The film awards season kicked off with a bang this week with a shimmering ceremony of all Hollywood’s rich and beautiful things meeting for the Golden Globes.
The big news this year however is the storming success British films have had, snatching an impressive sounding seven awards from collective Brit talent. And although we’ve already had the typical barage of surprised responses across the media as a whole I’m more impressed at the fact that British films are finally being given the recognition they deserve. It is not, and hasn’t for some time, been the case that British cinema is not churning out fantastic films, the problem lies in people not going to see them and distribution companies trying to work around this by marketing great films as arthouse films when they should be saturating multiplexes across the country.
But anyway, ranting aside this is a good thing for British films. Old hand Kate Winslett grabbed two absurdly overtitled awards, Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture Drama and Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture, for Revolutionary Road and The Reader respectively, neither are on UK release yet so I can’t really comment on how deserved these are – although Revolutionary Road has been given a lot of Oscars mumbling stateside. So it’s probably rubbish. You can watch her act like an idiot here.
More exciting is the news that Danny Boyle scooped four awards for the truly superb Slumdog Millionaire, Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score. You can check out my review of the film here and I would urge anyone to go and catch it in cinemas while they can, as I would already wager this as being one of the best films you will get to see this year.
Elsewhere it’s great to see WALL-E grabbing Best Animated Feature Film (all but a dead certainty for the equivalent Oscar) and Waltz With Bashir winning Best Foreign Language Film. Mickey Rourke’s victory for The Wrestler also looks promising for more gold in the future, especially with the film getting rave reviews in the build up to its release this Friday.
Although the Golden Globes aren’t usually seen as a big hitter in terms of prestigious awards, these results do more often than not give an indication as to what the big wigs at the Bafta’s and Oscar’s may be leaning towards come their crack of the whip. Personally, I’d love to see Slumdog Millionaire upset the Yanks when the Oscars come around, although if I’m brutally honest I don’t fancy it’s chances in the infamously nepotistic awards.
Here is the full list of winners and nominees, let me know what you think about the awards. Was Slumdog Millionaire a rightful winner?
Best Motion Picture – Drama
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture – Drama
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Drama
Leonardo DiCaprio – Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey
Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
James Franco – Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey
Best Animated Feature Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E
Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden/Denmark)
Gomorrah (Italy)
I’ve Loved You So Long (France)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)
Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
Kate Winslet – The Reader
Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Director – Motion Picture
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
David Fincher – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare – The Reader
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood – Changeling
James Newton Howard – Defiance
A. R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer – Frost/Nixon
Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Down To Earth” — Wall-E
“Gran Torino” — Gran Torino
“I Thought I Lost You” — Bolt
“Once In A Lifetime” — Cadillac Records
“The Wrestler” — The Wrestler
Best Television Series – Drama
Dexter (Showtime)
House (Fox)
In Treatment (HBO)
Mad Men (AMC)
True Blood (HBO)
Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series – Drama
Sally Field – Brothers And Sisters
Mariska Hargitay – Law And Order: Special Victims Unit
January Jones – Mad Men
Anna Paquin – True Blood
Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer
Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series – Drama
Gabriel Byrne – In Treatment
Michael C. Hall – Dexter
Jon Hamm – Mad Men
Hugh Laurie – House
Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors
Best Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
30 Rock (NBC)
Californication (Showtime)
Entourage (HBO)
The Office (NBC)
Weeds (Showtime)
Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series –Comedy Or Musical
Christina Applegate – Samantha Who?
America Ferrera – Ugly Betty
Tina Fey – 30 Rock
Debra Messing – The Starter Wife
Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds
Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock
Steve Carell – The Office
Kevin Connolly – Entourage
David Duchovny – Californication
Tony Shalhoub – Monk
Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
A Raisin In The Sun (ABC)
Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Cranford (PBS)
John Adams (HBO)
Recount (HBO)
Best Performance By An Actress In A Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Judi Dench – Cranford
Catherine Keener – An American Crime
Laura Linney – John Adams
Shirley Maclaine – Coco Chanel
Susan Sarandon – Bernard And Doris
Best Performance By An Actor In A Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Ralph Fiennes – Bernard And Doris
Paul Giamatti – John Adams
Kevin Spacey – Recount
Kiefer Sutherland – 24: Redemption
Tom Wilkinson – Recount
Chad Cinema 