The Golden Globe Award is an American tribute bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) recognising excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign. The annual formal ceremony and dinner at which the awards are presented is a major part of the film industry’s awards season, which culminates each year with the Academy Awards. The 71st Golden Globe Awards, honouring the best in film and television for 2013, were presented on January 12, 2014, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, where they have been held annually since 1961.
The awards originated in 1943 when a group of writers banded together to form the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and created a generously distributed award called the Golden Globe Award. The first Golden Globe Awards, honouring the best achievements in 1943 filmmaking, were held late in January 1944, at the 20th Century-Fox studios. Subsequent ceremonies were held at various venues throughout the next decade, including the Beverly Hills Hotel, and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Profits from the annual ceremony have enabled the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to donate millions of dollars to entertainment-related charities, as well as funding scholarships and other programs for future film and television professionals. The most prominent beneficiary is the Young Artist Awards, presented annually by the Young Artist Foundation, established in 1978 by late Hollywood Foreign Press member, Maureen Dragone to recognize and award excellence of young Hollywood performers under the age of 21, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged
The Golden Globe Awards are as follows:
Motion picture awards
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Director
Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Best Screenplay
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Animated Feature Film (since 2006)
Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures
Television awards Awarded since 1956
Best Drama Series
Best Comedy Series
Best Actor in a Television Drama Series
Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series
Best Actress in a Television Drama Series
Best Actress in a Television Comedy Series
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
In terms of the winners for the best movies this year, the best drama movie winner was “12 Years a Slave” which concerns the true story of Solomon Northup. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life. I certainly look forward to seeing this movie.
The best comedy or musical movie winner was “American Hustle”. This is a fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock the USA. American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that’s as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. This one is less appealing to me.
The best foreign language film award went to the Italian film “The Great Beauty”. It concerns journalist Jep Gambardella, who has charmed and seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades. Since the legendary success of his one and only novel, he has been a permanent fixture in the city's literary and social circles, but when his sixty-fifth birthday coincides with a shock from the past, Jep finds himself unexpectedly taking stock of his life, turning his cutting wit on himself and his contemporaries, and looking past the extravagant nightclubs, parties, and cafés to find Rome in all its glory: A timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty. This one I shall definitely have to watch!
In terms of best director, the honour goes to Alfonso Cuarón for the film “Gravity” a science fiction flick, which tells of medical engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space. This one I would like to watch also.
The full list of awards can be seen on the HFPA site. Now that the
buzz is over for the Golden Globes, the film industry is anticipating the
Oscars, which may come up with a few surprise winners this year.
12 Years a Slave is a really good film.
ReplyDelete