Did that Really Happen?: 2015 Golden Globes Best/Worst Moments

Evan Slead ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
It’s that glorious time of year where most movies to fill the local theaters are destined for award glory. The first night of recognition for 2015 came with the Golden Globes. Hosted for the third year (and final) in a row by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the night went smoothly and maintained its prestigious honor by its end. As lovely and exciting as the whole affair was, there were definite moments of great triumph and low lows. Here’s a list of the best and worst moments from the 2015 Golden Globe awards.

Best Moments

Tina and Amy’s Opening Monologue:

The night began with a bang once Tina Fey and Amy Poehler took to the stage. The always funny duo made sure to crack jokes at the usual Hollywood untouchables like Oprah Winfrey and Meryl Streep. One particular joke stood out however, involving George Clooney. George was present to receive the prestigious Cecil B. Demille award for his humanitarian work. At his side was his new wife, Amal Alamuddin, who happened to have her own humanitarian acts under her belt. Tina pointed out, “Amal is a human rights lawyer who worked on the Enron case, was an adviser to Kofi Annan regarding Syria, and was selected to a three-person U.N. commission investigating rules of war violations in the Gaza Strip. So tonight, her husband is getting a lifetime achievement award.” Beautiful Tina, absolutely beautiful!
The Diversity of Wins: There are years when the award shows can feel like a trek through a swamp hearing all of the obvious winners get called to give a speech. After the first few awards on this night were given out though, it seemed to be the switch hitter that people wanted. Shows like The Affair on Showtime snuck in to take Best TV Drama and Best Actress in a TV Drama. The Amazon sleeper, Transparent, also surprised viewers and attendees with winning Best TV Musical or Comedy as well as Jeffrey Tambor’s win for Best Actor in a TV Comedy or Musical. Even the films were a toss up with The Grand Budapest Hotel taking Best Film Comedy or Musical with Birdman on everyone’s mind as the winner. It made for an overall exciting and somewhat nerve wracking viewing experience.
Kevin Spacey’s Speech: After eight nominations, Kevin Spacey finally received the award he has deserved for years. Specifically for his role as Frank Underwood on Netflix’s House of Cards, Spacey has shown that he is an actor with unparalleled range and drive. Cracking a joke about finally winning, Spacey turned the moment to a heartfelt and inspiring story about always working harder. He spoke of his last encounter with Stanley Kramer, director of films like It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and the impact it left on him. Spacey had told Kramer of his love for his films, to which Kramer thankfully accepted but replied with, “I just wish my films could have been better”. In the end, Spacey turned that comment around on himself stating that he always wants to be better. A truly humble and honest acceptance of his work as an actor.

Worst Moments

Tina and Amy’s Screen Time: Oddly enough, Tina and Amy made it onto both the best and worst list. To clarify, this “worst” listing is not really their fault. When you have arguably the two strongest Golden Globe hosts on their last time for hosting, it would and should be obvious to spotlight them as much as possible. Apart from the opening speech, Tina and Amy only came out to address the audience a couple more times with shorter segments than most presenters were given. Every joke they gave landed triumphantly, however, the quick fall from them leaving the stage was felt big time.
Katherine Heigl Trying to be Funny: In contrast to the last mention of Tina and Amy, one presenter tried her hand at humor, but it just didn’t stick. Katherine Heigl compared all of the men in the Best Actor Film Drama category to men on a dating site. Of course each character has a questionable description, but Heigl said that she would choose any of them just from their picture. Now, it’s clear that someone else wrote the joke for her, however, the delivery was what destroyed any chance of chuckles. The writers should have written her a joke that would make fun of herself; now that would bring her back into the good graces of audiences. Granted, she probably would have thrown a fit at how the joke didn’t give her any chance of receiving an award.
Ruth Wilson’s Speech: Here’s another compare and contrast for the night. Spacey gave his heart felt and humble acceptance speech after eight nominations and no wins in the past. While Ruth Wilson gave a “I’m glad I finally got what I deserved” speech. Wilson won Best Actress in a TV Drama for her role in Showtime’s The Affair, which was a surprise win going up against powerhouses like Robin Wright and Julianna Margulies. Of course any actor is allowed to feel proud of their win, but to make the crux of their speech that they were glad to finally be a winner (after only been nominated once, ahem) was a tad bit childish. It was reminiscent of Melissa Leo’s acceptance speech rant a few years back about Union members deserving more awards.

Bonus Best Moment

Kate Hudson, Anytime: The cameramen love to show the stars chatting and laughing with one another when cutting to commercial breaks, and this year, Kate Hudson was a standout. Every shot of her showed her taking selfies and grabbing on different people throughout the night. She came to have a good time and boy did it look it.