Golden Glodes Awards 2012

Right, so? last night in the glamorous Beverley Hilton Hotel in sunny California, the biggest names in film and TV sat around on tables, got tipsy on champagne and kicked off what will prove to be a month of solid self-congratulation. Last year?s ceremony was made notable by the controversial hosting styles of Ricky Gervais. Not only had he made uncomfortable (but unquestionably easy) jokes at the expense of tinseltown?s elite, he brought attention to the fact that The Tourist was nominated for Best Comedy Film despite the fact that it was neither: a) a comedy; or b) any good. But so seemingly delighted by the amount of press Gervais received for his notorious appearance, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association quickly forgot their promise to never invite him back to host this year ceremony. So let?s take a short look at how 2012′s Golden Globe awards went down.

First of all, in the film categories there seemed to be very few surprises at all. The separation of comedy and drama at the Globes has allowed many Oscar front-runners a slice of juicy awards pie: George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) all walked away with awards for acting while Hollywood legends Martin Scorsese (Hugo) and Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) took home gongs for directing and screenwriting respectively. Even Steven Spielberg got in on the action, scooping up the Best Animated Film award for The Adventures of Tintin.

Gervais? opening monologue pretty much took the same approach as last year?s ? in many cases touching on the same targets: Mel Gibson, The Tourist and the Golden Globes themselves. Maybe it was because the star-studded crowd knew what to expect this year, but it seemed as though the majority of the audience were forcing a smile for the cameras. The jibes weren?t as focused on traditional Hollywood power-bases as they had been previously (Scientology, etc?). And in delivering a Mel Gibson gag SIX years after Gibson?s run-in with the LAPD, the Office star was in danger of flogging a thoroughly dead horse. By the end of the night, the favourite target of his homemade joke-cannon turned out to be reality star Kim Kardashian and teen idol Justin Bieber. Take that, Hollywood establishment!

Strangely enough, the speech George Clooney gave in accepting his award seemed to provide light relief from Gervais? ?light relief?. Clooney used his time to praise Brad Pitt for his recent work as an actor and humanitarian as well as commending fellow nominee Michael Fassbender for his continued contribution to women everywhere.

Although Meryl Streep won an award for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, the performance she gave at the awards telecast as ?Meryl Streep: surprised recipient of acting award? was far less convincing. She seemed shocked when Colin Firth read her name out despite the fact that she has been consistently celebrated at ceremonies for over three decades, winning the Golden Globe on no less than 7 other occasions. One imagines the burden she feels for having to find another place to store a statuette in her house.

By the time the credits rolled on the show, we saw very few feathers ruffled and the prizes for best films going to The Artist and The Descendants. Moving into full Oscar season, those two films are the obvious front-runners for the big prize. So which one will it be? Or perhaps the bigger question is: will Ricky Gervais return as host next year, effectively becoming the Billy Crystal of ?the world?s second-biggest awards show??

I guess we?ll have to wait and see.