I have to confess to being an "Award Season" junkie. I love watching the various award shows and do try to see at least a couple of the pictures up for "Best Motion Picture". It's also the time of year I re-order and add to my Netflix movie queue. Of course, most of the movies that have nominees won't be out on DVD for a while yet, which makes the suspense all the more delectable.
It's hard to say which ceremony is my absolute favorite. Each one offers a little something different. For example: The Golden Globes has TV and movie stars all in one room. It's a overall, more relaxed affair, and this year was memorable thanks, in part, to the wonderful job of hosting accomplished by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. I suspect it's this "mixing" of big and little screen genres which has led to more and more movie stars showing up in television series. Not being an actor myself, I cannot say for sure, but I have often wondered if TV actors were slightly looked down on by their Silver Screen counterparts. If they were, I suspect that this prejudice has diminished as more and more Big Screen stars migrate to the the little screen. There was Keira Sedgwick in The Closer, Kevin Bacon in "The Following", Alfred Molina and Ving Rhames in Monday Mornings to mention just a few. I also suspect that it's this coming together that has begun to change how our entertainment is being delivered. Netflix has recently started producing it's own "TV series" which it releases all at once and it's subscribers can decide if they want to watch it in marathon fashion or in installments. Their recent offering, "House of Cards" based on an English production that ran in the '90's (I think), is riveting and stars Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey. Well worth watching! But I digress!
The next award show following the Golden Globes, is usually the SAG awards. What makes this award so special to the actors is that your fellow actors vote for you. Who doesn't like being recognized by their industry peers?! To my mind, the SAGs are a lovely mix of the Golden Globes informality but slightly tempered by Oscar-like formality. In between there are all the music industry award shows too. Which brings us to the culmination of award season in the Oscars.
I have to admit to just LOVING the Oscars. And the Red Carpet (or gauntlet) in particular. It's those cheesy red carpet interviews that give us a glimpse into the real person behind all the wonderful characters that you have come to love and drool over in the past year (or decades). This year was no exception. Kristin Chenoweth's interviews were so engaging. Choosing to steer away from the usual "what are you wearing" questions, she opted for fun and irreverent, which I think, better drew out the star's true personalities.
Seth Macfarlane did a great job of hosting and the show itself had some wonderful surprises. I loved that the theme for this year was Celebrating the Musical. It seems only fitting to pay homage to something that has been so integral in movies since the very beginning! I would like to add, that I just loved the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers-esque dance number performed by Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum. Totally dreamy! That's not to mention the wonderful music numbers from Chicago, Dreamgirls and my new favorite musical on the silver screen, Les Meserables. This girl was swooning and crying. I was so inspired, I almost broke out into my "dancing elephant" routine. It's when in my head, I am moving as gracefully as Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire but in reality, I look like a Elephant in a tutu. Sadly, all the magic of the award season is at an end now, and it seems that the entertainment world in general, is recovering from the swath of parties and dinners and parties and soirees and parties .... and did I mention parties. That's the only explanation I have for the sudden run of re-runs on almost all the television networks this past week. I know it will be pointed out that in actual fact, we are gearing up for "sweeps" weeks. However, I stand by my belief that it is networks recovering from really big hangovers from the indulgent glitz and glamor that makes up the magical award season.
A huge congratulations to all the winners! Thanks for making 2012 a really memorable year at the movies!
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