PARALLEL UNIVERSE: Memo to Hollywood Foreign Press Association: You get what you pay for at Golden Globes

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Monday, January 17, 2011 - 12:01 By David M. Kinchen

Deniro courtesy NBC

I started out my viewing of Sunday's Golden Globes program hating the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for dissing one of my favorite movies of 2010, "True Grit" directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.

I've already blogged about the wonderful score Carter Burwell wrote for this movie (Link:http://www.huntingtonnews.net/693). "True Grit" wasn't nominated in any category by the Golden Globes people. I'm guessing that the Academy Awards nominations will remedy this, with  several nominations, especially for 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld's evocative performance as Mattie Ross.  Both Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon were outstanding in their roles in the movie version of Charles Portis' 1968 novel that ISN'T -- I repeat ISN't  -- a remake of the 1969 Henry Hathaway-helmed movie starring John Wayne, Glen Campbell and Kim Darby.

Before the night was over, I was feeling sorry for the foreign journalists, especially for choosing a host, Ricky Gervais, who repeatedly insulted his host group, and for Robert De Niro's way-beyond-politically-incorrect mean-spirited comments about illegal immigrants: "I'm sorry more members of the foreign press aren't with us tonight, but many were deported right before the show along with most of the waiters. And Javier Bardem."


Gervais won't be invited back, I'm sure, but I wonder why he was chosen at all: Everybody knows the acerbic British comic -- an outstanding actor, by the way: I loved his performance in "Ghost Town" -- specializes in insulting just about everybody. He makes the late, great George Carlin and Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor seem positively tame.

Gervais's comments about gays and Scientologists weren't called for, in my humble, raised to be polite Midwestern experience.  It never actually happened, but my mother always let it be known that washing my mouth out with harsh laundry bar soap was a distinct possibility if I  used the wrong words.

I suppose the operative saying is "If you can't say something nice, go ahead an say it."
Could it be that I'm getting Politically Correct in my old age?  It's a possibility!

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