Barber-ism

You may have missed it if you happened to blink while reading / watching the news this morning, but the Golden Globes were announced last night.

Reading through the list of winners and nominees, I was struck by how I'd seen virtually every film in the Musical / Comedy category (with the exception of Hairspray) but almost nothing in the Drama category (except for No Country for Old Men). Talk about flashes of self-insight.

As a consequence, I have no opinion on the results in the Drama category. I am, however, amused and somewhat bewildered that Sweeney Todd won. Personally, I thought it was an extremely ordinary film, standard issue Hollywood entertainer complete with phony special effects and fake atmosphere, made bearable only by the sheer joy of Sondheim's lyrics. As for Johnny Depp's performance - look, no one loves Depp more than I do, but this is far from his best work. For half the film he seems to be channeling Christopher Walken, and the best thing you can say about his singing is that it's, well, courageous. All three of the other nominees that I've seen (Juno, Charlie Wilson's War and Across the Universe) deserve the award more.

I also think it's a shame that Diablo Cody didn't win for her screenplay of Juno. I suppose that's what happens when you mix original screenplays and adaptations of novels in the same category. I dare say No Country for Old Men is a better script, but it's a better script because it's 90% Cormac McCarthy.

I'm happy about Ratatouille winning best animation feature, and Diving Bell and Butterfly winning foreign language film (though I haven't seen 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days yet); and Bardem for best supporting actor and Blanchett for best supporting actress just seemed inevitable.

Sigh. I suppose I should get around to reviewing all the films I watched over the holidays. And watching There Will Be Blood. So much to do, so little time.