A couple of interesting notes surrounding the 2014 Golden Globe Awards, the first of which is word Woody Allen will not be on hand to accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Globe ceremony. Allen rarely, if ever, shows up to award ceremonies and it’s no surprise he’ll be turning away this one as well.
There is no information on what the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) will do instead, but I would have to assume a produced montage featuring many of the cast and crew Allen has worked with and inspired over the years will be featured and, considering the Globes celebrate both film and television, I have to assume Lena Dunham will be front and center.
In other news, Steve Pond at The Wrap reports the HFPA has ruled Scarlett Johansson‘s voice-only performance in Spike Jonze‘s Her has been deemed ineligible for a nomination at this year’s ceremony. An HFPA source told Pond voice-only performances are not eligible for any acting awards, but this really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as Andy Serkis‘ motion capture performances in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey were also disqualified. Question is, is it the correct decision?
Personally, if we’re going to tackle such an issue, I think a motion capture performance such as the one from Serkis deserves consideration before a voice performance, but that’s only if you’re asking me to place a level of importance on the two. Otherwise, I don’t see any problem making them both eligible.
Consider this… Would the movies exist without these performances? Would the quality of the films be any different with different actors? If Johansson had read her lines with no inflection or emotion would the film have been the same?
Obviously, if you look at the question with any measure of logic clearly they are performances worthy of eligibility, but the fact the HFPA deems them unworthy doesn’t take away from their legitimacy. The Oscars and Screen Actors Guild will likely overlook Johansson, but she is nonetheless embedded in Her and you don’t need an award nomination to know that.
Finally, if you haven’t read my just published review of Her you can find it right here
