The Oscars and The Golden Globes

AND THE WINNE IS...THE SAME PERSON!

Source: Speak Up

Making predictions is rarely a good idea as there is a strong possibility that you will be wrong. It’s difficult in sports matches, where there are two teams to choose from, but it’s even harder with film awards like the Golden Globes and the Oscars, where there are five nominees per category. Politicking by studios and actors that want to win and less forecasting by Hollywood journalists and deep secrecy by voters cloud the results for all unitl awards night.

THE GOLDEN GLOBES

The 83^rd edition of the Academy Awards (which are organised by AMPAS, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) took place at the Kodak Theatre on February 27 . Often – but not always – the Golden Globe Awards, which are held six weeks earlier, are a good indication. The members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (FPA: these are not the same people as the 6.000 members of the Academy of Motion Pictures.

COLIN FIRTH

British actor Colin Firth dominated Hollywood’s major awards this year, winning “Best Actor! For The King’s Speech at both the Globes and Oscars. The film is directed by Tom Hooper, who directed another “true life story.” The damned United. It the Damned United was about English soccer, then The King’s Speech is about the Royal Family. Firth plays George VI, the man who reluctantly became King of England (in 1936), when his brother, Edward VII, abdicated to marry an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. George VI (who was the father of the present Queen) had a problem, he stuttered and this became particularly traumatic when he had to address the nation on radio during the Second World War. The film tells the story of his relationship with Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist. Logue is played by Geoffrey Rush, who was nominated for (but didn’t win) a Golden Globe or an Oscar for “Best Supporting Actor.” The film itself lost the “Best Picture” race at the Globes to The Social Network (aka “the Facebook movie), but won top prize at the Oscars.

JAMES FRANCO

James Franco was in a unique position on Oscar night serving a co-host of the show while also being a “Best Actor” nominee for his part in Danny Boyle’s disturbing movie. 127 Hours (that prize went to Firth). Boyle is famous for films like Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, but this is far darker. Like The King’s Speech, 127 Hours tells a true story, that of Aron Ralston, a mountaineer in Utah who was obliged to take “drastic measures –i.e. amputating part of his arm with a penknife! – when he was trapped by a boulder. The films based on Ralston’s book. Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Language fans may like to know that this is a colloquial expression for a difficult situation, but in Ralston’s case it was literal.

PAUL GIAMATTI

The Golden Globes divide films into two categories: “Drama” and “Musical” or Comedy.” The prize for “Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy” went to Paul Giarmatti for Barney’s Version (he  wasn’t among the five nominated for the Oscars). The film, which won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Festival, is based on the novel by the Canadian Mordecal Richier, sadly Richler died in 2010, but his story now lives on in cinema, thanks in part to the talent of Giamatti.

NATALIE PORTMAN

We apologise for dealing with the ladies last (and not first), but this is a Hollywood convention and not ours. Nowadays the word “actress” is considered politically incorrect: female stars are also “actors” The Oscars began in 1929 (and the Golden Globes in 1944) and so the female category in the award ceremonies is still called “Best Actress.” Natalie Portman won the Golden Globe for “Best Actress” in the “Drama” section, for her portrayal of an obsessive ballet dancer in Black Swan, and Annete Bening won the “Musical and Comedy” Golden Globe as a lesbian mother in The Kids Are All Right…On Oscar night there was just one “Best Actress” award to give out, and Portman beat Bening  and three others for the prize.

Among 11 award categories where the Globes and Oscars overlapped, eight winners were the same, reinforcing the popular theory that the Golden Globes are a good predictor of who’ll win the Academy Awards.