Short and Sweet: Comedy Duos From Television and Film Steal Globes.
By
Da Talia
How do two women host a show successfully without hair pulling or mud wrestling? With quick wit and precise jovial pokes at Hollywood’s elite. The 70th annual Golden Globes surpassed expectations, crushed seemingly predictable results, and left the nominees believing it was anyone’s game. Host Tina Fey was straightforward and admitted that she works better as a duo than a solo; collaboration served her well Sunday night when she took the stage with co-host and ‘nemesis’ Amy Poehler. They knew their audience and they spoke with truthfulness that carried spunk but not cruelty. They are also not the type to force feminism and politics down an audiences throat, although they brought up some delicate ‘women’s issues’ about how the HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) is a ‘silent killer if left untreated’ like HPV. Poehler’s knockout monologue moment was when acknowledging Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow, “when it comes to torture I trust the lady who was married to James Cameron.”, she said. Fey’s kicker was when mentioning Anne Hathaway’s heartfelt performance in Les Miserables “I haven’t seen her so alone and abandoned since she hosted the Oscars alongside James Franco.”
Any award show is expected to get long-winded; trying to avoid this Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell dominated as presenters as they announced the nominated movies with a genius twist of improv. Asked by the producer to know something about the films they were presenting, so of course all they could do was come up on stage knowing ‘nothing’; Kristen out ‘Ferrell’s’ Will and Will out ‘Wiigs’ Kristen, the only person not looking the least bit amused… Tommy Lee Jones maybe still in character?
Aziz Ansari, being carried out by Jason Bateman, boasted about eating the best ‘weed biscuits’ obtained from the Downtown Abbey cast. Jonah Hill and Megan Fox had their moments but couldn’t compare because their timing was off, and their chemistry fell flat. NBC’s stars of late night, Jimmy Fallon and Jay Leno, took the stage together. Leno still melodramatically explaining himself for the Conan fiasco (Never get too close Jimmy he might want two hours.)
After Best Actress, a category in which both host were nominated, things got sloppy after they both lose and show up on stage with drinks in hand offering advice to the young women in Hollywood, “Taylor Swift you stay away from Michael J. Fox’s son!!!” The surprise winner of best actress Lena Dunham thanked all the women in her category for getting her through middle school, surely this doesn’t make her colleagues, Glenn Close being among them, feel old?
With a touch of charming narcissism Robert Downey Jr. presented Jodi Foster the Cecil B. DeMille award where she took the poignant moment to seemingly retire from the ‘stage’ and film. (Editor’s note: Backstage after the speech, according to The Hollywood Reporter, she said “No, I am not retiring. I could never stop acting.” She went on to indicate that her speech was meant to show that her work was still evolving.) She made the room laugh as much as she did cry, and left on a point that one should enjoy their privacy; in age where being wired is a societal norm it’s good advice for anyone.
The absence of Meryl Streep did keep all of Hollywood praising and joking at her expense all night, best done by star of Silver Linings Playbook Jennifer Lawrence “what does my award say…I beat Meryl Streep.”
I was a little disappointed Julia Louie-Dreyfus didn’t get in on any of the action or play into any of the gags as she did at Emmy awards this past summer. There were a few awkward moments as the cameras caught Quentin Tarantino doing an (intentional?) spit take, All the mumbles and the grumbles during the exchange between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone when they took the stage together, and Jack Black not saying much but every glimpse into the camera was a bit creepy. Ben Affleck should never had his wife Jennifer Garner finish his ‘thank yous’ after winning for best director, at least you will be a running joke this award season for something besides your past acting choices. I also didn’t know that J.Lo’s boy toy and boyfriend would actually get to sit in the middle of all the celeb mayhem or that Dax Shepard could get past security. As Amy Poehler eloquently put it, it’s the only time the ‘rat face people of television’ can rub elbows with movie stars.
“How do two women host a show successfully without hair pulling or mud wrestling? With quick wit and precise jovial pokes at Hollywood’s elite.” All struggling performers take note.
–JW