This Sunday afternoon (L.A time, Monday afternoon for us) a who’s who of Hollywood, styled to within an inch of their lives, will step from their eco-friendly limos onto the red carpet for the first big award ceremony of the year, the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
This Sunday afternoon (L.A time, Monday afternoon for us) a who’s who of Hollywood, styled to within an inch of their lives, will step from their eco-friendly limos onto the red carpet for the first big award ceremony of the year, the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
The Golden Globes like to think of themselves as a bit edgy and irreverent - the “unpredictable” Awards. Which is possibly why, after insulting most people in Hollywood as the host in 2010 and 2011, acerbic British comedian Ricky Gervais has been invited back for round three.
Last year he really went to town, prompting President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Philip Berk to comment that Gervais "definitely crossed the line", and was not being considered for hosting duties again.
Berk’s comments might also have had something to do with Gervais claiming during the awards: "I had to help the HFPA president off the toilet and pop his teeth back in!"
So if he was, in the words of Robert Downey Jr., “mean-spirited” and “mildly sinister” last year why have Gervais back? Well, that’s easy; ratings. Since taking over as host of the Awards, he has increased the Golden Globes’ domestic viewership from 14.9 million in 2009 to over 17 million in 2011. Gervais is happy to live up to his controversial reputation and he creates ample publicity - the hype this time round began the minute he was announced as host in November.
This year nominees for the Golden Globes are more impressive than last year. It will be interesting to see if Alexander Payne’s moving The Descendants can fight off the middlebrow The Help for Best Drama, and whether anyone can touch Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher when it comes to deciding Best Actress for Drama. The Golden Globes are an intriguing precursor to the Academy Awards but, let’s be honest, the real draw-card this year is once again Ricky Gervais.
And very quickly, worth catching this week is our very own Marton Csokas (with a Welsh accent) staring alongside father and daughter acting duo Barry and Miranda Otto in South Solitary (Saturday 14th January, 8.30pm).
An Aussie romantic drama, At the Movies film critic David Stratton described South Solitary as “a very special film, both original and in its own way, quite a daring one”. It’s the work of director Shirley Barrett and is the beautifully shot story of a young woman and her uncle sent to the rugged South Solitary after World War One to run the lighthouse. Barrett has form, her debut feature Love Serenade (also staring Miranda Otto) won her the Camera D'Or for Best First Film at Cannes in 1996.
Enjoy.