As the title gives away obviously, here we have the Golden Globe Awards from January 2009, which means this awards show is over a decade old now and I think one reason why it is still somewhat possible to find and watch is because it was the year when Heath Ledger after his extremely untimely death dominated awards shows for his Joker portrayal. So it is a bit of a circle that closes as last year we had Joaquin Phoenix (another somewhat troubled actor with gigantic talent and his brother died under similar circumstances like Ledger) win his Oscar for playing the Joker as well. But at an earlier stage of the man's life. Anyway, I am deep into the matter now already, but I don't want to be, so let's go back to the basics again.. The show ran for comfortably over two hours and I think the running time altogether was pretty much exactly three hours even, so approximately a quarter of the show were commercials. Too much if you ask me, but sadly not an amount that is unusual. On the contrary, I think that now, over a decade later, this percentage has increased even. Anyway, I don't think I have to go much into detail what the Golden Globes are. Obviously one of the defining awards shows of the years in terms of television and movies and one of the biggest precursors for the Academy Awards too that usually take place between one and two months after the Globes.
They went hostless with this event back in 2009, which felt a bit unusual, but I did not mind at all. It may have felt a bit rushed at the very beginning this way with Jennifer Lopez entering the stage and announcing the first winner and not unusual either that they begin with one supporting category. There was a bit of a catfight though I felt with Lopez putting Amy Adams in her place as the latter was not yet really ready to start the show it seems and lopez was not too amused. It was probably not as playful as they wanted you to think it was, especially when Lopez misspelled Adams' name immediately afterwards. The first win, however, went to Kate Winslet and this was her big year of course. She managed the pretty unique achievement to take home the wins for Best Drama Actress and Best Supporting Actress. And she stayed on the road to success until the Oscars, even if it was "only" one win for her there and the other for Cruz at the Oscars. And the win there was for The Reader, here in supporting, at the Oscars in lead and Ricky Gervais knew all along as he lets us and Winslet know during his little presentation. He presented the film that Sally Hawkins won a Golden Globe for. I like her, so I am fine with that. But yeah, Gervais was at his usual hilarious self here. I think this show happened before he hosted the Globes himself several times, but it may have helped him in getting the job. I also would have loved to see him host that night in 2009.
Another big winner here was 30 Rock (Morgan rather unfunny), the Tina Fey show, and she herself took home the lead actress trophy. Worth mentioning because she went on to host the Golden Globes (with Amy Poehler) on several occasions too. The last occasion would be this year in 2021, even if they were not in the same spot because of the pandemic. But yeah, quality-wise the difference could not be any bigger honestly. The 2021 edition of the Golden Globes was absolutely unwatchable. This one here was fine for the most part. The worst moment of the night was probably Anna Paquin's win. I surely did not remember anymore she won a Globe for True Blood. Unreal stuff. This show is so bad and so is she. Going ham all the time. So yeah, the female winners that night were really not exactly a revelation. Or at least most of them weren't. Same applies to the two Laura who I both find pretty overrated. Especially Linney can be unwatchable at times. Dern is not as bad and at least her father is pretty gifted. I mentioned Gervais already who is always testing the audience, but same applies to Sacha Baron Cohen, who was also there that night. I think that nowadays he is much more politically correct, but this year is also a career year for him awards-wise. He has settled a bit with age. Compared to recent Golden Globe ceremonies, this one has one clear advantage. Back then, they still kept politics completely outside. I mean this was right after Obama's first election, wasn't it? It could have been a major factor here. But there was not a single mention. Just comes to mind because I watched the 2021 Grammy the other night and there were open statements directed at the new President Biden there. I despise stuff like that. It is so much more pleasant when they focus on the awards instead. Many other alright moments: Mad Men winning the core category made me happy. Also seeing John Slattery's bright smile there. I can deal with Hamm losing. Byrne is alright too.
Tom Wilkinson had a great night too. He was also nominated twice and even if he took home "only" one award (unlike Kate, okay her second acceptance speech and apologizing was a bit too much, but I believe she was genuinely surprised), it was a strong start to a memorable awards night for the historic miniseries John Adams. Always nice to see Giamatti win and with Tom Hanks associated with it, it's no surprise that it was a big triumph there. Surely had the horsepower and shame on me for still not having seen it. Besides, the director was a certain Tom Hooper who went on to Oscar glory not much later with The King's Speech although many are not too happy about that and preferred Fincher's The Social Network. But that was another year and story, kinda interesting to see though how Hooper here was not famous at all yet. It was also a big night for Indian cinema as Slumdog Millionaire turned out to be unstoppable pretty much. Dev Patel has had a great career since then, Pinto's could have been a bit better, she seemed like the bigger star at that point, even if Patel was the one and only lead. Colson's little reference about his girlfriend was funny oh and I see he was born in Argentina? Did not know that. Ledger I mentioned already and director Nolan accepted the award on his behalf. The Coens were also present, but not too dominant that time, a decent movie, but one of their weaker efforts surely.
Mickey Rourke I must mention. His mention of his dogs was downright sweet. I still think that Penn was as good or better in Milk and deserved the Oscar, but Rourke is surely the way more likable from the two. I don't think I saw it that way back then, but Rourke's praise for Aronofsky because he believed in him despite potential money issues was a memorable inclusion as well. Or when he thanks Sprinsteen. I am not too happy about The Boss' political approach in general, but he also took home a Globe that night for his song and I find the song very overrated and not a good and I am not mad at all that it was not nominated at the Oscars. The one from Slumdog Millionaire is infinitely better. Even the one from Wall-E probably is and it's one of my least favorite films from Pixar. What else? Streep was nominated as usual. I think she was the favorite in drama actress and not Winslet although in my opinion Jolie was the best. Shame how Kate forgot about her. Viola Davis and Amy Adams had big breakthroughs too with their nominations here.
Woody was still liked by awards bodies it seems despite his personal background and even Weinstein was liked and received a lot of applause when his name was mentioned. More applause followed when Rourke mentioned his dogs. I know I mentioned this inclusion already, but it was touching enough, so here we go again. How they were the only ones there for him at times or for men in general as he says. In Bruges is a great, great movie, but I definitely would have preferred Gleeson winning and not Farrell. Oh well, he had the more showy part. He did not seem too likable to me there though, also his little joke about his past did nothing for me. A better joke came from Seth Rogen on how it is sexism that he was not allowed to play a Gilmore Girl. That was basically the only inclusion for the entire night linked to emancipation etc. Right how it should be. Nowadays, the shows are packed with that and even more packed with references on how Black people do not get the praise they deserve. Interestingly enough, no other ethnicity is really mentioned. But yeah, I miss things the way they were back then. Oh I forgot to mention the people who made this. Donovan, Adelman, Shapiro and Macks have suck long careers, worked at these events already over 20 years earlier some of them. They have a combined 30 Emmy nominations and won zero. Unreal stuff. Okay, some of it happened after 2009. Adelman for example was nominated for the 2020 Golden Globes.
I still kinda like Winslet and moments like the one when she mentions having known DiCaprio since Titanic are truly sweet, 13 years back then, almost 25 now. Twice as long. They need to make another film together. Some more brainstorming until the character limits is there: Puff Daddy (or P. Diddy or Sean Combs) was a way more prolific actor at that point then I remembered. Haven't heard from him in a long time. Awards-wise, this ceremony was not a huge success, only got in once with the Art Directors Guild and lost the nomination too. Kinda ridiculous with how much better it is than recent Globe editions that scored Emmy nominations. Weird to see Neil Patrick Harris nominated next to Tom Wilkinson, never liked the former. He also went on to host several awards shows. Spacey was also still around back then, we see him briefly in a clip here with more hair still. Springsteen's Eastwood comment was a bit funny, but also a bit raunchy with how they have always been on different ends of the political spectrum. Really nice Clint is still with us in 2021. Jorge Camara, HFPA President in 2009, died last year. May he rest in peace. Really nice how short and on point he kept his speech. No rambling about diversity and equality.
They went hostless with this event back in 2009, which felt a bit unusual, but I did not mind at all. It may have felt a bit rushed at the very beginning this way with Jennifer Lopez entering the stage and announcing the first winner and not unusual either that they begin with one supporting category. There was a bit of a catfight though I felt with Lopez putting Amy Adams in her place as the latter was not yet really ready to start the show it seems and lopez was not too amused. It was probably not as playful as they wanted you to think it was, especially when Lopez misspelled Adams' name immediately afterwards. The first win, however, went to Kate Winslet and this was her big year of course. She managed the pretty unique achievement to take home the wins for Best Drama Actress and Best Supporting Actress. And she stayed on the road to success until the Oscars, even if it was "only" one win for her there and the other for Cruz at the Oscars. And the win there was for The Reader, here in supporting, at the Oscars in lead and Ricky Gervais knew all along as he lets us and Winslet know during his little presentation. He presented the film that Sally Hawkins won a Golden Globe for. I like her, so I am fine with that. But yeah, Gervais was at his usual hilarious self here. I think this show happened before he hosted the Globes himself several times, but it may have helped him in getting the job. I also would have loved to see him host that night in 2009.
Another big winner here was 30 Rock (Morgan rather unfunny), the Tina Fey show, and she herself took home the lead actress trophy. Worth mentioning because she went on to host the Golden Globes (with Amy Poehler) on several occasions too. The last occasion would be this year in 2021, even if they were not in the same spot because of the pandemic. But yeah, quality-wise the difference could not be any bigger honestly. The 2021 edition of the Golden Globes was absolutely unwatchable. This one here was fine for the most part. The worst moment of the night was probably Anna Paquin's win. I surely did not remember anymore she won a Globe for True Blood. Unreal stuff. This show is so bad and so is she. Going ham all the time. So yeah, the female winners that night were really not exactly a revelation. Or at least most of them weren't. Same applies to the two Laura who I both find pretty overrated. Especially Linney can be unwatchable at times. Dern is not as bad and at least her father is pretty gifted. I mentioned Gervais already who is always testing the audience, but same applies to Sacha Baron Cohen, who was also there that night. I think that nowadays he is much more politically correct, but this year is also a career year for him awards-wise. He has settled a bit with age. Compared to recent Golden Globe ceremonies, this one has one clear advantage. Back then, they still kept politics completely outside. I mean this was right after Obama's first election, wasn't it? It could have been a major factor here. But there was not a single mention. Just comes to mind because I watched the 2021 Grammy the other night and there were open statements directed at the new President Biden there. I despise stuff like that. It is so much more pleasant when they focus on the awards instead. Many other alright moments: Mad Men winning the core category made me happy. Also seeing John Slattery's bright smile there. I can deal with Hamm losing. Byrne is alright too.
Tom Wilkinson had a great night too. He was also nominated twice and even if he took home "only" one award (unlike Kate, okay her second acceptance speech and apologizing was a bit too much, but I believe she was genuinely surprised), it was a strong start to a memorable awards night for the historic miniseries John Adams. Always nice to see Giamatti win and with Tom Hanks associated with it, it's no surprise that it was a big triumph there. Surely had the horsepower and shame on me for still not having seen it. Besides, the director was a certain Tom Hooper who went on to Oscar glory not much later with The King's Speech although many are not too happy about that and preferred Fincher's The Social Network. But that was another year and story, kinda interesting to see though how Hooper here was not famous at all yet. It was also a big night for Indian cinema as Slumdog Millionaire turned out to be unstoppable pretty much. Dev Patel has had a great career since then, Pinto's could have been a bit better, she seemed like the bigger star at that point, even if Patel was the one and only lead. Colson's little reference about his girlfriend was funny oh and I see he was born in Argentina? Did not know that. Ledger I mentioned already and director Nolan accepted the award on his behalf. The Coens were also present, but not too dominant that time, a decent movie, but one of their weaker efforts surely.
Mickey Rourke I must mention. His mention of his dogs was downright sweet. I still think that Penn was as good or better in Milk and deserved the Oscar, but Rourke is surely the way more likable from the two. I don't think I saw it that way back then, but Rourke's praise for Aronofsky because he believed in him despite potential money issues was a memorable inclusion as well. Or when he thanks Sprinsteen. I am not too happy about The Boss' political approach in general, but he also took home a Globe that night for his song and I find the song very overrated and not a good and I am not mad at all that it was not nominated at the Oscars. The one from Slumdog Millionaire is infinitely better. Even the one from Wall-E probably is and it's one of my least favorite films from Pixar. What else? Streep was nominated as usual. I think she was the favorite in drama actress and not Winslet although in my opinion Jolie was the best. Shame how Kate forgot about her. Viola Davis and Amy Adams had big breakthroughs too with their nominations here.
Woody was still liked by awards bodies it seems despite his personal background and even Weinstein was liked and received a lot of applause when his name was mentioned. More applause followed when Rourke mentioned his dogs. I know I mentioned this inclusion already, but it was touching enough, so here we go again. How they were the only ones there for him at times or for men in general as he says. In Bruges is a great, great movie, but I definitely would have preferred Gleeson winning and not Farrell. Oh well, he had the more showy part. He did not seem too likable to me there though, also his little joke about his past did nothing for me. A better joke came from Seth Rogen on how it is sexism that he was not allowed to play a Gilmore Girl. That was basically the only inclusion for the entire night linked to emancipation etc. Right how it should be. Nowadays, the shows are packed with that and even more packed with references on how Black people do not get the praise they deserve. Interestingly enough, no other ethnicity is really mentioned. But yeah, I miss things the way they were back then. Oh I forgot to mention the people who made this. Donovan, Adelman, Shapiro and Macks have suck long careers, worked at these events already over 20 years earlier some of them. They have a combined 30 Emmy nominations and won zero. Unreal stuff. Okay, some of it happened after 2009. Adelman for example was nominated for the 2020 Golden Globes.
I still kinda like Winslet and moments like the one when she mentions having known DiCaprio since Titanic are truly sweet, 13 years back then, almost 25 now. Twice as long. They need to make another film together. Some more brainstorming until the character limits is there: Puff Daddy (or P. Diddy or Sean Combs) was a way more prolific actor at that point then I remembered. Haven't heard from him in a long time. Awards-wise, this ceremony was not a huge success, only got in once with the Art Directors Guild and lost the nomination too. Kinda ridiculous with how much better it is than recent Globe editions that scored Emmy nominations. Weird to see Neil Patrick Harris nominated next to Tom Wilkinson, never liked the former. He also went on to host several awards shows. Spacey was also still around back then, we see him briefly in a clip here with more hair still. Springsteen's Eastwood comment was a bit funny, but also a bit raunchy with how they have always been on different ends of the political spectrum. Really nice Clint is still with us in 2021. Jorge Camara, HFPA President in 2009, died last year. May he rest in peace. Really nice how short and on point he kept his speech. No rambling about diversity and equality.
