5 Reasons to Watch the Golden Globe Awards
"The Golden Globes are fun. The Oscars are business."
- Warren Beatty
The 72nd Golden Globe Awards will be held on January 11. It will honor the best in film and television of 2014. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will co-host the event for the third consecutive time. (It will also be their last.)
The Golden Globe Awards is a good indicator on which movies will be nominated at the Academy Awards. The New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle release their picks before the Golden Globe Awards nominations are announced, but critics have an eclectic taste. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which selects the nominees and winners, takes into account those pictures that have done well in the box office. Nothing like balance, right?
The event is a few nights away, which is the right time to look at the history of this event. Some can be considered as good reasons to look forward to the awards night:
The HFPA honors the best in comedy and musical. Many critics call "Some Like It Hot" as the greatest comedy of all time. It's also considered as one of the best ever made. However, it was a winner in one (minor) category at the 32nd Academy Awards. This wasn't the case during the 17th Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Picture (Comedy or Musical), Best Actor (Jack Lemmon), and Best Actress (Marilyn Monroe). This is often the case for the other features that tickle the bones. So there's no reason to give more importance to those films that are nominated for Best Picture (Drama).
The HFPA once give an award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding. "The House I Live In" featured a young Frank Sinatra. It wasn't one of his most notable works, but this Mervyn LeRoy movie was the first recipient of the Best Film Promoting International Understanding award. (The screenplay by Albert Maltz was made to oppose anti-Semitism and racial prejudice.) It took place in 1946, right after the end of the World War II. The name of the category implied its significance. it would retire in 1964, but the mission would continue.
The HFPA can make a stand. In 2006, "Paradise Now" was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Hany Abu-Assad tried to humanize those who carried out the suicide attacks in Israel, which moviegoers would find it hard to understand. "The politicians want to see it as black and white, good and evil, and art wants to see it as a human thing," the director said. Ingmar Bergman also had a distinction in this category. (Six of his films won the Best Foreign Language Film category.)
The HFPA paid tribute to the best in British Cinema. The Best English-Language Foreign Film was given from 1957 to 1973. It was no coincidence that this period was a Golden Age in British Cinema. The winners included Sir Laurence Olivier's "Richard III", John Schlesinger's "Darling", and Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet". Tony Richardson's "Tom Jones", an adaptation of Henry Fielding's classic novel, was the winner in that category in 1964. It went on to win the Best Picture Oscar during the same year. The HFPA still honors the finest British films, along with the best of Hollywood, in the same category.
The HFPA set a trend on the red carpet. During the studio days, the Henrietta Award was given to the actress who was considered the World Film Favorite. There were also the New Star of the Year - Male and New Star of the Year - Female categories. These were long retired and there would be no reasons to bring it back. The paparazzi would be all over the venue.
