the end. I think Mad Men is simply one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen — just breathtaking performances, writing, directing. Haven’t seen Boardwalk.
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kannan
January 23, 2011
Boardwalk is really awesome Rangan, watch the pilot directed by Scorsese, which is a great score by the producers. Historical dramas are a under-explored niche but with MadMen and Boardwalk, they are getting a new lease of life. Also watch out for the Kennedy’s mini-series event sometime this year, the trailer looks explosive. Mini-series’s are another platform worth exploring in India as well.
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Arun
January 23, 2011
“Best Pay Cheque Casher”, “Rain man trophy”…
heh heh! loved the digs throughout this piece…hilarious! 😀
Gervais was terrific! Too bad the Academy have gone in for a drab pair of hosts this time around…These shows are a drag without funny people hosting it.
tamil TV…too bad Naga seems to have left the arena…
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Sandhya
January 23, 2011
Wasn’t ‘Tamas’ a mini-series??? That was before Govind Nihlani started making bad films like Dev and Thakshak 🙂 My best memories of Indian television are from the heydays of Doordarshan…Byomkesh Bakshi, Satyajit Ray Presents, Yatra, Doosra Kewal ….now it’s just either saas-bahu drivel or bad adaptations of terrible international shows like “Maa Exchange”. American television remains untouched….heck, even ‘Cupcake Wars’ on Food Network has more drama and better production values than the costliest Balaji production. Waiting for the day that Indian television can produce great dramatic writing…even a smirk – inducing show like “House” can keep me hooked till the end because I want to know what happened to the guy who was forcibly woken up from his coma so he could explain what ails his only (dying) son! (I kid you not!)
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Rangeesh
January 23, 2011
Brangan : Which edition of AV is that GM interview from? Couldn’t find it in the current issue.
The content of today’s TV has to do with the TV execs second-guessing the needs of the target audience : Soaps for housewives & Song-Dance reality shows for the youngsters. And, with the latter doing extremely well, they feel there is no need to shake things up with gritty dramas.
So, this news about GVM’s foray into TV with a police procedural seems like great news. But, it should be groundbreaking, not only from the content but also from the hype, marketing and casting point of view so that even the youngsters tune in. Otherwise, it will soon turn out to be another one of those periodic filmmakers’ outings into TV, critically acclaimed but forgotten like Balu Mahendra’s Kadhai Neram, Mani Ratnam’s Kelviyin Nayagan or the Anurag Kashyap’s one on Set Max.
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Deepak
January 24, 2011
But seriously, what did you think of Colin Firth’s and Christian Bale’s performances?
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bran1gan
January 24, 2011
Rangeesh: The issue dated 19.1.11 — an article titled “Serial-il nadikkiraar Kaakka Kaakka hero.” BTW, Mani Ratnam made a TV serial? Never heard of this. Enge? Eppo? Details please?
Deepak: Not seen either film.
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Rangeesh
January 24, 2011
It was a Mani Ratnam production for SUN TV back in 2000 called ‘Kelviyin Nayagane’ (although it is listed incorrectly as direction in IMDB) with Sriman (Pachathantiram) as its protagonist. If I remember right, it ran in the 8.30-9.00 slot.
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kumaran
January 24, 2011
Hi BR – Caught Aadukalam recently? Itching to hear your thoughts on the bucolic tale!
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Milind Rau
January 25, 2011
Mr.B, would love to direct something like dexter or entourage for TV out here…from a filmmaker’s perspective, i have absolutely no qualms doing this…all in good time, i guess! 🙂
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meera
February 2, 2011
Something like Modern Family would definetly work for Tamil Television. I remember reading Lavanya Mohan write about having a gay mattu payyan in coconut chutney.Was jus thinking how much potential that spin off would have. Ofcourse the more serious Boardwalk would work too… what we dont need are huge, wide eyed, mega size pottu vecha actors plotting to take revenge of some sort.
Golden globes were a yawn but had shifting-in-your-seats moments. King’s speech will win over Social Network…heart over head is what matters in the academy!!
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