Top award could spark new industry paradigms
For those of us who follow the race to the Academy Awards, Sunday’s 68th Annual Golden Globes
ceremony came equipped with very few surprises. Despite relatively few genuine upsets in the “film” half of the ceremony, one thing remains pretty clear: “The Social Network” is a really big deal.
The Facebook drama won four awards — the most of the evening — taking honors for Best Original Score for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Best Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin, Best Director for David Fincher and Best Motion Picture – Drama. Essentially repeating the four wins it capped at Friday’s Critics’ Choice Awards, it’s starting to look more and more like an unstoppable steamroller barreling toward Oscar night.
And while it was certainly the talk of the evening, expected frontrunners in most acting categories capped awards as well. Colin Firth won Best Actor – Drama for his stammering portrait in “The King’s Speech,” while Natalie Portman won Best Actress – Drama for her mentally unstable ballerina in “Black Swan,” and Annette Bening won Best Actress – Comedy or Musical for her depiction of a lesbian mother in “The Kids Are All Right.”
“The Fighter” earned two honors in the supporting acting categories, with Christian Bale and Melissa Leo winning Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively.
The television awards packed in a few more surprises. HBO’s freshman Prohibition drama “Boardwalk Empire” scored wins for Best Television Series – Drama and Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama for lead actor Steve Buscemi.
Last year’s Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical winner “Glee” repeated its feat, winning the category for the second year in a row and also earning honors in both supporting acting categories — for Chris Colfer in Supporting Actor and Jane Lynch in Supporting Actress.
Katey Sagal won Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama for FX’s “Sons of Anarchy,” while Laura Linney won Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical for “The Big C,” and Jim Parsons earned Best Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical honors for “The Big Bang Theory.”
The Golden Globes have understandably earned a reputation as the more laid-back counterpart to the Oscars. With alcohol provided and a crossover of television and film celebrities attending, it usually ends up with more than a few interesting moments. Ricky Gervais, reprising his role as host, certainly served up plenty of barbs, regularly prodding as he introduced speakers, occasionally to the chagrin of those on stage.
For those at home, though, Gervais kept the ceremony grounded, refusing to massage egos. And while the Globes have never really had much in the way of flashy spectacle, Gervais’ interludes helped perk the three-hour ceremony up and kept the pacing as fast as could be expected.
Awards pundits are now faced with the reality that “The Social Network” is going to be an awards behemoth; by beating favored British historical drama “The King’s Speech” for this prize, it seems as if the brooding drama has little competition for the Academy Award.
Not that that’s a bad thing. “The Social Network” represents something very rare — smart studio-backed entertainment. Funded by Sony, it’s a bold, often daring look at contemporary culture, and its continued recognition can only send one message to studio heads: more, please.
Were “The Social Network’s” model to become a paradigm, we could expect more studios to gamble on letting directors, producers and writers with serious, intelligent visions take the reigns on bigger budgets and broader accessibility.
And as the box office success of “Social Network,” “Black Swan,” “The Fighter” and “True Grit” indicate, audiences are ready for more sophisticated entertainment in wider release. This year it’s not just the stuffy awards groups: The people have spoken.
That’s Entertainment.