Golden Globe Wins

The Golden Globes aired just this past Sunday, and, while I was unfortunately unable to watch, I was very fascinated by the results. I will be recapping only the award-winning films here (not the TV categories, due to the subject nature of this blog). Here is the list of winning films and people:

Best Motion Picture - Drama: Avatar
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical: The Hangover
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical: Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical: Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Mo'Nique (Precious)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
Best Animated Feature Film: Up
Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon
Best Director - Motion Picture: James Cameron (Avatar)
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air)
Best Original Score - Motion Picture: Michael Giacchino (Up)
Best Original Song - Motion Picture: The Weary Kind (Crazy Heart)

Although there are certainly some expected (and deserving) winners here, there is a notable number of upsets.

Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique were both practically guaranteed awards for their phenomenal supporting turns, and the fact that Meryl Streep went home with a statue was no surprise to many. However, the other winning actors were not as expected.

Sandra Bullock's win for her commercial smash, The Blind Side, comes as a shock when she was up against critic's favorites, such as Gabourey Sibide and Carey Mulligan. In addition, I wasn't anticipating Robert Downey Jr to go home with a Globe, though I suppose he deserves it after his phenomenal comeback last year in films like Tropic Thunder, Iron Man and The Soloist.

Finally, Jeff Bridges beating George Clooney also came as a shock to some. Just a month or two ago, Up In The Air was expected to sweep all of the awards ceremonies, though it only won one award at the Globes (Best Screenplay). This is largely due to Avatar beating it out of the two main categories: Best Director and Best Picture (Drama). Now I understand that James Cameron invested about a decade of his life into making this film, and for that, I totally understand his win for director. But it still simply boggles my brain how Avatar (though cinematically breathtaking) beat out the other four (I feel, much more deserving films).

Finally, the last major upset is the crude commercial favorite The Hangover beating out more critically acclaimed movies like (500) Days of Summer and Julie & Julia. Though I have yet to see The Hangover, all of my friends assure me that it was a very deserving win.

That is all for now, and I hope that by the time I post my next entry, I will have seen many of the winning and nominated films!