The 72nd Golden Globes

Because I’m actually trying to legitimize myself as a “pop culture” critic, I attempted to multi-task and play Civilization: Beyond Earth while watching this year’s Golden Globes awards. I also felt compelled to watch as this was the last show to be hosted by the near-perfect when it comes to comedy, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Or as they put it, “The 72nd and final Golden Globes.” Obviously there were good jokes, bad jokes, and speeches that went on too long, but who won what awards is ultimately the focus on any award show. And like every year, there are there choices you agree with, disagree with, and ones you are indifferent about.

Couldn’t have picked better myself

To my surprise the HFPA and I were thinking along the same lines this year about which films, shows, actors, and creative professionals deserved to be called the best in their category. Normally I find that for the bulk of the award season, the awards go to films that I don’t think deserve them or deserved them but I didn’t quite like them as much as another film that was nominated. This year, whether it was because of the high quality of films or because I think they almost all deserve to win, the HFPA  and I actually agree on our choices for the most part.

In my end of year blog, I expressed my hopes that Boyhood would win the accolades that it deserved. It certainly did that. Winning Best Picture for Drama, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress, it won all the categories that I thought this masterpiece was worthy of. Sure it didn’t win best supporting actor or best screenplay, but considering the other nominees this year they had really tough (and good) competition.

What I also did in my end of year blog is forget that Grand Budapest Hotel existed, which is (even though I didn’t write it) one of my favourite films from last year. So when it won for Best Picture for Comedy/Musical I was absolutely thrilled. While I may not have 100% agreed with their choices for Best Actor for Drama and Best Animated Film, considering how great all the nominees were this year I can't really disagree with them either. 

Changed the Channel

While I definitely didn't miss the big awards, I got bored during a majority of the television awards. It's not that I didn't watch any of the shows nominated this year, I just didn't watch most of them. Playing Civ: BE probably didn't help, but as I talked to friends about this year's show and read tweets by fellow viewers, the Golden Globes did often lose its steam. Whether due to video games, lack of interest, or lack of laughs, I'll admit that I didn't watch the entirety of show with interest. But for what I was interested in, I definitely stopped playing and started watching.

End of an Era

As I said earlier in the post, one of the reasons to watch this year's event is for the spectacular hosts. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler once again brought the laughs to the Golden Globes. What makes this all the more special is that this will be indeed the last Globes to be hosted by incredible duo.  Funnily enough, during the Golden Globes countdown on NBC prior to the start of the award show, the hosts speculated that the Tina and Amy would hold nothing back. Well, the Bill Cosby jokes were definitely evidence of that. That said though, the jokes were great. Not only from Tina and Amy, but from the presenters as well (Ricky Gervais was surprisingly good). But the creme de la creme were definitely in the monologue. Especially the joke about George Clooney's lifetime award and the game of "Who'd you rather" as well. 

Part of my interest in any award show apart from the nominees is whoever hosts it. With Tina Fey and Amy Poehler moving on to other things, who knows who will take on the daunting task of hosting. Some have suggested Kristen Wiig and Bill Mader, which would hopefully keep the same type of humour in the show. Only time will tell. But with the 2015 Golden Globes now over and Margret Cho no longer costumed as a disgruntled North Korean, we congratulate the winners and thank Tina and Amy for a phenomenal job these past three shows. You will be missed.