I love the cutaways to Angelina Jolie because you can make up all sorts of unintentional fictional narratives (Evil Angie is pissed. Demur Princess Anne sees it and apologizes. Angie Still Pissed!) by projecting any emotion you'd like to onto Jolie's "I am a Goddess!" marble bust routine*. Loves it.
Bonus points: Every sentient being knows that Meryl Streep gives the best awards show acceptance speeches in the known universe so isn't it a riot that even when she's not there she ends up providing one of the best speech moments?
So, though I never in my life thought I'd hold up the BFCA show as a lesson to the Oscars --all of my qualms about them still stand: their show feels forced (Globe wannabe), the stars don't always show, terrible "host" decisions, weird categories that shift to honor something they want to honor [cough *new action film prize / TheDark Knight*] , and that embarrassing tendency to negate their own worth by downplaying criticism with their "we're just like you, everyone is a critic" montages and vocal "we predict the Oscars!" pride -- I do think the Oscar producers/directors would do well to note that what people care about @ awards shows is the celebrities and their emotional moments. How can you get this much drama and enjoyable narrative out of 45 second speeches with the orchestra interrupting them? You can't. Unless every winner is as quick witted and old pro cool as Meryl Streep. They aren't.Are you listening Bill Condon? Kill two or three of the usually five or six montages/tributes, kill any musical numbers that don't double as awards/category spotlights (obviously leave in the Best Songs and let Hugh Jackman have a short song & dance moment). You'll suddenly have enough time to let the winners cry/shake/laugh/freak out and eventually get to their coherent thank yous and thoughts.
Later today: Golden Globe predictions and more FB Awards
Also: the winner's list and that embarrassing Katy Perry moment
* Angelina's cool goddess pose transfers off the red carpet. It's been 491 days since she looked at me. I'm actually surprised I didn't spontaneously combust right then and there.
*
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Totally unrelated, but I finally got to see Reprise last night on dvd and I want to say thanks, Nathaniel, for continually spreading the word about the film. I loved it!*
*I was hovering around "Like very much" for most of the film, but then they played Le Tigre at the party and I just lost it completely.
I had to laugh out loud when I saw this clip on youtube. The bitchy face Angelina makes is hilarious. Did she really expect to win? And imagine her face when she doesn't win the Oscar, or doesn't even get nominated for it! Ha, to see this.
Oh yeah, Angelina is the definition of "Bish, plz".
I feared that Angelina's face was going to split open as her inner-Balrog clawed it's way out to devour Anne Hathaway.
Maybe Ayn Rand will be her salvation.
I have realized two thigns:
- Melissa Leo and Viola David are the nicest "new" actresses I have ever seen
- Jolie is such a bitch. I mean, she was looking at Hathaway like if she wanted to kill her.
Good win for both Meryl and Anne !!!
Correction: Viola Davis I missed the letter
"anon" ... inner Balrog. SO funny. I wish you'd typed a name :(
catherine --i'm thrilled to hear it. sometimes one can feel as if one is typing into the great void.
If Anne keeps giving that kind of speechs I can see going preety far in this race.
I don't know why, but there is teeny tiny part inside of me that tells me that anne hathaway might win the oscar
hathaway need another tiara a big shiny oscar type one
Anne's speech was 1/2 endearing, 1/2 annoying... endearing because she seemed genuinely happy to get it and made fun of how she was in the princess movies and never wins awards, and because she genuflected to Meryl for half of it, but annoying because it totally plays into the deglam/princess narrative that's dominated best actress all this decade:
Lightweight Hollywood princess makes good in shocking deglam role, proceeds to revert back to default "Lightweight Hollywood princess" default state during awards speeches. SO played out and annoying. I'm so over the princesses. Give me Meryl any day. Or better yet, Kate, who'll probably give us some dirty British humor.
The cutaways to Jolie were brilliant, though. Who are the people who scout the audience for juicy expressions and then focus in? Job well done. I almost want her to be nominated now just for this. And Nat, could you change her oscar picture in the awards pages to this stone-faced Greek goddess one? Please?
Though my favorite was when Anne was talking about all the brilliant actresses who WEREN'T nominated, and they cut to oscar fall-off Kate Beckinsale, who looked sad. Brilliant.
Angie didn't win. Her film won nothing. Her husband didn't win. His film won nothing. I wouldn't have expected her to smile ;P
I would hate of AMPAS nominate Jolie for Changeling, a poor role compared with A Mighty Heart.
For me it's Hathaway, Hawkins, Leo,Streep & Winslet.
But i would love to see Kristin Scott Thomas included (taking Hawkins or Winslet spots for example...)
Well maybe off topic but the Art Direction Guild nomination has been revealed.
Australia didn't get nominated !!!
the technicals was Australias strenght. Hope now they at least get nominated at the CDG
There are a lot of pictures of Angie and Anne together. I think your comments are nothing but trash gossip. You people are so evil.
loved all the wins except Winslet .. again category fraud...
I caught the first five minutes and the last 40 minutes of this show and it was horrifying.
Jason Alexander's weird emcee schtick. HORRIFYING.
Anne Hathaway's acceptance speech. HORRIFYING.
Even Viola Davis, who had her moment in the spotlight, was too giddy/disorganized for her own good (save her final line). HORRIFYING.
And I can't believe so many people showed up! It was all HORRIFYING.
Funny ;) I was going to bitch that animated films are always snubbed in art direction category before seeing these nominations.
Yay for WALL.E!
Are animated films eligible for Oscars in this category?
Howler
Angelina is so fierce I can't STAND IT! Ugh, she's so awesome. We're just living in her atmosphere gasping for pockets of air.
On the Globes web site, it just had a gold star by Anne Hathaway's name in lead actress drama. Ooopsy daisy, HFPA!
You know, if Angelina had a PR monster like a Stephen Huvane (Hathaway's), or PR agent period who was out lobbying to get her nominated, some of the thoughts you are transferring onto Angelina might make sense. But since she was snubbed last year, since she doesn't employ an agent to 'campaign' for her - just how do you come up with this stuff. I mean, I know it must be tempting to want to take one of the most famous actresses in the world down a peg, if you think she's the most conceited Global Humanitarian of all - but right now, this to me, is looking a LOT like nothing, not only THAT, it's looking a lot like the Jolie Golden Globe smear of 2007. Where oddly enough she got 'attacked,' for her expressions or lack thereof (SUPPOSEDLY) on the red carpet. They did a NYT hit piece, the infamous US 'Twisted Double Life,' - call me a conspiracy theorist, but this all looks VERY strategically planned, just like before. I'm glad Angelina has her children, Brad, and her good works, because Hollywood really works her over. Maybe the goal is to make her break down and finally sign with CAA (The Deathstar). If not that, it's to make Academy voters have a reason to not slot her. That's the primary one.
Yeah the BFCA's are odd. Selected by a bunch of small-market talking heads who'd kill for a job on E!
The show is usually a mess. But Nathaniel was right about the advice to Oscar. The only time you get real moments are during acceptance speeches.
anon 1:13 i actually love Angelina Jolie. so this isn't trash talking.
note that i did say you could project fictional narratives. "evil angie" being come people's perception of her diva-ness.
I'm just trying to have fun with awards season and you at least have to admit that Angelina doesn't exude "warmth" exactly you know.
still i L-O-V-E her goddess-ness. she was even like this the one time I saw her in person
This was one of the worst-produced shows of the last few years. Horrid.
I was not happy that Slumdog Millionaire won almost every award it was nominated for.
Anne was sweet when she won. Viola Davis accepting for Meryl was great.
Ooh, Angoie was pissed off. She thought she had a shot when Ben Stiller said it was a tie.
Meryl ows us a speech!!
I don't believe Jolie expected to win, so she probably isn't angry. Except if she thought "this girl won over me?".
Jim
donny. Word.
Angie looked more like she was trying to hold back tears. I think Anne invoking Mom's crying reminded Angie of her first big televised win, when she started her acceptance by saying "Mom, stop crying." After all, the 2nd anniversary of Angie's Mum's death is only a couple of weeks from now.
"loved all the wins except Winslet .. again category fraud..."
Eh. Her not getting nominated Revolutionary Road is awards fraud. Que sera, sera.
Something tells me Viola Davis was actually Meryl in disguise.
I think Nathaniel would like to be a Diva like Angelina. You can darling.You can put a nice dress, but you wont have Brad because something is missing in you. You bitch.
Okay, I don't know if you realized this, Nat, but now that you've posted that pic of Angelina along with your "comment du jour," we can watch her glare over at Hathaway through the ENTIRE speech. It's like a constant splitscreen catfight. Way to bypass all that pesky editing.
"Hathaway’s win (co-win) kicks her up to the next level, as they say in the biz. Right after the show ended and the cameras went off, she was congratulated by the always gracious Angelina Jolie, who didn’t win for “Changeling” but handled it like a pro. Jolie and consort Brad Pitt were also good sports when host Jason Alexander teased them during his opening monologue about the couple possibly adopting him.
Was it okay, I asked Alexander, since the joke was told right at their table and not from the safe distance of the stage.
“Yes, they went along with it,” said the one time Art Vandelay ("Seinfeld" fans know what I’m talking about). “Brad laughed, although they did look a little uncomfortable when I suggested snuggling in bed with them!”
Jolie, for her part, told me she agreed with me that Pitt was best this year in his comic role in the Coen Brothers’ “Burn After Reading.”
“I told him that, too!” she said. And don’t doubt Brangelina’s lightning star power. Their presence in a room full of stars from Clint Eastwood to Penelope Cruz is unmistakable. Flashbulbs pop in dizzying split second sequences, crowds form around their table and security guards mass along their border like soldiers in a war zone. No wonder every awards show from the Golden Globes to the National Board of Review wants them at a table. The couple is like a link to Hollywood's past glamour."
where is kate winslet's clip of her winning she is a great speech giver too she learned from the greats meryl n emma pretend it doesn't matter when deep down it really does.
PUT ANGELINA JOLIE ON YOUR GODDAMN WORST ACTRESS LINEUP.
kthanksbye.
Kurtis O... i realize everything when it comes to my blog ;) this thing is made with attention to detail damnit
mrripley --she wasn't there. Winslet didn't even arrange for anyone to pick up the award for her. They just accepted on her behalf
anon 3:13 would i like to be as much of a diva as Angelina?
who wouldn't?
;)
i predict that won't be the last time we see anne and viola standing next to one another holding trophies this season
Isn't it strange that Kate Winslet didn't even bother to send someone to pick her award? I mean, isn't one of the things to do pre Oscar to be out there and get attention? For example, Meryl Streep couldn't have done a better job than picking Viola Davis, it drew positive attention to both of them.
So, basically, the BFCA are hedging their bets that Winslet will be Oscar snubbed for Rev Road and will win for The Reader. Meanwhile they couldn't decide who would actually win best actress and so "tied" it for Meryl and Anne. What a revolting awards show. Disgraceful in every regard. Did the entire BFCA member group get up onstage to award Best Picture like last year? Vile.
nat is winslet getting nommed or are we looking at your best actress oscar line up.
lara what's more (and i'm sure it was an unexpected bonus) Anne's acceptance speech also doubled as a campaign speech for Meryl's 3rd win.
interesting development in a lot of ways.
mrripley whaddya mean mine? that's coming soon.
Anne Hathaway on stage.
Jolie is thinking :
"God, not that poor straight, girly girl"
Angelina! Aren't we all obsessed with you!
FIRST, the girl ALREADY has 3 GGs, 2 SAGs, 3 freaking CCAs, and 1 Oscar, which easily translates into one hell of an actress. Btw, her 12 yrs OLDER Mr Jolie has 1 GG!
Her "problem" is that there are no directors today that can handle her, this force of nature (Eastwood "fell in love" with her & did his best).
Streep is booooooooriing, zzzzzzz.
Anne (who?)? Please. She was in a documentary that Angelina directed and produced.
GOT IT?!
im eant the top 5 you have in your precicts
leo
streep
jolie
hathaway
hawkins
no winslet!!!
Balrogelina!
Then Meryl could have jumped up to interceed, but as Lindy Chamberlain and vanquished Balrogelina with her bowl cut and overly tweezed eyebrows.
You shall not pass!
"Her "problem" is that there are no directors today that can handle her, this force of nature" Lol, now that's an easy way out, "hey, I'm so good, so even when I'm not so good, it's your fault not mine" ;-).
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