Here’s a good list of all the winners at the Golden Globes with pictures. I can’t wait to see Lincoln when it comes out – always loved Daniel Day Lewis’ work, not to mention Game Change about the truly appalling former Governor of Alaska. Down here in the backwaters of the known universe we need to wait awhile for such joys, but they will be here soon enough.
Jodie Foster accepts her lifetime achievement award
Jodie Foster was up for a lifetime achievement award, which seems a bit early given that she is only 50. Mind you, she started so young that it seems like she’s been around forever. I always loved Peter O’Toole’s response when turning down such an honour from the Academy Awards – “Tell them I am not dead yet.” Still, Jodie obviously felt it was valuable, so good on her.
I would just like to say that her speech, which I have seen called “rambling” and “bizarre”, (which means, of course, it simply went over the heads of the entertainment hacks writing their reports), was, in this writer’s humble opinion, the most elegant and beautifully turned speech I have ever heard at an awards ceremony.
She completely stole the show, which is saying something, because it was a good show. In particular, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were inspired hosts, and to Poehler goes the award for by far the funniest line of the night – back announcing William Jefferson Clinton she asked the hagiographically excited audience, wide eyed, if they realised “that was Hilary Clinton’s husband?” Bang. That is comedic satire approaching genius.
Anyhow, Jodie Foster made a clever, witty and impassioned speech in praise of her industry, her friends (to whom she seems much more wedded and loyal than most “stars”) and to her own right to privacy, which I applaud.
Whether or not Ms Foster is a lesbian, a bisexual or straight is no-one’s business but hers unless she chooses to make it so. Her skewering of the obsessive cult of personality that has surrounded her for nearly all her life was apposite, and yet warm-hearted, witty and intelligent. Little wonder her directorial efforts have often garnered as much praise as her acting.
She seemed to float the idea that she was retiring from acting, although she later apparently denied it. I trust not. She is as compellingly watchable being funny as she is being angry or scared, as her performances always combine a certain awe-inspiring intensity of focus with a solid dash of humanity and humility.
Oh, and an honourable mention to Will Ferrell, too. He really is such a funny, funny guy.
What was your favourite moment from the evening?
Well, This Is What I Think 
Jodie was wonderful. A rare breed. The “Hillary Clinton’s husband” gag was pretty awesome. As was saying Kathryn Bigelow would know a lot about torture after being married to James Cameron for three years. Telling Taylor Swift (whom i adore, but admittedly has shagged her way through a fairly impressively long list of celebrities in a remarkable short space of time) to stay away from Michael J Fox’s son wasn’t a bad moment either.
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Yes, I loved the Taylor Swift line too – and the look on Michael J Fox’s face 🙂
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