Gravity And Her Give The Golden Globes A Shot Of Sci-Fi
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As science fiction fans, we’re a lot that is used to seeing awards shows come and go without much attention given to the most imaginative of all film genres. This year’s Golden Globe awards ceremony was a nice change of pace in some ways, while remaining horrendously stubborn in others. For one, Tina Fey didn’t even get to make a string of Star Wars jokes, and that’s all we really watched this show for, wasn’t it? But let’s start off with the good news, since it’s always more fun to fall than climb.
Director Alfonso Cuarón took home the trophy for his extraordinary work in the space thriller Gravity, which was by far the most effective 3D film I’ve ever seen. While that in and of itself isn’t grounds for an awards victory, it’s a definite mark in the “check column” to me. Cuarón deserves as much trophy-form praise as he can get for the years he put into creating the seamless special effects that hurtle stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney around in space. It’s the first time Cuarón was nominated at the Globes, which somehow didn’t recognize the genius Children of Men back when it was released. Unfortunately, Gravity‘s story was nowhere near as deep or complicated as his previous works, so it lost out in the Best Picture category to the stellar historical drama 12 Years a Slave.
In case you missed Gravity during its initial theatrical run, it’s headed back to theaters on January 17 for a “Hey Oscars, don’t forget about me!” campaign. View the trailer for the billionth time below.
Next up, the boundlessly imaginative mind of visionary writer/director Spike Jonze was recognized in the Best Screenplay category for his “man/electronic voice love story” that answers to the name Her. This is the rare movie that looks almost like someone just reading the script while alone, since it involves Joaquin Phoenix forming a romantic relationship with an operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
This was the second time Jonze was nominated for a Globe — his first was for directing 2002’s Adaptation — and he was up against some pretty stiff competition in the form of 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, American Hustle, and Philomena. It’s interesting that both 12 Years and Hustle took the Best Picture awards for Drama and Comedy, respectively, yet Her beat them both in the written form. Plus, Jonze’s acceptance speech was genuine and amusing. You can currently catch Her in theaters, and you can watch the trailer below.
Unfortunately, the lone sci-fi nomination in the TV categories was less successful. While it seemed like Orphan Black‘s Tatiana Maslany was a lock for Best Actress, at least to anyone who marveled at the actress’ multi-character work in the excellent BBC America series, the powers that be thought that Robin Wright’s work in Netflix’s political drama House of Cards was more deserving. While Wright was absolutely deserving of her nomination for her warm but calculating performance, Maslany’s ability to create and balance her roles as a handful of mysterious clones was the most consistent thing on TV in 2013. She deserved the win. We deserved to celebrate.
I guess I’ll save all my jubilance for Orphan Black‘s return on April 19. Check out the second season’s latest teaser trailer below. Maybe next year, Tatiana.
