the Popcorn
Reel Awards Season 2009
66th annual golden globe awards film
report
Kate Winslet onstage reacting to audience applause after winning best actress in
a dramatic film ("Revolutionary Road"). It was her second award of the
night (the other was in a supporting role for "The Reader"); best picture winner
"Slumdog Millionaire" is celebrated by its producer Christian Colson (holding
trophy), best director winner Danny Boyle (center), Bollywood actor Anil Tapoor
(left) and award presenter Tom Cruise. (Photos:
©HFPA)
For "Slumdog", Winslet and "Wrestler",
Golden Globe Film Awards Shine Brightly
By
Omar P.L. Moore/The
Popcorn Reel
January 11, 2009
Ah, that's more like it.
After a strike-shortened Globe awards last year, the Hollywood Foreign Press
Association's 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards was back in full swing with a
packed Beverly Hilton Hotel, fun, and enthusiasm.
"Slumdog Millionaire" was
the big winner tonight with four Golden Globe awards including best motion
picture drama. The film, about a young man from the slums of Mumbai, India
who is accused of defrauding a quiz show to win 20 million rupees, was released
by Fox Searchlight. In addition to the "Slumdog" best picture win, Danny
Boyle won for best director, Simon Beaufoy won best motion picture screenplay
and A.R. Rahman won best motion picture score for the sentimental favorite.
"Slumdog" won all but one of nominated awards and is now an instant contender
for Oscar nominations next week and wins at the Oscar ceremony next month.
It was a huge night for
Kate Winslet, who won the
first film award of the night, supporting actress for
"The Reader".
The British actress also won one of the last awards of the night, best actress
in a motion picture drama for her work as a disillusioned and alienated 1950's
housewife in
"Revolutionary Road".
The double Globes win for Ms. Winslet surely makes her a strong candidate for
dual Academy Award nominations in eleven days' time and the early favorite to
win for either film at the Oscars next month.
Overall it was a great night for actors from the United Kingdom, with at least
eight U.K.-born actors winning awards either for film or television. Aside
from Ms. Winslet's award, Sally Hawkins won for best actress in a musical or
comedy motion picture in "Happy-Go-Lucky", Mike Leigh's film about the bliss and
sanguinity of a school teacher in England amid such tough and depressing
circumstances in life. And the aforementioned Mr. Beaufoy won the
screenplay award. Tom Wilkinson won on the television side for "John
Adams" in a supporting role, while Gabriel Byrne won best actor in a television
drama for "In Treatment", in which he plays a therapist.
Mickey Rourke scored a big win for best actor for his portrayal as a
beaten-down, has-been '80's professional wrestler who decades later craves his
former glories amidst personal turmoil in
"The Wrestler".
The film also won best original song, by its writer and performer Bruce
Springsteen. The same-titled song plays over the end credits of
Darren Aronofsky's film.
So far, 2009 has been good to Mr. Springsteen, whose new album "Working On A
Dream" arrives on the 27th and who will appear on February 1 on the half-time
show of NFL Football's Super Bowl.
The late
Heath Ledger won
posthumously for his supporting role as The Joker in
"The Dark Knight",
and is likely to be nominated for the same on January 22 at the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts And Sciences nomination announcement. Meanwhile, Colin
Farrell won best actor for a musical or comedy motion picture for his
performance as a phobic hit man in the film
"In Bruges".
Mr. Farrell defeated his fellow-nominated co-star Brendan Gleeson, among others
to win.
Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" won the best motion picture comedy or
musical award. The film stars Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett
Johannson and Rebecca Hall, who can currently be seen in
"Frost/Nixon". The
Foreign Language Film award went to the highly-acclaimed "Waltz With Bashir",
directed by Ari Folman, while
"Wall-E" won best animated
feature film, directed by Andrew Stanton, who remarked backstage that "we're
just looking at ["Wall-E"] as a film", not as an animated film, "not through the
lens of the media."
With each passing year, the Golden Globe Awards are considered greater
precursors of what to expect at the Academy Awards. Going by that rubric,
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"
will have a disappointing Oscars, as the film was completely shut out in the
five awards for which it was nominated. On the other hand, the absence of
victories for "Button" at the Globes may mean that precisely the opposite could
occur at the Oscars.
Mickey Rourke accepting the Golden Globe
award for best actor in a dramatic motion picture for "The Wrestler".
(Photo: ©HFPA)
Popcorn Reel Awards Season 2009
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