Golden Globes
Who’s afraid of Ricky Gervais?
In a deadly dull awards season, Hollywood actually needs an edgy Golden Globes performance to get people talking
Actor Ricky Gervais (Credit: Mark Blinch / Reuters) In the lead-up to Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, all eyes are on the return of host Ricky Gervais — specifically about the snark that earned him a career-enhancing dose of notoriety when he took some swings at his fellow celebrities at the same ceremony last year.
Gervais is in the New York Times Magazine, where David Itzkoff explains his comedic swings from kind impulses to mean-spirited rawness. In Vulture, Willa Paskin worries that all the focus on Gervais’ edge is leading him to buy his own hype, obscuring the fact that he’s very much a part of the club he got credit for lampooning. NBC’s own ad campaign features Gervais talking about how controversial it is for him to be back. In as much as the 2012 Globes are must-see television, it’s supposed to be because of the man riffing at the podium, rather than the artists who will deliver grateful speeches from it.
All of this may cast the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the force behind the Globes, in Gervais’ svelter-than-in-the-past shadow. But given past experience and ongoing challenges to the group’s credibility, the smartest place for the association to stand may be out of the direct spotlight.
First, asking Gervais back makes the HFPA look confident and self-aware rather than prickly and insecure. At the ceremony last year, Gervais didn’t exempt his hosts from his barbs, lampooning the Globes for nominating the luxe-but-lukewarm “The Tourist.” “I haven’t even seen ‘The Tourist.’ Who has? It must be good because it’s nominated, so shut up,” he joked. “I’d like to quash this ridiculous rumor going round that the only reason it was nominated was so the Hollywood Foreign Press could hang out with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. That is rubbish. That is not the only reason. They also accepted bribes.”
At the time, members of the HFPA were angry enough for someone to go to the gossip columns and complain that Gervais wouldn’t just be banned from hosting the show again — his projects would be blacklisted, too. But punishing Gervais for something everyone has long assumed is true doesn’t dispel that belief. Especially not after the association fell all over itself to lock in George Clooney’s attendance this year, nominating him not just for his performance in “The Descendants,” but for directing and adapting the decidedly mediocre political drama “Ides of March.” It’s easier to defuse allegations by laughing them off than by trying to quash an embarrassing truth your host shared with 17 million people.
Having a sense of humor over its attempts to reel in a little talent would put the HFPA and its audience on the same footing going into the event. There’s nothing wrong with serving up entertainment with a healthy side of cheese. Or with acknowledging that the Academy Awards will always hold pride of place — and refusing to let that prevent you from having fun. There’s ample middle ground for someone to claim in between taking yourself deadly seriously and drenching your guests in literal slime, like the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.
And Gervais is more likely to provide an entertaining show than the results of the awards ceremony itself. The Globes play a role in the horse race on the way to the Oscars, but the nominations this year make for a singularly unexciting set of contests. In some categories, it’s difficult to care which already-anointed actor will walk off with this year’s trophy. When it comes to the best actor award, Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio (nominated for the underwhelming “J. Edgar”) and Brad Pitt’s careers will all continue on their merry way without a statuette, and Michael Fassbender and Ryan Gosling are on trajectories steep enough that a loss wouldn’t slow their rise. In others, snubs like “Breaking Bad” in the best drama category mean the wins will inevitably be hollow. Victory comes cheaper if you don’t claim it over your true competitors.
The best the Golden Globes can ever hope to achieve is second place in the hierarchy of awards shows. And that’s where Gervais comes in. But in collaboration with Gervais or a host like him, the HFPA — whether it intends to or not — is producing an awards show that combines our contradictory attitudes toward celebrities. First we get them in the room, and then we cut them down to size.
Searching for Oscar hints in Golden Globe nominations
Is "Dragon Tattoo" off the list? What about Spielberg? Salon critics analyze the picks with an eye on the future
Andrew O’Hehir:
Since the Golden Globes nominate both films and actors in two streams of categories — what they call “drama” vs. “musical or comedy” — they have the luxury of not winnowing down the awards race at all, and just handing things out promiscuously. So you have to look at the Globe nominations and ask, in effect, “Which of these things does not belong here?”
For instance, I have difficulty believing that “The Ides of March,” “50/50″ or “Bridesmaids” are legitimate Oscar contenders, and all three of those just got best-picture nods from the Globes. (Given that we don’t know how many films the Academy will nominate, I suppose their presence creates intriguing possibilities.) Similarly, there were some improbable nominations in the acting categories. No one seriously expects Brendan Gleeson or Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Kristen Wiig to be among the nominees on Oscar night — which is not in any way a suggestion that their work doesn’t deserve it. I’m strictly playing horse-race analyst here.
Continue Reading CloseGolden Globes nominations announced
"The Artist" leads the pack with 6 nods, including Best Picture (Comedy or Musical)
In this film publicity image released by The Weinstein Company, Jean Dujardin portrays George Valentin, left, and Berenice Bejo portrays Peppy Miller in a scene from "The Artist." (Credit: AP/The Weinstein Company) BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Silent film is taking over Hollywood’s awards scene. The silent-era tale “The Artist” heads the Golden Globes with six nominations, among them best comedy or musical and acting honors for its French stars, Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo.
Tied for second-place in Thursday’s nominations are the 1960s racial tale “The Help” and George Clooney’s Hawaiian family story “The Descendants.” Both films are up for best drama, while Clooney was nominated for best dramatic actor and “The Help” earned acting slots for Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain.
Continue Reading CloseGuess who got invited back to host the Golden Globes
Ricky Gervais dropped some jaws with his Golden Globes performance this year. And they want him back
“Hello and welcome to the 68th annual Golden Globe Awards live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. It’s going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or as Charlie Sheen calls it: breakfast.”
Expect more of that next year. The Hollywood Foreign Press wants Ricky Gervais and his headline-grabbing one-liners back on stage next year. The British comedian drew some criticism for being a meanie with a performance during which “decades’ worth of skepticism and resentment bubbled to the surface.” Gervais stood by his borderline offensive, somewhat derogatory and sometimes just plain hilarious jokes.
We stand by the hope that maybe, just maybe, next year’s Golden Globes, Ricky will reunite with his early 80s glampop band Seona Dancing.
And in case you haven’t seen it, here’s this year’s terrific opening monologue.
Adam Clark Estes blogs the news for Salon. Email him at ace@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @adamclarkestes More Adam Clark Estes.
Ricky Gervais’ career as an ’80s glam-pop star
Svelte, sexy and somewhat androgynous, the cheeky Golden Globes host has always had an edge
Ricky Gervais acted as one-half of the British glam-pop duo Seona Dancing in the early '80s. Today, in fun things on the Internet: a very confusing doppelgänger that we thought was a prank. It’s true. Ricky Gervais started his career in a glam-pop band.
Though the Internet has known about this for a while, interest over Ricky Gervais’ polarizing performance at the Golden Globes has stirred the skeletons in the closet. Nearly 30 years ago, a slimmer, prettier Gervais stole the hearts of millions as lead singer of Seona Dancing, a British New Wave group. (That’s pronounced “shawna dahn-cing.”) Along with Bill Macrae, Gervais started the band in his last year at the University College, London, and enjoyed a moderate amount of success. Seona Dancing topped the charts — or rather showed up on the charts at No. 79 — with their hit “Bitter Heart.” The video pretty much sums up a lot about the ’80s:
Continue Reading CloseAdam Clark Estes blogs the news for Salon. Email him at ace@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @adamclarkestes More Adam Clark Estes.
Gervais stands his ground over Globes performance
Maybe Americans still just don't get British humor..
Ricky Gervais is shown during the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Credit: AP/NBC, Paul Drinkwater) Academy Award hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco are unlikely to be seeking tips from Ricky Gervais.
The British comedian was brash, profane and cruelly funny at Sunday’s Golden Globes, delivering his trademark humor as promised for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in his second go-round as host of the ceremony that has “butt-talking” appearances by Jim Carrey and Jack Nicholson in its history.
At its heart, pairing the right host with the right awards show is a delicate form of matchmaking. The relationship should be unpredictable but not self-destructive, capturing TV viewers and Nielsen ratings without alienating the stars who come to be celebrated.
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