Both of these movies were greatly overrated. So disappointing.
I have only one problem with this article and with some of the responses. Ali’s character was not as you might think from reading the above just a generic good black piano player. His name is Don Shirley and he was a nearly unbelievably talented musician who survived both racism and homophobia to make and record some amazing music- which in Mr Shirley’s subtle way was itself a rebuke. The ways in which classical and jazz intertwine in his albums is finally satiric. I saw him live once in NYC and I got so carried away applauding what I’d heard that Shirley gave me a little smile but also put his forefinger to his lips: thanks but let’s not get carried away here! It’s perfect that he lived in later years in one of the apartments above Carnegie Hall. Where he belonged, on both sides of the question: classical and jazz.
5
Happy to see Hollywood makes another progress this year by awarding Sandra Oh the Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama. But when will we see Hollywood awards a MALE Actor of Asian descent? Is it just so hard, almost impossible, for Asian male actors to make it in this white patriarchy movie industry?
1
Apparently many are shocked that Bohemian Rhapsody won last night over A Star Is Born, but I'm not. I saw both, and both movies have shortcomings, but BR connected with people on a level that ASIB did not. Malek turned in an all-time performance as Mercury, while Cooper seemed incomplete and one-dimensional, and Gaga - while seeming to draw on her personal experiences in her role - gave an above average performance for a music star in her first time out as a lead actress.
I've worked in the music industry for almost 25 years, and can appreciate the history and nuance of both stories...but BR is the first movie in two decades that had the word of mouth it did between all demographics and backgrounds...a throwback to the pre-internet era of person to person cinema buzz. Great films, even when they are flawed, make you feel something powerfully, and BR evokes a sense of kinetic beauty that leaves most in tears of harmonic inclusion and appreciation. After reading about the set-backs and upheaval in making the film, it is obvious that those who perservered to its completion had passion for it, and knew it was a special undertaking.
I feel there is definitely something magical about Malik's performance and Bohemian Rhapsody, and I hope they are recognized at the Oscars as well.
9
Dear Amie,
Courtesy of an 'Oscar' of a friend, who subscribes to the New York Times, forwarded to you and some others, as far as Africa and Jerusalem, the highlights of the Golden Globes last evening.
Here, I watched on the side, during the ceremony, a complex movie, leaving this viewer ambivalent although glad not to be back in the days of 'free love and may the force be with you'.
Glad that your recommendation "Green Box" won some awards; it remains on the top of my list to see, and sounds humorous and yet true. Would like to know more about the two actors who play the lead, and Miss Daisy here wonders if the put-upon famous passenger is originally from Jamaica.
We both enjoyed 'A Star is Born', but you will understand if it left me with a feeling of grief. Lady Gaga is the only musician that I have been following for the first time in years, and recommend her profile. She is far taller than 5'2, and extraordinary.
It's hard to believe that I never heard of Freddy Mercury in Queen until recently, and have been watching his live Aids Concert. Veena went to see 'Bohemian Rhapsody' last week, and was divided between the above and 'A Star'.
'Roma' is powerful and you have seen it before in many different ways. It would not necessarily appeal to an American audience, but for those of us who were brought up in transit, it strikes a deep chord of recognition.
Off to watch 'Happy as Lazarro', an allegoric story in the midst of reality. Greetings to you and family.
2
So many people praising "Green Book" is exactly way we still have a racial divide. These people cannot understand why some find it misguided if not offensive.
1
There must be a rerun of Elmer Gantry, The Hoax, American Hustle or The Grifters on some channel somewhere that would be worth more attention than The Greatest Show on Earth: Border Wall episode.
2
Jeff Bridges did in fact offer a deep thought, though he was a bit long winded in making it. He said there is a small rudder, called a trim tab, that makes the big rudder on a large ocean liner turn and he likened that to the power of the individual to make change in society. He did celebrate the joy of being alive, but he also made it a call to action, because you're alive you've been tagged, he said. As in 'you're it', the suggestion being, it's up to you to do what you are called upon to do. He was referring to one of his first big leading roles, in Micheal Cimino's "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot". He told the director he wasn't feeling the character and that he should be fired. In Bridges' telling of the story Cimino replied, "You know the game tag? Well, you're it. This character is coming through you. You couldn't make a wrong move if you tried." That vote of confidence set Bridges course for the rest of his life. Whenever he felt overwhelmed by a part or a situation in life, he would recall that fateful incident for motivation. It certainly had a profound effect on Bridges and likewise on any empathetic viewer.
3
Bohemian Rhapsody was an awesome flix
8
The GGs is a perfect example of how politics has ruined the arts. So many bad films win for so many bad reasons. Bohemian Rap was a passionless bore. What an insult to Freddie and his music.
I'll also mention that when one of the years best films isn't even nominated in any category(except score), you have to wonder how nominations are picked. First Man seems to have been eliminated from competition because it was a film about white men. Bad on the GGs. Bad on the international press.
4
@marrtyy Boo and hiss. Bohemian Rhapsody was perfect, and it in fact made Freddie and his wonderful music available to a younger group of fans. Maybe I'm just a hick from Virginia and you are, after all, from Manhattan and a trifle jaded because all the films made can be seen there?
First Man, however? I think we agree there. It was superb and got overlooked.
2
i love lady gaga, who is an incredibly talented artist, however in what weirdo alternate universe does her acting ability even remotely compare to that of glenn close?
14
With Mandy and Nicolage Cage's performance in that movie left off the nominees, the awards were a joke before they started.
Between a movie about musicians, and another movie about musicians, it is only logical that anything involving Freddy Mercury should win out. Full stop, no question. Congratulations Rami Malek and Queen members!
13
Am I in a parallel universe where good is bad and bad gets a trophy? What a bewildering Golden Globes this time out, starting with Andy Samberg’s utterly appalling joke about digging up Freddy Mercury’s teeth from the tomb to stick in Rami Malik’s mouth.
There were highlights barely mentioned here and well earned awards and lovely speeches from people who after all should be able to deliver one — BECAUSE THEY’RE ACTORS...
But overall I couldn’t help but recall Pia Zadora’s dubious win lo those many years ago, and so too I wondered exactly how some of these awards are selected. Drawn from a hat perhaps?
4
+ the americans. long overdue.
+ glenn close. she should win the oscar for this.
+ regina king. perennially unsung gem.
- nothing for blackkklansman. (insert puzzled emoticon)
4
The awards seem skavted to old timers and favorites. Lady Gaga should of dominated.
1
Patricia Arquette is missing from your winners' list. I wonder why?
4
and regina king should win oscar too.
2
Pleasant and straying from controversy = boring. One of the most boring Golden Globes emcees I can remember. Get someone with pizazz next time, or at least with a wicked sense of humor.
2
I loved "Greenbook" and think every American - of every color and race - should see it. African-American actor Mahershala Ali was exceptional, as was his co-actor Viggo Mortenson. The movie is based on a true story. Too bad awards shows do not have "best actor/actress duo" awards because they both deserved them. “Green Book” won best screenplay also.
“We’re still living in divided times,” said Peter Farrelly, who directed the film. “This story, when I heard it, gave me hope.”
The movie gave me hope, also, because the New York white man was such an "Archie Bunker" type and his counterpart was equally invested in "how white people are". The fact that - in real life - they came to understand, respect and even love each other is an example to all of us.
Of course there are "cliches" in the movie. That's how it was then. We need to accept how it was and how little has changed and work to get to really know each other - no matter what our color and/or race. We are all human beings. We are all Americans.
11
@njglea
You are right. "The Green Book" was based on a true story. Unfortunately, it was done with a "white" gaze. Mr. Shirley's family had been asked to participate in this movie repeatedly and refused. In fact they were opposed to the making of this movie altogether.
When Mr. Ali heard about this he apologized profusely to the Shirley family and said he was embarrassed to have appeared in the movie after he heard of their objections.
The project had been pushed aggressively for years by the son of Tony and apparently does not give a true account of the relationship between Don and Tony.
It is a movie about race only white people, especially Europeans can love.
1
@njglea Recommend going back and rewatching "In the Heat of the Night" for a racist classic that still holds true today.
@njglea
The Green Book would have rung truer if I’d seen it in the seventies or even the eighties.
I found it to be a very whitewashed look at the Jim Crow South.
Let's be clear: Roma was not a great movie. A friend and I saw it and we were perplexed. Reading reviews informed us that he was telling the story of his life. The acting was strained and inconsistent . My friend and I are both educated, worldly people and we had no idea what we had just seen. He should have just made a scrapbook.
A Star is Born was a wonderful movie and the director and stars need to be acknowledged for a tremendous effort.
That said, in my opinion, Bohemian Rhapsody is in a class by itself. I will see it over and over and I barely knew that Freddy Mercury existed except for his incredible masterpiece, the song Bohemian Rhapsody and of course the songs played at high school football games.
Just an an aside, I love Melissa McCarthy and went to see Can You Ever Forgive Me after seeing the great reviews. It is one of the only movies I've ever walked out of halfway. It was simply boring.
3
I’ve never being a fan of the Golden Globes. They always seems very inaccurate to me and questionable in movie taste -although all award ceremonies are one way or another. Last night was over the top with the triumph of a movie like “Bohemian Rhapsody” that it has been a success in the box office but weak in quality. “Roma” should have been the best drama movie, but ironically in a list of candidates prepared for a so-called Foreign group of voters a movie in a language other than English can not make it beyond the Foreign language category hence its absence in the competition for Drama.
1
Now that Hollywood has opted to divide itself by exclusive selling of over half it's offerings to these multi-billion dollar TV media corps., i.e. Amazon, Netflix, HBO, etc.. I'm no longer able to get access to see them like I would have had they gone to the neighborhood cineplex.
Once again, money rules. I haven't seen let alone heard of any of the winners. Oh well.
6
@RLC If by "neighborhood cineplex" you mean theaters that only show big studio movies, it's true that you won't get to see most award-nominated ones, which is a real shame. (This is true every year.) We saw most of the nominated movies, but most of them were at a theater that shows independent movies.
As to the TV shows, that's where it gets sort of ridiculous, IMO. There are so many I haven't heard of or seen, because there are just so many, and yes, at least half of them are on pay channels.
4
I enjoyed the broadcast and was entertained but what I don’t get is the drama and unbridled enthusiasm of the winners.
Who is the Hollywood foreign press? Why do they matter? And why should anyone get so worked up about being named by them as a winner?
Of course it’s nice to be recognized but to be so breathless and worked up over the win as if the good lord came down and named the performance some kind of genius act of humanity when it’s the faceless and unknowable Hollywood foreign press who otherwise have about zero significance in any kind of scheme of anything? The more narcissistic we become the more narcissistic we are.
6
What I noticed was that Billy Porter received a well deserved nomination for Best Actor in "Pose", but there were other actors in "Pose" that weren't eligible for nomination. For example, MJ Rodriguez who we could argue has the main role in "Pose" is transgender as is a lot of the rest of the cast. There is no category for them. Indya Moore and Dominque Jackson are also leads in the series, and both are transgender. In fact, Billy Porter is a minor character in most episodes. Years ago, many of us started referring to female actors as actors, not actresses. Is there a reason we have to have gender specific awards?
@Just Me
Well maybe so there will be more awards.
Most gorgeous actress: Alison Janney.
Va-va-voom at 59!
5
Seriously, not a single comment about Olivia Colman's Best Actress award for her role in "Favourite"? Maybe many did not see the movie which by far was the best performance by an actress. She was a knockout! A complete wonder. Yet, the media has almost zero coverage of her, as in this and many other articles. What gives?
17
@donethat
I love Olivia Colman. Wish I could have a cuppa with her.
She is absolutely WONDERFUL in the three seasons of Broadchurch, a British detective story.
1
The Globes confirmed what everyone has been saying: it’s a year with no front runners, and there are two or the real winner possibilities in every category of five nominees. A year of many strong performances, but overall no real “best picture” to get people excited.
A Star is Born is overrated. Pacing was too slow; Bradley Cooper doing a bad Jeff Bridges imitation throughout. Lady Gaga was stellar as always but where was her showstopper, bring down house number? The tunes were surprisingly weak.
8
@sonofzeppo Said no one ever.
1
Still not getting appeal of Roma ( and I’m part Mexican.) Slow and tedious, I learned almost nothing about it’s time and place.
Still hoping for Best picture Oscar for Black Panther which I thought truly was the best picture of the year.
And a huge shout out for The Kominsky Method. Hooray for old folks who are funny and memorable.
4
Perhaps “Green Book’s” greatest refutation of the charge that it is reliant on “racial cliches” is that Don Shirley’s very own music and playing is a unique amalgam of classical and elements of jazz and rhythm and blues, totally sui generis, and unlike anyone else’s. So much for cliches— racial or otherwise.
12
How Rami Malek and Bohemian Rhapsody won over either JD Washington and BlackKKlansmen or Chad Boseman and Black Panther I do not know. My daughter and I saw all of them and all I can say is Hollywood foreign Press should check their white privilege at the door. This was robbery!
6
I’m a little confused about what you’re saying. Rami Malek is the American-born son of two Egyptian immigrants. He is not white, and neither was Freddie Mercury. While I’m not saying Bohemian Rhapsody should’ve won Best Picture, I don’t see how it won because of whitewashing.
If I’m missing something here, I’d love to learn more and fix my ignorance!
5
Rami Malek isn’t white.
5
@Julian Arabs are indisputably white. There's no Egyptian race. I'd call him ethnically Egyptian.
1
I was glad to see Green Book win. It is much underrated by critics, and yet it offered both superb performances and an important glimpse of American history.
9
@Wiltontraveler
Forty years too late.
Good news: the absurdly overrated Star is Born did not win Best Movie (drama). Bad news: the movie that won the award is even worse. Speaking of which: I'm now seeing photos of Bryan Singer posted to milk containers. Has anyone seen this director?
5
I enjoyed the Americans, through the first 4 seasons, but it was increasingly tiresome to record the show and fast forward thru so many commercials.
2
Glad that Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody won.
Malek did a beautiful performance as Mercury -- he showed Mercury's sensitivity, creativity, confusion and absolute dedication to his musicianship. The recreations of the music and performances were beautifully done and the scenes of the off-stage Freddie were as compelling as those of the onstage Mercury.
Green Book -- two fine performances by two fine actors showing two men thrown together who were total opposites in every aspect of their being and, yet, two men who came away with insight about one another, the world, and the possibilities of what can happen when we see one another human beings. I don't buy the offense of showing "stereotypical" aspects when those stereotypes are used to make a valid point which is that many view the world and others via stereotypes and this film shows how wrong that it is to see others in that manner.
Shout out to Richard Madden for winning for his performance in "Bodyguard" in which he is outstanding. I've watched a lot of films in my time and have to admit that the six hours of "Bodyguard" are the most intense I've ever experienced and it goes directly to Madden's performance. If he becomes the next James Bond, he'll be an excellent choice.
18
"Divisive" Why is Greenbook described as "a divisive road movie about race relations" @brooksbarnes?
7
@Stanley Mosley: Because lots of critics hated it.
7
@stu freeman
Not just the critics. Many people opposed to it's very white point of view. Even some of the cliches ( fried chicken) were inaccurate. Many black people including Don Shirley's family were opposed to it.
2
After reading this, I'm so glad I didn't watch it.
5
Finally, a win for The Americans! This show has been snubbed by the Golden Globes and the Emmys for all of its six seasons. I guess a posthumous award--now that The Americans has concluded--is better than nothing. Too little too late!
15
The "Green Book" was a comedy? What funny parts did I miss?
6
"For a change, the big winner on Sunday was expected to be a movie that most people had actually seen: “A Star Is Born,” with roughly $390 million in global ticket sales. Instead, best drama went to “Bohemian Rhapody.”"
Poor journalism on show here. It clearly implies few people have seen "Bohemian Rhapsody", a film that's grossed almost exactly double the sales of "A Star is Born".
Facts are sacred.
29
@Karl Cassidy I was wondering the exact same thing! Even though "Bohemian Rhapsody" came out one month after "A Star is Born" it is quickly catching up in domestic sales. However Bohemian Rhapsody just blows all the other films out of the water in worldwide gross sales. Can't understand why that has not been reported in any of the articles I have seen.
Facts could be scarce because all of the critics that panned BohRhap--they look bad every day as the sales continue to roll in. At least the Golden Globes got it right!
7
"Diversity celebrated" or ...talent recognized when decades of social and structural prejudices have partially been dismantled?
6
This is a rather odd non-sequitur:
‘For a change, the big winner on Sunday was expected to be a movie that most people had actually seen: “A Star Is Born,” with roughly $390 million in global ticket sales. Instead, best drama went to “Bohemian Rhapody.”’
...which nationally and globally even more people saw, upwards of $700m and counting. Not sure what your point is here.
19
Well, the thing is—they’re wrong. Their numbers were wrong and that was unnecessarily shady. I emailed about this and I hope the section will be revised to properly clarify.
8
I knew Roma would win but the Shoplifters was the superior film.
2
Hollywood needs those egos massaged. So many more awards shows to come.. "You love me! You really love me!"
3
after all the coverage about equality, you put a use of Bridges not the legend and icon, Carol Burnett??!! tsk tsk.
3
As usual, pop culture won out over quality. As Prince would say, it’s the sign of the times.
2
Hurray for Sandra Oh!
8
Jeff Bridges is so zen! Be still my heart!!!!
7
“For a change, the big winner on Sunday was expected to be a movie that most people had actually seen: “A Star Is Born,” with roughly $390 million in global ticket sales. Instead, best drama went to “Bohemian Rhapody.””
This sentence makes no sense: are you saying that the award was expected to go to a commercially successful film, Star is Born? But Bohemian Rhapsody has grossed twice as much!!
I don’t understand the lockstep attitude of critics on these movies. To me, “Star” was a second-rate rehash if’s film whose basic narrative seems tired and dated (although Gaga was surprisingly believable as a new talent). “Rhapsody” was something else entirely, a highly original shot of joy that made for one of the most memorable film experiences ever.
14
@Julian: "Highly original"?; it follows the same tired narrative trajectory as virtually every other rock-doc.
5
The article covers all the important moments of the night. I always enjoy the link to click to view the fashions. I will mention that today, I can't view the description of the clothing due to the large and obnoxious advertising boxes- hence unable to read the words describing the clothing. Very frustrating. Please let your readers enjoy their experience of reading your paper and wonderful stories... try controlling the size of the ads from taking over the NY TIMES and the reader's experience PLEASE!!
12
@Linda H. I could not agree more. those huge ads are extremely disruptive to reading serious material in the times.
6
@Linda H.
In the red carpet slide show, to the right of the descriptions, is a slider bar that allows you to scroll down to read them in their entirety.
2
How academies vote will always remain a mystery to me. The criteria that allowed Bohemian Rhapsody to win as best picture over A Star is Born is a headscratcher for me.
And, honest-to-god I just do not see what all the fuss was about Roma, which i tried to watch three times due to all the hype about how brilliant the film was. I found it to be so boring I kept falling asleep.
4
I really don’t understand how “Green Book” could be described as “divisive” or reliant on “racial cliches”. If anything, it’s about divisiveness, what transpires when we are divided, and it mocks, critiques, and shows the utter foolishness of racial cliches. Dr. Shirley, played brilliantly by Mahershala Ali, instructs his driver, another star-turn by Viggo Mortensen, to write to his wife in a way that no one else could. Similarly, he says that his own playing of Chopin is unlike anyone else’s. Here, and elsewhere, the film champions individuality, uniqueness, being one’s own person. When Dr. Shirley’s driver mentions fried chicken and Little Richard as staples of African-American diets and listening, the movie isn’t advocating for such assumptions; rather, it’s depicting their utter mindlessness. When Dr. Shirley makes an impassioned speech about not being black enough, white enough, or man enough, and asks, then what am I? he, once again, is decrying the empty presumptions that attend such generalized categories. As far as the historical accuracy of the film, other than condensing the characters’ year and a half together into two months, I have seen nor heard nothing to suggest that its overall spirit and message has been in any way compromised. If we cannot even agree about the positive, uplifting themes conveyed by this wonderful film, then perhaps we, not it, are more divided and divisive than we know.
27
@Steve Griffith
This would've been a radical and assertive film in the early 60s. Today it's a palatable update of Driving Miss Daisy.
2
@DaveD
Exactly!
1
Movies for Adults
It's a very weak time for movies and television, everything is watered down and all the edge is taken out of everything, the scissors are taken out of the hands of the children, things are smooth and pills are sweet and go down easy. Maybe the movies and the TV shows of the 70s were so great because of the anarchy of the Vietnam years. When young men were being forced marched to Asia to die in vicious combat in fetid jungles, for a war, that to this day we still have no clear idea why we were fighting it. The war brought up a lot of questions. The rebellion of the young-the ones being asked /forced to fight the war, sparked a moment of unique creativity, a flash point of artistry. By contrast we live in a very comfortable time, and the arts are no longer needed to speak for the masses, politics are never an arbiter of the true happiness of a period of time, and President come and go, and as a group the American people would rather watch sweet little lies, they hear horrible truths. The Arts represent this, because the arts and audience go hand in hand, you must create what their is a market of interest for. If the mass of people prefer fantasy to reality than that is what we will see on the screen, the need for movies and TV to speak of the times, the real peeled back things that affect real people, that will always be needed, and these award shows are now becoming a spotlight to the necessary, and true movie art and movies created for Adults not children.
5
I'm happy to see the success of "The Americans" and of "Bohemian Rhapsody", two of my favourites from last year.
4
I'm not sure who considered it an "upset" that A Star is Born lost Best Picture-Drama, Best Actress, and Best Actor. It should have lost. Bohemian Rhapsody was a quantum leap better and deserved the awards it received. A Star is Born was a fine movie but it doesn't compare to Rami Malek and the story of Queen's rise to success.
18
I'm no movie critic--far from it--but happy to say I picked the movie winners---even Green Book, which I thought was overrated--and when I read the backstory on the truthfulness of the story---that alone should have disqualify it from best anything.
5
@Amanda Jones
The Green Book was a marvelous movie. I am 92 years old and lived in the South during my teens. The movie's theme was honestly and beauifully portrayed by excellent actors. I just wish everyone who wasn't there could understand the wise lesson taught by the movie-- to understand others is a way to love them!
Bravo to the producer!!! ..........Claire Whitley
2
Happily the quirky Globes are a harbinger of little - tho glad to see The Americans win - and will largely be remembered for Sandra’s adorably proud parents and Gaga’s dress. No way BR wins another big award....fun but lightweight and the Times’ Wesley Morris did a great job the other day of explaining what was missing.
2
I haven't seen the other movies, so I don't know who deserved the most awards, but the bad reviews of Bohemian Rhapsody almost kept me from seeing it. I'm glad I ignored them. Historical inaccuracies aside, it was a wonderful story from start to finish -- and I guess the audience watching it with me agreed because they actually applauded at the end.
Phooey on the critics. Hurray for the Foreign Press Association. Great job, Rami!
33
@Stevem
I'm with you! I also almost passed on Bohemian Rhapsody due to bad reviews - the NYT in particular. I'm so glad I saw the movie anyway. Loved it! Phooey on the critics. Great job, Rami!
21
@Stevem
We DID pass based on bad reviews. It’s not playing many places now. Hope the theaters will redistribute it. I really liked but did not LOVE “ A Star Is Born”. Gaga is great at anything she tries. I’m thinking maybe I just don’t like the story and how it winds up. Can’t blame the actors.
I might ruffle some feathers here. I found this show bland and unfunny. I applaud Kevin Hart for what he said on Ellen and I applaud Ellen. We have come to a strange place where any depiction between the races, sexes, etc., that offer humor and god-forbid hope are ridiculed and movies that only show how divided we are and people are either all good or all bad are to be praised. I get it, there is work to be done. But does every award, speech or editorial need to emphasize your sex, color, gender preference or disability before it begins? Does every award winner need to stress the importance of what they've done? I truly feel that in our overwhelming effort to emphasize that we are all just human beings, we are actually causing more and more subdivisions having the opposite effect. I know this rant goes beyond the Golden Globes, but free speech is free speech...at least I think it is.
28
I can't help feeling that the FPA comes up with these winners just to twit Hollywood. After all, what's so great about producing mindless entertainment to make gobs of money?
Delighted that Glenn Close won for a very interesting movie, The Wife. Hers was a really juicy role for an older actress - not an embarrassing comedy about seniors looking for love, robbing banks, etc., which I, as a senior myself, refuse to watch. I noticed the director is Swedish and the cast mostly British. But it had an American screenwriter - now, that's progress. Glad to see that the Globes are recognizing ethnic diversity on the screen - we need age diversity too.
36
These awards shows have politicized themselves to the point that they are offensive to a substantial segment of the population. I haven't watched any of them in years, nor do I plan to in the future.
4
@Dan Micklos They are offensive to a subset of the population, not a substantial segment.
28
@James Thanks for your opinion. I cannot find the ratings for last nights gala. But, even with an NFL playoff game in the preceding time slot, I suspect that YOY viewership will have once again declined.
@Dan Micklos
If you didn't watch, then why would you comment? Your comment gives awards shows credence. How do you not understand that? Besides, the GGs Sunday night, which was a good show, was not a font of politics. Or, are you one of those people who consider saving the environment political? There were tornados over the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles on Sunday? Just saying. That never happens, except in the movies, such as "The Day After Tomorrow" from 2004, which was about global warming and climate change. Turned out to be a very prescient film.
7
I loved the movie Green Book particularly because it was based on a true story. Be sure to stay for the ending credits as they show pictures of the actual characters depicted in the movie. I had no idea just how difficult it was for black people to travel in our country and what the Green Book was for and how much racial hatred endured in the South long after the Civil Rights movement. Green Book is a must see movie.
27
@Mary
I also loved the Green Book because the two main characters were so compelling; the movie doesn't preach, it brings you along for the tour, for the mundane, the tragic and the ridiculous.
I was trying to get my head around the use of stereotypes. That word is almost always used pejoratively, but we all use categories to organize our thinking about the world and other people. The Green Book took familiar stereotypes, and wrung them until you no longer saw the surface but the substance.
7
@Mary
The movie rendition of the story was not true.
@cheryl
You must have seen a different movie than I did. Brimming with stereotypes. Even the most blatant racism was whitewashed.
Anyone notice that the surviving members of the band that inspired the winning drama -- Queen -- were sitting just a few feet from the multiple-award winning singer/actress who named herself after one of their songs, "Radio Ga-Ga?"
38
@KB
Like, word. Only Darren Criss pointed out that Brian May was in the room. GaGa indeed.
The Dude abides. Jeff Bridge's speech was inspiring, smart and so fun you almost could miss the depth of it. Taking me role as a trim tab very seriously from this point forward.
34
PAGING RICKY GERVAIS! QUICK! This is what you get when you are afraid to offend anyone. Honestly, we had to turn this snoozer off less than 5 minutes into the opening "roast" (more like milque-toast).
This show has always relied on its irreverence to make a statement and to provide belly laughs, which were missing in action last night.
25
@Martykee
agreed completely, the beginning was rather boring.
5
Delighted Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody took top honors. I thought they were the two best movies this year.
Was especially happy that Green Book won best screenplay. There was an attention to craft, detail and dialogue that is rare in movies these days.
24
I watched part of the show, but felt left out for not seeing any of the award winning movies.
Need to catch up first to watch Bohemian Rhapsody by Rami Malek . I have seen the very fine actor in various other shows and movies.
What was with Nicole Kidman ignoring the young man in the award show ?
The most embarrassing moment, I suppose.
Next I am planning to watch the Green Book, seems to be an entertaining one.
6
It seems that Peter Farrelly, while congratulating himself on his liberal tolerance, forgot the basic lesson of Tolerance 101: Don't stereotype people based on region, class, or ethnicity. How else to explain his sweeping and misinformed claim that the Bronx Italian American in his film came from "a culture that didn't value diversity or individuality"? That claim was troubling to hear, and it's more troubling to witness the often warm reception the speech is getting. But anyone who finds themselves warmed by the purportedly tolerant message of Farrelly's words ought to interrogate how easily he or she, like Farrelly himself, finds it to stereotype working class white ethnics.
15
@Rocco Marinaccio I think perhaps Farally was speaking specifically about Tony Lip's immediate culture as shown in the movie in the scenes early on of his family and friends or work associates, not the larger culture. After all, he spent years working with Tony's son and reading Tony's letters, speaking with Tony's family, etc.
We all have many cultures that claim us as we claim them.
10
@Ms D. Here are his exact words: "Tony Vallelonga came from an immigrant family in the Bronx and from a culture that didn't value diversity or individuality." This is pretty clearly a sweeping claim about a "larger culture" of Bronx Italian-American immigrants (and their descendants), rather than a focused one about Vallelonga's immediate family. You may continue to disagree, but you might at least acknowledge that Farrelly, as a writer choosing to speak about tolerance at a very visible podium, ought to have offered significantly more nuanced commentary.
14
Other than the fact that you are clearly white and Italian, what expertise do you have to refute what Farrelly said about the Bronx Italian American community in the 50s and 60s? And why would a statement that the community was monolithic back then trigger you so badly? Must have hit home.
1
Finally! A movie and actor win that actually captured the audience it was intended for - people who buy the tickets! I have friends who went to see Bohemian Rhapsody several times who have never done that before. That movie left me with a love for Queen and Freddie Mercury that I never had before - and I grew up in their time. A good movie leaves us with a nice feeling; a great movie moves us profoundly. BR did that. Rami Malek transported us back in time and introduced a lot of us to a truly magical man.
44
Green Book is a people-pleaser of a movie. It opened months ago and is still playing across the United States. Bohemian Rhapsody, which has sold almost $750,000,000 in tickets around the world, speaks to every boy or girl who wants to be a rock star. Rami Malek is extraordinary as Freddie Mercury.
They aren't heavy movies or weighed down with pretension, they are just good entertaining films. Their wins prove once again that plain old-fashioned storytelling is not out of favor. Audiences want an emotional connection to the characters they're watching, and they get it with these two movies.
As for this new version of A Star Is Born, it begins strong but then meanders into silliness and imitation. There's no originality to it. I can't, for the life of me, understand why anybody would care about it as entertainment. It's calcuated, lumbering, and weakly acted by its female star.
It was padded beyond endurance, as if director Bradley Cooper felt he had to hit all the phony buttons to satisfy a crowd that only wanted to see Lady Gaga. Well, they saw her. Her fans bought tickets. But what they saw was shallow and superficial.
17
@Carmela Sanford
My feelings exactly. Filmmakers need to tell us a story. Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book tell emotional stories that inform us. If either wins the Oscar for best picture, I'll be happy.
I also loved Glenn Close in The Wife, a good movie as well. I'm glad she won. She deserves the Oscar for best actress.
I also loved everything about Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which captures a specific milieu of Manhattan in what seems like innocent times. Wow, how NYC has changed since the 1990s. Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant are outstanding.
As for A Star Is Born, come on, Lady Gaga can't act her way out of a paper bag. And what was all that silly stuff about her character's big nose? Just because Lady Gaga thinks she has a large nose doesn't mean it had to go into the movie. Did she and Bradley Cooper think that was realism? The movie is an overlong bad joke.
11
@Carmela Sanford - shallow?? was that on purpose? at any rate it made me chuckle.
1
@Fran Eckert
Yes, Fran, I meant it. Thank you for catching it. I hope others get it, too.
As a late 70’s senior, never really got into “queen and Freddie Mercury.” Only saw the film because of the unexpected rave reviews from my fellow seniors. I left the movie mesmerized and in awe of Malek’s performance as well as the performances of the entire cast. Absolutely outstanding! And a greater appreciation of Queen.
52
@Pvbeachbum try to catch Queen at Live Aid on Youtube...a 20 minute stunning performance...and the real thing!
4
Excellent. It’s stuns me how far movie critics were off about the film Bohemian Rhapsody, including your paper’s own. It was fabulous and deserves the honors it receives, not mediocre reviews from people who apparently saw a different film than I did.
39
I didn’t watch all of the show but what I did see of it struck me as pleasant, entertaining, and, strangely, non political. I think the big winner of the night, therefore, was Donald Trump.
5
Incorrect, @Tom Carlstrom.
The whole point was that he not be even mentioned in passing. The man thrives on attention - he got none. He lost.
62
Thank goodness there was little political hectoring. I am so tired of being lectured by that “group think” crowd. The same crowd that produces violence as entertainment and calls for gun control and objectification and harassment of women while lecturing us on inclusion. No thanks.
Stick to entertainment.
1
@Hugo: I guess I mean “Donald Trump” to be symbolic of the political idiocy rampant in our country. It was significantly missing.
Rami Malek was breathtaking in Bohemian Rhapsody. That movie transports the viewer to that concert. Go enjoy it!
50
I am dismayed that I had no option to see Roma in a theatrical setting and I refuse to join Netflix to “screen it” on my mobile device or TV. That said, I was entirely satisfied and very pleased with Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book as winners. They are both hugely entertaining and involving films evoking strong emotional resonance. The acting and technicals in both films are first rate across the board in my view. More films like these please.
20
Your refusal to watch anything on Netflix is petulance @CAP. How sad.
3
Odd set of results. The Rotten Tomatoes website gives Bohemian Rhapsody a 62% critics' ranking (and 48% among "top critics"). Green Book gets an 81% ranking among critics.
Going by this same measurement, BlacKkKlansman receives a 95% ranking, The Favourite 94%, and Roma 96% (which should have qualified for best drama).
How to explain this? Isn't the Hollywood Foreign Press comprised of many critics? In light of these idiosyncratic results, perhaps this awards show has gotten far more attention than it really deserves.
8
Many of the Foreign Press writers are features writers, not critics. They regularly nominate and vote for films and TV series that are less well regarded by critics than than those acclaimed by Oscars voters.
4
@Brian. It's true that Bohemian Rhapsody did relatively poorly with the critics. Yet the global box office is nearly $750 million which is an insane number for a movie not based on a comic book.
As a professional screenwriter with many produced credits, I can tell you what audiences look for and what critics look for are rarely the same.
The best reviewed movie of the year is Roma. I have tried to watch it multiple times, but I find it too slow and self-indulgent to get through. Meanwhile, Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book were pure joy.
21
@Sparky Good points. I personally take a dimmer view of the whole thing.
I realize we live in an age when expertise is devalued, but critics bring a professional knowledge and an understanding of the craft of filmmaking. The movie-going public tends to favor overblown spectacle and cheap thrills. This awards show seems to be going the way of the Grammys, favoring mass taste over genuine artistry.
8
Not one bit disappointed in the outcome from the Foreign Press.
Rami Malek took us to a man who was energized in ways most of us will ever know. But for a few minutes in that theater, we got to know Freddie Mercury very well. That’s supposed to happen at the movies. It was real. We felt, I think, what was very intended. A best movie, yes.
“Green Book” took us to places most of us we hadn’t been. But we got to know those places, too. We felt them. We felt the strife of racism, even for a movie’s couple hours, if we didn’t know it in our own lives. We felt the difference between two entirely different characters, their backgrounds, their beings. A best movie, yes.
We go to movies, not because they’re going to be awarded. We go to movies to go to another place in our minds, for even just a short while. When a movie makes you feel you got to the place of its intention, it’s reached its goal. Some do, some don’t.
Thanks “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Green Book” for taking us all the way to where you wanted us. That’s why I go to movies.
Even if for only around 120 minutes.......
97
I simply loved Bohemian Rhapsody. when it was over, I said to my friend, this man deserves an Oscar for such a performance.
Before awards ceremonies, I like to read up on critics, many of whom had soured on Vice and also panned Bohemian. Some said Malek's performance was too mechanical, and never showed you the "real" Freddie.
Wasn't that the point for such an elusive, enigmatic celebrity? Malek is a sensitive character actor who really throws himself into roles, I think he captured the essence and pain of this magnetic and creative singer.
To my delight he won, but I don't expect the same on Oscar night. Far more voters, far more special preferences.
50
Ms. Burnett’s song is “I’m so glad we had this time together.”
And Mr. Bridges got into something “deep” toward the end of his speech, urging audience members to be “trim tabs” helping to steer the metaphorical boat (of our nation) back on course.
Rami Malek gave the best speech. I’m very happy that Freddie Mercury was acknowledged.
65
@Jill O.
Thank you for recognizing the "trim tabs" metaphor that Jeff Bridges used during his speech, even if Mr. Koblin didn't get it.
It was classic Jeff Bridges to urge resistance to the direction of our nation in such a philosophically Lebowski sort of way.
50
Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody were the best my movies I saw this year, but as usual, their designation made no sense. Both were dramas; not comedies.
And if Green Book were a musical, so was Rhapsody and A Star is Born (both designated dramas).
29
I wasn't surprised that the remake of "A Star is Born" didn't win big at the Golden Globes. I'd seen the previous version of this movie with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson , and this newest version was done well, but wasn't noteworthy, nor memorable as the previous versions. The first original version was the best of all. I did see Green Book, and although it was very cliched, it was better than A Star is Born.
12
@Majortrout, mostly agree. The original version is the only one worth watching. And primarily for the superb performances of Garland and Mason. Such a maudlin story, I've no idea why it keeps getting remade. Glad the HFPA didn't see fit to honor it last night over other choices. (Their one mistake was stiffing Kendrick Lamar's excellent 'All the Stars', while rewarding the syrupy 'Shallow'.)
7
@Marathonwoman and @MajorTrout - the original A Star is Born was made in the 30's and starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. The Garland/Mason version was the first remake.
19
Thanks, @Fran Eckert, My bad. Garland/Mason was still the only worthwhile version.
4