Tuesday, January 16, 2007

The 64th Annual Golden Globes



The majority of this blog will contain film criticism, but in light of recent events, I thought an overview of the 2007 Golden Globe Awards would be a suitable launching point.


*****



Although the Globes, and the Academy Awards for that matter, are more of a popularity contest than anything, each year’s ceremony has its share of laughs and insights, however slight they may be. This year, “Babel” (2006) was the recipient of the Best Picture (Drama) prize in a supposed upset where “The Queen” had long been considered the favorite to win. While I am indifferent to what transpired, since I’ve been unable to see either film, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed that Alfonso Cuaron’s cautionary science fiction fable “Children of Men” (2006) had failed to be released in time to be considered by the Hollywood Foreign Press for nomination. Cuaron’s film is easily the best film I viewed in 2006, but I should note that I have plenty of catching up to do. Another disappointment is how the Foreign Press has handled the Best Foreign Film category in recent years and particularly in 2006 when Clint Eastwood’s “Letters to Iwo Jima” managed to be denied a Best Picture (Drama) nomination only to be placed in a category usually reserved for international cinema. Of course I do acknowledge that “Letters to Iwo Jima” was shot in locations outside of the United States and its dialogue is largely in Japanese, but it was filmed with financing and support from American distributors. Further, “Babel,” a film I’d consider to be just as foreign, was nominated in the Best Picture (Drama) category. The logic here has clearly evaded me.

One of the more entertaining moments was Sacha Baron Cohen's acceptance speech upon receiving the Best Actor (Comedy) award for his film “Borat” (2006). Not one to conform to the etiquette of an upper class affair, Cohen crudely and hilariously focused his speech on his infamous naked wrestling sequence, which caused his co-star, Ken Davitian, to abruptly grab a bottle of wine from which he took a long swig. This, I’m sure, was the highlight of the show. Next year, we can only hope for a speech from such an offbeat and fearless comedic figure.

For those of you who missed Cohen's speech. It can be found at the following link.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JbNpuCNP0eA

- Kurtis Beard

4 comments:

Tovers said...

Hey, that was the first time that I'd seen Cohen's acceptance speech and I couldn't stop laughing. Thanks for the link, it was worth the 3mins and 38secs of my life.

Victor said...

yeah, that was probably the best part of the entire golden globes award show

Kurtis said...

Have either of you seen "Borat?" I'd highly recommend the film if you're a fan of Cohen's work in "The Ali G Show" or his comedy in general.

- Kurtis

Tovers said...

I've seen the Ali G Show but for whatever reason I haven't seen Borat yet! I've heard so much about it and I love that kind of humour so I'm gonna definitly see it soon.