Golden Globes 2010: Avatar named best film
Story by Jack Foley
JAMES Cameron was king of the Golden Globes again on Sunday night (January 17, 2010), when his sci-fi epic Avatar picked up two of the top prizes.
The “game-changing” box office phenomenon was named best film drama at the ceremony, while Cameron took best director.
Cameron’s win flew in the face of many of the season’s previous awards choices, where critics had largely opted for Kathryn Bigelow’s war drama The Hurt Locker or George Clooney’s Up In The Air.
But while those films had entered the ceremony with high hopes, both left largely empty-handed with Up In The Air scooping a best screenplay prize for co-writers Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner.
In what proved to be an awards ceremony largely dictated by popular choices, another of last year’s huge box office hits, The Hangover, also took the best film prize in the musical or comedy section.
Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock repeated their successes at Friday’s Critics’ Choice awards, meanwhile, by winning the best actress prize in the best musical or comedy and best dramatic categories, respectively.
Streep won for cooking comedy-drama Julie & Julia, while Bullock triumphed for sports drama The Blind Side.
In the main male acting categories, meanwhile, Jeff Bridges was named best dramatic actor for country music drama Crazy Heart and Robert Downey Jr triumphed for in the comedy or musical category for his performance as Sherlock Holmes.
Christoph Waltz and Mo’Nique were named, respectively, best supporting actor and actress for their performances in Inglourious Basterds and Precious.
And Pixar film Up was named best animated feature, winning an additional prize for its original score.
Actors Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio also joined forces to present director Martin Scorsese with a special award for his outstanding contribution to entertainment.
Scorsese, 67, described it as “humbling” to receive a prize named after Hollywood great Cecil B DeMille.
The ceremony, hosted by British comedian Ricky Gervais, was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 17, 2010.
What the winners said
Double winner James Cameron was ecstatic after winning the night’s top two prizes, gleefully stating: “This is the best job in the world!”
The filmmaker will view the awards as vindication of the faith he put in his ambitious and costly computer-generated fantasy, which has taken decades to realise.
His best director triumph even came at the expense of ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, who had been nominated in the same category for The Hurt Locker.
Cameron said: ““What we do is make entertainment for a global audience.”
But he did acknowledge Bigelow, adding: “She richly deserved it.”
Streep, who won in the musical or comedy category for her portrayal of TV chef Julia Child in Julie & Julia, said: “In my long career I’ve played so many extraordinary women I’m being mistaken for one!”
And Bridges also found humour in his best actor prize, stating: “You’re really screwing up my under-appreciated status here.”
But on a more serious note, he thanked his wife and parents and paid tribute to his late father, Lloyd Bridges, saying: “He loved show business so damned much, he encouraged all his kids to go into showbiz. … So glad, I listened to you, Dad.”
See the winners in full or check out our report on the TV winners
Cameron is Great in all over the world
Saif Jan 18 #