The Golden Globes

[Mylie]

I have to say, given the extreme over-hype of Little Women and Greta Gerwig, I was really surprised that she didn't get a Best Direction nomination, especially given her previous wins for Lady Bird.

I’m not. The Globes are awful when it comes to nominating female directors. She also wasn’t nominated for Lady Bird.

 

[Mylie]

@RachM No, she didn’t. The movie hasn’t won any oscar, though it’s been nominated (for directing and other stuff).

The film won best comedy and was nominated for other stuff at the Golden Globes, but Greta Gerwig wasn’t nominated for director.

Lady Bird (2017) - IMDb

Lady Bird Awards and Nominations

m.imdb.com

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

It doesn't shock me that they won't award a female director. What shocks me is that they don't nominate a token woman, just to avoid some criticism. They're either kinda stupid or really, really unconcerned about any kind of backlash.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

Just finished watching (ok fast forwarding thru) the Globes. Maybe the worst awards show I've ever witnessed. Thank gawd I didn't watch it live. The only saving grace was Gervais hosting. Absolutely no one I wanted to win did. 😩 Kaitlyn Dever gave one of the best performances of the last decade (in Unbelievable) and didn't win.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

One the one hand, it is good that they don't censure Ricky. On the other hand, the fact that they let him call them "really, really racist" suggests that it doesn't bother them the slightest to be perceived that way.

 

[Mr Trick]

Just finished watching (ok fast forwarding thru) the Globes. Maybe the worst awards show I've ever witnessed. Thank gawd I didn't watch it live. The only saving grace was Gervais hosting. Absolutely no one I wanted to win did. 😩 Kaitlyn Dever gave one of the best performances of the last decade (in Unbelievable) and didn't win.

Having only seen the results I'd mostly agree. Though it was a pleasant surprise seeing Laura Dern win. She's been one of my favourite actresses for years. I'd say she deserved her win at least.

 

[Anyanka Bunny Slayer]

The one nice surprise was Dern winning. Lets hope that translates into an Oscar (not sure it will the Lopez comeback story has Oscars written all over it). She should have won in 2007 for INLAND EMPIRE!

She's super cool. We were in the same elevator in my doctor's building on Bedford several years ago. We both towered over the other people, and gave each other that conspirital look that really tall girls do sometimes, when we run into each other...as she left, she gave me a big smile and said, "Have a great day!" 😁

Ricky Gervais had me in stitches. I loved the way that he DIDN'T suck up to the audience. In fact, everything he said was spot on!! He was the high point of the evening, no question.

 

[Bop]

Missing Link winning over The Lion King, Frozen 2, Toy Story 4 and How to Train Your Dragon 3 was such a shock!
Saying that I haven't watched Missing Link whereas I've seen all the others.

 

[Mylie]

My favourite win of the night was Brad Pitt for Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.

I still need to watch Fleabag and Unbelievable.

 

[RachM]

I have to say, having now seen Little Women, I'm no longer surprised that Gerwig didn't get a nomination, the direction of the film is ... odd, to say the least, between the jarring back-and-forth time jumps, the odd slow-motion effects she uses, the weird way she has characters dictate letters directly to the audience as if they're delivering a monologue and the many missed emotional beats.

I think that the film had a certain charm and it certainly wasn't a bad film but I don't think it's particularly award-worthy and, honestly, it feels like a lot of the hype surrounding it is because Gerwig is considered very "in" right now and not because the film is actually worthy of such hype.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

I disagree. I've only seen this iteration. Nor have I read the book. Frankly I doubt I'd even like a linear telling of the story, now.

@Mr Trick BTW - the Oscars also snubbed a whole gender this year for Best Director 😒

 

[Mr Trick]

I disagree. I've only seen this iteration. Nor have I read the book. Frankly I doubt I'd even like a linear telling of the story, now.

@Mr Trick BTW - the Oscars also snubbed a whole gender this year for Best Director 😒

Well no surprise there since the Academy nearly always votes the same way as the Globes. Still haven't seen Little Women so can't comment. Will be seeing it soon.

 

[RachM]

I disagree. I've only seen this iteration. Nor have I read the book. Frankly I doubt I'd even like a linear telling of the story, now.

For me, the non-linear storytelling really undermined the point of many of the scenes and prevented character development. Certain moments and events in the March's lives are there for them to learn and grow from, but the non-linear storytelling denied them this.

I guess if one hasn't read the novel this wouldn't really be an issue, but for me, having known these characters and this story for so many years, I felt the loss of those moments and the lessons learned from them and the characters felt stagnant and underdeveloped.

Also, I just found the time-jumps really jarring and unnecessary. Non-linear storytelling should service the story in some way, and have a purpose. A great example is the film Memento, which is centered around a character with short-term memory loss. The non-linear storytelling complements the character's memory loss and helps to make the story more intriguing for the audience, as we have to piece together the events along with the protagonist, culminating in a great pay-off in the final scenes of the film.

There was just no reason for Little Women to be told in such a manner, the non-linear storytelling didn't add anything to the story, if anything, it subtracted from the richness of the girls' lives and, as I said previously, prevented them from developing and growing in an organic manner. It also gave away too much of the storyline, for example, we find out in the first ten minutes that

Spoiler

Jo has turned down Laurie and that she missed going to Europe.

Both of these events are Big Reveals in the novel, and should have been treated as such in the film.

 

[Mylie]

I’ve read the books and I’ve seen the Katharine Hepburn and Winona Ryder adaptations and this is by far my favorite version of the story.

Honestly, before seeing it, I was questioning why we needed another version of this story, but I left the theatre so impressed with how Gerwig managed to tell this story in such a refreshing way. You can tell she loves those characters and spent a lot of time thinking about them. And also had a lot to say about the process of writing with Jo’s character and it made the story a lot more meaningful in my opinion. The movies goes meta on it’s own story and I think that’s a really interesting and new way to do it.

I’d recommend to people who want to hear Greta Gerwig discuss the choices she’s made in the movie to listen to her interviews on the podcasts The Awardist and The Big Picture.

 

[RachM]

You can tell she loves those characters and spent a lot of time thinking about them.

Isn't it funny how people see things so differently, I felt kind of the opposite, like she was focusing too much on the meta aspect and trying to cram in as many events as she could, and as a result, the characterisation got kind of lost along the way. Beth, Laurie and Marmee in particular really suffered, IMO. I didn't feel like these characters were written by someone who truly knew and loved them.

I did like this version, but it just lacked so much for me and I feel that by making her meta commentaries, Gerwig undermined some of the original characterisation from the novel.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think a woman should be nominated for a best director award just because she's a woman. There can only be a set number of finalist nominees, Why should a man lose out on a nomination (even if his film is better) just because he's a man? Nominees should be judged on the product they produce, not their gender. Being a woman shouldn't automatically give you a best director nomination.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think a woman should be nominated for a best director award just because she's a woman. There can only be a set number of finalist nominees, Why should a man lose out on a nomination (even if his film is better) just because he's a man? Nominees should be judged on the product they produce, not their gender. Being a woman shouldn't automatically give you a best director nomination.

They shouldn't automatically be nominated because there are some bad female directors, but if the possibility of discussing one being nominated then they should, by all means, be automatically nominated. It's just old Hollywood racism and sexism which prevents female directors from getting the representation they deserve. When the awards were created it was unheard of that a female would be able to direct a movie, hence the category best director instead of best director and best directess. It's just the status quo trying to maintain control over the industry, and wages, by these women not being automatically nominated and getting equal representation.

 

[Mr Trick]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think a woman should be nominated for a best director award just because she's a woman. There can only be a set number of finalist nominees, Why should a man lose out on a nomination (even if his film is better) just because he's a man? Nominees should be judged on the product they produce, not their gender. Being a woman shouldn't automatically give you a best director nomination.

I agree it should be done on merit. But the fact remains there are lots of great female directors now. Throughout the year there will be more and more great films directed by women. Also its a little odd that a film like Little Women will get lots of nominations in other categories yet the direction is overlooked. Cinema is considered a directors medium. There are exceptions. But normally if the direction isn't very good the film doesn't work half as well.

 

[Mylie]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think a woman should be nominated for a best director award just because she's a woman. There can only be a set number of finalist nominees, Why should a man lose out on a nomination (even if his film is better) just because he's a man? Nominees should be judged on the product they produce, not their gender. Being a woman shouldn't automatically give you a best director nomination.

I agree. In the same vein, a woman shouldn't not be nominated because she's a woman.

I'm sorry, but the fact that only 1 woman has been nominated by the Academy for directing this last decade (out of 50 nominees) is a joke.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

I'd agree, but to not nominate any when there are worthy ones. I for one would've nominated Gerwig (Little Women & Wilde (Booksmart).