I watched the Critics Choice Awards, the best predictor of the Oscars ( I know this because it was stated by a presenter at least every fifteen minutes), and the whole show came in at two hours. It was nice and compact with everybody just winging it, some were good, like Eddie Izzard who was hilarious, while others like host D. L. Hughley were cringe inducing. On the whole the show moved along smoothlywith out any over the top production numbers or lame comedy schtick from presenters; the awards were given out, people said thanks and then the show ended. Perfect. In the wake of the Golden Globes being cancelled due to the boycott by the Screen Actors Guild, the tons of Hollywood acting elite showing up here has delivered a major blow to the Hollywood Foreign Press’ ability to influence the entertainment community.
Archive for January, 2008
I saw the other day how the Hollywood Screen Actors Guild will be boycotting the Golden Globes. That’s all well and good, not that I believe a $100 million a film movie star gives two bits for the writers, but hey, it’s good publicity. My main interest in this whole thing is why does the strike has to mean that the Golden Globes are in trouble? Conan O’Brien proved you can wing it and still do a show, sure it got pretty lame as it went on but that’s not the point. Not having a scripted out awards show could be a good thing. Bring out a presenter, he or she could rattle off the nominees for the category, rip open the envelope and announce the winner, the winner comes up, says thank you, and then gets off the stage. Why you could probably get the whole thing done in about an hour to an hour and a half. It could be a ground breaking, revolutionizing broadcast that other award shows would emulate. Which could benefit both film and TV, making a for nice, slimmed down package that doesn’t take up five hours of time waiting for the big awards at the end of the show.
I’ve been seeing a lot ads on TV lately for the Sly One’s new film, Rambo. My question is why another Rambo movie? Like the Govenator, Sly’s getting a little long in the tooth for these kind of films (Arnold must agree as I’ve seen he turned down playing everyone’s favorite killer cyborg turned bodyguard for Terminator 4). I guess I wouldn’t be so bothered by the new Rambo film if it wasn’t for the fact that ten years ago, Stallone said he wasn’t going to be doing anymore action films, as he felt he was getting too old and was going into more dramatic work. That lasted for one film, Copland (1997), I don’t begrudge him doing Rocky Balboa (2006) as it is his most popular character, and the series has always had hidden depths of character and dramatic potential. But John Rambo? The series hit it’s sell by date with Rambo: First Blood II (1985), and unlike Sean Connery, I just don’t believe Sly to capable of the physical feats shown on screen as he gets older.
