Celebrities Come to Ricky Gervais' Defense After Globes

Cinemimi[Wednesday,January,19,2011]
"The folks who put him on the Globes have no right to complain," Tweets Larry King; Jon Stewart jokes he’s "offended that a comedian could be that funny."


Celebs have come to Ricky Gervais' defense after he was criticized as a Golden Globes host.

Twittered Larry King Monday -- the same day HFPA president Philip Berk told Gervais was "crossed the line" : "The folks who put him on the Globes have no right to complain about Ricky Gervais. He does what he does. Why should it surprise them? You agree?"

30 Rock actress Elizabeth Banks wrote: "I thought RG was hilarious. Actors can take it. We have thick skins."

Jon Stewart quipped on his Comedy Central show Monday, "[I'm] offended that a comedian could be that funny at an awards show."

Damon Lindelof, a writer for Lost, which Gervais skewered on the show, Twittered, "In case you forgot what made David Brent so brilliant, it's that he made us feel unsafe, uncomfortable and unable to look away. BRAVORICKY." (David Brent is Gervais' character on The Office.)

The Social Network star Andrew Garfield said, "He's been terribly nasty and horribly rude and I think he's genius."

Christian Bale: “Thank God for comedians. I’m hoping he’s going to keep going further.”

The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons: "He started with a bang and went right for the jugular. It was great! I thought he was really funny. It's like he walked up to the edge, and then he jumped right on over and didn't look back. I was scandalized, I tell you. I think he's hilarious and funny and whenever you're funny, you're gonna push some people's buttons. I thought he was hilarious, but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end, I can tell you that. I was laughing while thinking, 'Oh, God. Not me, never me.'"

Al Pacino: "He’s a comic, so he’s going to go for it. He’s letting it go. You don’t know what [he's] going to say!"

Glee’s Heather Morris: "I thought he was hysterical. He was so dry. He's funny as hell."

Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh: "He was hilarious. I thought he was just perfect. If he knocked me, it’s all in good fun. If we take ourselves too seriously, then what are we doing here? He makes us realize that we are all here for reasons that go between skill and luck. Let’s enjoy it."

Facebook beats royalty at Golden Globes

Cinemimi[Tuesday,January,17,2011]
Colin Firth confirmed his status as an Oscars frontrunner after being named Best Actor in a Drama at the Golden Globes.

The awards are seen as an important pointer for the Oscars, held this year on 27 February.

But Firth's film The King's Speech had a disappointing night overall, being beaten in all six of the other categories in which it was nominated.

The big winner of the night was The Social Network, which was named Best Film (Drama).

David Fincher also won Best Director and Aaron Sorkin (pictured) Best Screenplay while the movie about the creation of Facebook also picked up the award for Best Score.

The other main Golden Globes went to The Kids Are All Right Best Film (Best Comedy Or Musical); Paul Giamatti (Best Actor in a Comedy Or Musical) for Barney's Version; Natalie Portman (Best Actress in a Drama) for Black Swan and Annette Bening (Best Actress in a Comedy Or Musical) for The Kids Are All Right.

Golden Globes kick off award season

Cinemimi[Monday,17,2011]
The glitz and glam of Hollywood geared up Sunday for one of the film industry’s biggest events, the Golden Globe Awards. This year's award season kicks off with "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network" competing for the honour of best film drama. By News Wires (text) REUTERS - Hollywood on Sunday geared up for one of its biggest parties of the year, the Golden Globe Awards, with "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network" in a close race for the top honor, best film drama.

"The King's Speech" heads into the glitzy awards ceremony as the most nominated movie with seven nods overall, including best drama. It faces stiff competition from critics' darling "The Social Network," the Facebook film that has swept many early honors in Hollywood's awards season and comes into the Golden Globes with six nominations.

Three others hope to deliver their own knockout punch and win best drama including boxing movie "The Fighter," which had six nominations, ballet movie "Black Swan" and thriller "Inception."

The Golden Globe Awards, which are given out by the nearly 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are one of the major Hollywood awards shows leading to the film industry's most-prized honors, the Oscars, which are given away by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Annually, movie fans tune in to the televised ceremony because early awards show often provide tips as to which movies, actors, actresses and others might take home Oscars.

As importantly, the top stars turn out in their finest gowns, dripping in diamonds and other jewelry, for the event that is often billed as Hollywood's biggest party.

But this year's party began with a sobering lawsuit filed last week in which a former publicist for the HFPA sued for $2 million claiming members engaged in "payola" activities like taking lavish gifts from studios in exchange for nominations.

HFPA President Philip Berk told Reuters the suit was little more than "the outpouring of a disgruntled, former employee."

The show goes on

Party atmosphere or not, the show must go on -- as the saying goes in Hollywood -- and on Sunday the red carpet had been rolled out as usual for the stars.

Unlike the Oscars, Golden Globe voters also pick best movies in a separate category for comedies or musicals, but pundits say only two nominees in that category have the critical success and the fans to compete closely for an Oscar -- lesbian family comedy "The Kids Are All Right" and fantasy "Alice in Wonderland."

The other three are critically panned "Burlesque," box office flop "The Tourist," and action movie "Red."

The race for best actress in a drama is a close one between Natalie Portman portraying a young ballerina in "The Black Swan," Nicole Kidman as a grieving mother in "The Rabbit Hole" and Michelle Williams in relationship drama "Blue Valentine." Also included in the category are newcomer Jennifer Lawrence for "Winter's Bone" and Halle Berry in "Frankie and Alice."

Best drama film actor will see Jesse Eisenberg, who portrays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network," up against oddsmaker favorite Colin Firth as stammering British King George VI in "The King's Speech." The other nominees are Mark Wahlberg in "The Fighter," James Franco for "127 Hours" and Ryan Gosling in "Blue Valentine."

Golden Globe voters also give out honors in television categories. Competing for best TV drama are a few veteran shows such as "Dexter," "Mad Men" and "The Good Wife," as well as newcomers "Boardwalk Empire" and "The Walking Dead."

The best comedy race features six nominees: "Glee," "30 Rock," "The Big Bang Theory," "Modern Family," "The Big C" and "Nurse Jackie."

The Golden Globe Awards are televised live in the United States on the NBC network beginning at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST (0100 GMT on Monday).