Celebrities work very hard. No really, they do. And therefore, they deserve pats on the back — namely, applause and little statues — each and every year. The most prominent of these metal accolades are the Oscars, which are handed out in March and are awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Golden Globes, held in January, act as something of a warm-up for the Oscars. They are awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which is made up entirely of working journalists. The most recent Golden Globes were handed out last Sunday, naming A Beautiful Mind Best Picture/Drama, Moulin Rouge Best Picture/Musical or Comedy, and Robert Altman as Best Director for Gosford Park. Russell Crowe and Gene Hackman took home Globes for Best Lead Actor while Sissy Spacek and Nicole Kidman won Best Actress.
The Golden Globes are sort of like the Cliff Notes version of the Oscars and the Emmys. Because they celebrate both movies and television, there’s no time for obscure awards for sound editing, animated shorts, and other minor categories that leave viewers scrambling for the remote control. It’s just the big guns: Best Film, Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Song.
However, some rather charming aspects of the Oscars are lost at the Globes in the press to keep things moving along — there are no musical performances, which provide welcome relief from podium thank-yous, and there is neither host nor hostess who reappears throughout the night to emcee. Granted, this spares us clich