A Glittering Contradiction: The Golden Globes

Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge!

Cast of the West Wing. photos from New York Times News Syndicate

Sasha Stone
Mirror film critic

   These days, any old group of folks can gather, give themselves an official-sounding name, and toss their hat in the ring to influence the grandest show of them all, the Oscars. But no other group has as much influence, or is more maligned than the Hollywood Foreign Press, who will hold their 59th Golden Globes award presentation this Sunday, January 20.
   Although the Golden Globes’ most embarrassing episode came back in the early eighties with Pia Zadora’s win for “Most Promising Young Actress,” the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press continue to suffer from rumors that their votes can be bought, and when they aren’t bought they are invalid because they were generated by “busboys and waiters.” This is just short of the accusations made toward another voting body (the first of awards season) the National Board of Review, which has come under fire for being mainly producers and studio people buying their way in.
   Most recently, the HFP was taken to task for accepting very expensive Coach watches from USA Films promoting Sharon Stone for her work in “The Muse,” which landed her a Globe nod. The HFP gave the watches back after they were criticized for being swayed by fine leather. Last year, there was a nasty rumor circulating that a certain movie studio flew members of the HFP to an exotic locale for a screening of its film, which then went on to win at the award.
   But rumors aside, the Golden Globes do influence the Oscars, and often match them exactly. There is no denying that the awards show now has clout. This makes it difficult for studio people and stars to criticize the awards, for fear of being slighted by them. (What a bind!)
   For instance, in the Supporting Actor category last year, the Globes had exactly the same performers who would then go on to be nominated and win the Oscar. You have to go all the way back to 1995 to find the Globes’ Best Picture (drama) not matching the Academy’s Best Picture, when Braveheart won over Sense and Sensibility. Even the year Shakespeare in Love overtook Saving Private Ryan at the Oscars, it had also won Best Picture (comedy) at the Globes. Of course, Ryan won Best Picture in the Globes’ “drama” category that year – highlighting one of the Hollywood Foreign Press’s quirks – by separating films into two categories, “drama” and “musical or comedy,” they can spread the nominations out over ten films, thus making twice as many people happy.
   The area where the Globes are least predictable is Best Actor (drama) — where last year’s Oscar went to Russell Crowe, the Globe went to Tom Hanks, and the year before that the Globe went to Denzel Washington for The Hurricane, but the Oscar to Kevin Spacey for American Beauty.
   The Supporting categories are almost always, with a few notable exceptions, exact matches. Last year’s nominations and win matched for Supporting Actor, and the year before the nominations matched, but Tom Cruise won the Globe while Michael Caine took the Oscar.
   To that end, the Oscars can often correct a snub by the Globes, or even the Screen Actors Guild, as happened with Ed Harris when he did “Pollock” last year. Only the Oscars gave him the deserved nomination. It can also work in the reverse — if a nomination or win for a particular performer is perceived as distasteful or premature, the Oscars can opt out after the Globes give him or her recognition – think Madonna for “Evita,” or Jim Carrey for “The Truman Show.” The stodgy Academy would not likely be caught dead even recognizing Madonna’s existence, let alone talent, and Jim Carrey is too brash, too rich and too funny to be taken seriously by Oscar.
   It is often a thank-you or a dress or a moment that can suddenly turn a Globe winner into an Oscar frontrunner, as happened with Gwyneth Paltrow’s heartfelt speech for “Shakespeare in Love,” when she sobbed “hang in there, Grandpa!” Or Emma Thompson’s famous acceptance, written as Jane Austen might have penned it.
  The Hollywood Foreign Press, however suspect they seem, deserve credit for acknowledging the best performances of the year, even the esoteric ones, like their inclusion of Tilda Swinton this year for “The Deep End” and Bjork for “Dancer in the Dark” last year, or Michael Caine for “Little Voice” in 1999.
   They also single-handedly brought “Scent of a Woman,” previously thought to be out of the running, to the forefront, which ultimately won Al Pacino his only Oscar in 1992, not to mention a Best Picture nod from the academy.
   The Globes have an unexpected impact on television as well, as they did this year with the nod for the new FOX show “24,” which received nominations for both Best Drama and Best Actor (Keifer Sutherland). “24” was getting poor ratings, but with the Globe nods, the ratings have improved and the show will get more attention and probably enjoy a nice, long run.
   Why then, the disrespect? If they are so closely aligned with the Oscars, the end result is almost always the same, and many of their choices seem based on critical praise rather than box office clout, why are the Golden Globes always dismissed as the mistress and never respected as the wife?
   Perhaps one reason is the show itself. It’s far looser than the Oscars, and often features one or another outlandish scene, as when Ving Rhames refused to accept his trophy, choosing instead to give it to a reluctant Jack Lemmon, or when Jack Nicholson, accepting his award for As Good As it Gets, paid tribute to fellow nominee Jim Carrey by talking through his butt cheeks à la Ace Ventura -- something you can’t quite imagine happening at the Oscars.
   Maybe it’s also the “Miss Golden Globe” tradition – a tall, thin, beautiful daughter of a “movie star” handing out the awards — which embarrasses everyone in the room, or the silly contradiction involved in picking actors and actresses in separate categories (comedy and drama) yet keeping all the supporting players in one category.
   Or maybe it’s the Comedy/Musical nominations, which always present a host of problems — like Arnold Schwarzenegger for “Junior” in the same category as Johnny Depp in “Ed Wood,” or Meg Ryan in “You’ve Got Mail” alongside Gwyneth Paltrow for “Shakespeare in Love.” And don’t forget the year Jodie Foster was overlooked for “Taxi Driver” in the Supporting category, but got a Lead (comedy) nod for “Freaky Friday.”
   No matter. Whether it’s in spite of or because of its shameless fawning and giddy glamour, the Golden Globes is one the most anticipated pop-culture events of the year.

Selected Golden Globe Nominees

Motion Picture - Drama
A Beautiful Mind
In the Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Mulholland Dr.

Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Gosford Park
Legally Blonde
Moulin Rouge!
Shrek

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind
Will Smith, Ali
Kevin Spacey, The Shipping News
Billy Bob Thornton, The Man Who Wasn’t There
Denzel Washington, Training Day

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Halle Berry, Monster’s Ball
Judi Dench, Iris
Nicole Kidman, The Others
Sissy Spacek, In The Bedroom
Tilda Swinton, The Deep End

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
Gene Hackman, The Royal Tenebaums
Hugh Jackman, Kate & Leopold
Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge!
John Cameron Mitchell, Hedwig And The Angry Inch
Billy Bob Thornton, Bandits

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
Thora Birch, Ghost World
Cate Blanchett, Bandits
Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge!
Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde
Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones’s Diary

Television Series - Drama
Alias
C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation
Six Feet Under
The Sopranos
24
The West Wing

Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Ally McBeal
Frasier
Friends
Sex and the City
Will & Grace

Mini-Series or Television Movie
Anne Frank
Band Of Brothers
Conspiracy
Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
Wit

Predict the Golden Globe Winners at www.oscarwatch.com.