Golden Globes 2019

I love the Golden Globes, usually, and watched the whole thing. Except of course, the last ten minutes when my DVR cut off right as Rami Malek started to speak (Best Actor, Movie). That's always the way it goes.

First, I'll say, while I love Sandra Oh and have no feelings whatsoever about Andy Samberg, I think they were really lackluster hosts of this type of event. I wanted to think they were funny but I didn't. It was great that Sandra was the first Asian women to host, and her parents were adorable. The two of them were kind of awkward and just weren't FUNNY. I'm sorry- we're used to Ricky Gervais, and it being a bit of an uncomfortable roast by a drunk uncle at a holiday dinner. Even Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler had a bit more edge and were just more comfortable being up there. Sandra is beautiful and accomplished, but for a drunken award show with a history and reputation for being bawdy and rowdy, these two just didn't do it for me. I only really know Andy from Dick in a Box so that's my small frame of reference. Dick in a Box was infinitely funnier.

I'll give them that they had a few money moments. Not enough moments though.

I meant to write a month ago, when we saw both A Star Is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody. We couldn't WAIT to see A Star Is Born. We got a babysitter! I LOVE Lady Gaga. I like Bradley Cooper. I was so resistant to going to see Bohemian Rhapsody. I didn't know much about Queen and I didn't really care. Movies are a big commitment for me in respect to my time and brain power. I get into it in the theater but before going, I'm always thinking of all the other things I should be doing with that time. When I watch TV, I can multitask. I listen. With a movie, I have to really watch.

Let me preface this by saying that I've never seen any of the three earlier incarnations of A Star Is Born. I didn't even know the story. All I knew from the trailer of this one is that it seemed to be a story about an established male singer bringing a newbie female up. After seeing A Star Is Born, I can say the following positives. Lady Gaga looked beautiful all stripped down. It was very refreshing to see her like that. She can act. I think she did a great job with the material she was given. Bradley Cooper did a great job and he really embodied that character. It was the first time, for me, that he wasn't playing the same character he has in every other movie.

Now for the negative. The major negative. It was a terrible story! Not terrible as in, depressing. Terrible as in, there was no connection. This movie has been done FOUR TIMES. I don't know if the others went exactly the same, but I assume they kind of had to, or the movie would be six hours long. None of the characters were developed, therefore the story wasn't developed.

The beginning was great. You had her relationship with her father, which wasn't fleshed out in any way. I don't know if it was said and I missed it, but we didn't know what happened to her mom or what her life was like before. So we had no real reason to root for her from the jump. It wasn't like we saw her REALLY struggling or whatever. She worked in a Drag club. She wasn't on the street or in some dingy apartment eating Ramen though. She lived with her loving dad.

Then, she meets Bradley Cooper and he just scoops her up and puts her on stage and she's a star? I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for something awful to happen, which didn't happen, until the way end. But they just got together. No push-pull, no chase, no real adversity. Even his addiction didn't see ALL that bad. Then there was this whole side wtf of her starting as some kind of singer-songwriter and then she went into a whole Britney Spears pop tart thing. It was really disconcerting.

It was also really hard to tell how long of time was passing between events. It seemed like a whirlwind with no build up to anything. The meet- she's on stage! Five minutes later, she's a star. She wins a Grammy! We didn't see the background of him and his brother. I didn't even realize it was his brother until a decent amount of time into the movie. I thought it was just someone who worked with him. Also, parts of the movie made it seem like it was set in the 70's or 80's but they had iPhones, so it had to be now.

I just found the whole movie to be disjointed and without feeling. I don't think I really cared that he died at the end. I didn't know he was dying either. It just seemed so weird for him to do that. Because they were supposed to be so in love and there was no cheating or taking breaks or whatever, it just seemed to come out of left field. You have to remember this is coming from someone who had no clue what the story was going to be. We cry at The Voice. I'm pretty sure neither of us shed one tear.

Now- Bohemian Rhapsody, I just was lukewarm about going because I didn't even realize how many songs I know that are by Queen. I went somewhat unwillingly and we took E. I was riveted and I didn't want it to end.

I think I liked it so much because it was like a giant warm fuzzy. Yes, Freddy Mercury had a lot of adversity and died of AIDS, but the movie was really like a tribute. It wasn't salacious and you really got the sense of how much the band loved each other, even when they felt Freddy had been a dick. That's an age-old story where the lead singer gets to big for his britches. In this story though, he comes to realize his mistakes, apologized and they were able to get over it. It was really awesome to see that.

I really enjoyed seeing how they started, how they made the music, and how he was so charismatic and dynamic. Seeing how they used their strengths and weaknesses to be a team and create was inspiring. It was really nice to see how they stuck together against the powers that be to make the music they wanted to make.

I also found the connection between he and Mary Austin to be fascinating. It seemed like Freddie was like a light that everyone couldn't help but want to be around. You really rooted for him personally and the band.

At the end of Bohemian Rhapsody, even though it had already been out in the theaters for about a month, everyone was cheering and clapping. I've only had that happen in a few movies and I can't remember what others. I just know it's happened maybe three times to me. This one totally deserved it. I'd have to look up pics and videos of Freddie Mercury, which to be honest, I haven't, but I feel like Rami Malek did an outstanding job embodying Mercury and really doing him justice.

I was watching The View this morning, which is what prompted me to write this, and Meghan McCain was talking about how Lady Gaga and A Star Is Born were robbed all around. No surprise that I disagree with Meghan on pretty much everything anyway, but I couldn't disagree with her more about this. Maybe Lada Gaga could've won for Best Actress- I didn't see Glenn Close in The Wife (the movie she won for). Gaga did do a great job. However, the movie itself had a sucky story and didn't deserve the win.

Other noteworthy things- Not all the actors I was rooting for won. A guy I never heard of in a show I've never heard of won over Matthew Rhys, who I felt should've won for The Americans. I always feel like if someone is nominated in a show that's over, they should most likely get it since they don't have another chance. They were good enough to be nominated so they should get that honor. He was consistently overlooked and that was a great part, and a great job by him. Keri Russell was in the company of so much talent, while I think she definitely deserved it, I'm sure Sandra Oh deserved it too. Both B and I were crying just from how cute her dad was when her name was called. I was really happy for Regina King too. SHE should've won in the past for other shows. Really, she should've won for Southland.

I was really happy The Americans won since it's over. I'll miss it. I was happy for Rachel Brosnahan for Marvelous Mrs Maisel. She doesn't seem to have much personality in real life though, so that's a bit of a downer. Alas, the award IS for acting, and she clearly acts her butt off, so she deserved it. I haven't seen the show that won, so it's hard to judge, but I still think Maisel should've won for comedy. Alex Borstein is amazing as Suzie so I can't see Patricia Clarkson being more deserving. Jason Bateman should get his own category for being great in everything. I still think Matthew Rhys should've walked away with the Globe, but Bateman was also robbed. Too much talent in one category!

Last but not least, Christian Bale's speech was EVERYTHING. I didn't see Bale as Dick Chaney in Vice yet, but I will. I'm sure he turned in another stellar performance, and the speech alone was reason enough to give him a statue.

"Thank you to Satan for giving me inspiration on how to play this role."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/politics/christian-bale-satan-dick-cheney-vice/index.html