PRAISE FOR HFPA GLOBE CHOICES—VARIETY

From Daily Variety:

Globes more in line than in year’s past

Award Season Focus: The Actor & The Actress

‘Bridesmaids,’ with Golden Globe nom Kristen Wiig, left, was one of the few comedies last year to receive near unanimous acclaim.

The annual eruption of critical snark set off by the announcement of the Golden Globes nominations is usually followed by a sheepish admission: Many of the choices were in line with what was expected.

In fact, the outlier may be Oscar. In several celebrated instances in recent years, it has been the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., and not the Academy, that has hewed closer to the critical consensus. Last year, the HFPA picked “The Social Network” as best drama — as had the L.A., N.Y., London, Chicago and Boston critics, the National Board of Review, the National Society of Film Critics and a litany of other orgs. The Oscar went to “The King’s Speech.” In 2007, when the Academy went for “Crash,” the Globes picked “Brokeback Mountain,” as had many others.

This season, there’s no obvious one-on-one “Social”/”King” face-off, but the reaction has been respectful.

“I actually think the HFPA acquitted themselves quite nicely this year,” says Entertainment Weekly’s Dave Karger of the HFPA’s selections, echoing much of the response to a selection one studio publicist calls predictably “eccentric and starry,” but which largely reflected choices made elsewhere in the run-up to Oscar madness.

Those selections included motion picture drama noms for some very obvious suspects — including “The Descendants,” “The Help” and “Hugo” — as well as lots of love for “The Ides of March” and a well-timed assist for what may be the year’s comedy showcase, “Bridesmaids.”

History being what it is, however, the Globes choices are forever scrutinized for favoring studio, and not indie, fare; an aversion to anything remotely provocative or controversial (“The Tree of Life,” “Melancholia”) and a propensity toward nominating both films and actors that provide plenty of star power.

“I know some people are suspicious of the Angelina Jolie nomination for foreign film, but the fact is that her movie is getting strong reviews,” Karger says of the Jolie-directed “In the Land of Blood and Honey.” “It’s much less embarrassing than giving her and Johnny Depp lead-acting nominations for ‘The Tourist’ last year.

“Also, I’m a huge ‘Ides of March’ fan so I’m happy with George Clooney getting a slot for best director. I fully expected them to nominate Mel Gibson for ‘The Beaver’ or Ashton Kutcher for ‘Two and a Half Men’ just for the attention, but they clearly resisted the urge.”

Says one studio exec: “I still think a film like ‘Tree’ could get in the Oscars, because it’s that kind of film. I’m wondering about ‘The Artist,’ too, and what will happen with it.”

The Weinstein Co.’s Gallic B&W movie, “The Artist,” is a candidate in the comedy-musical category, which can only further its campaign as one of the year’s quirkiest success stories.

Elsewhere, exception was taken to what may be an intrinsic character issue with the HFPA.

“I think the exclusion of ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’ reflects the foreign press’ inability to connect to the well of emotion still connected to Sept. 11,” says Joe Neumaier, critic for the New York Daily News. “Its late screening for the HFPA certainly didn’t help, and I’m surprised Sandra Bullock and Max von Sydow weren’t included. At the same time, though, it isn’t a shock to find an emotional block between the HFPA and that movie’s hyper-local take on tragedy.”

Neumaier also points to the omission of a supporting perf, and what he saw as the disconnect between the character and the HFPA’s foreign perspective.

“It may be that Melissa McCarthy’s Megan in ‘Bridesmaids’ was too gauche and too ‘American” for them,” he says. “So they went with lead Kristen Wiig. Alternately, though, I think the love they showed for ‘Ides of March’ is partly because it felt like a peek behind the American political curtain.”

There were other films that reflect American sensibilities that got some HFPA love.

The backdrop of drama nominee “Moneyball,” for instance, features the quintessential American pastime, baseball. Long a U.S. passion, the sport is largely ignored in much of the rest of the world, but HFPA viewers took the story of Oakland A’s g.m. Billy Beane to heart.

Then there’s “The Help,” which examines how African-American maids were treated in the American south in the 1960s. Clearly, writer-director Tate Taylor’s pic resonated to those who may have been unaware of the abusive treatment those women suffered in the racially slanted region of the U.S.

What: Golden Globe Awards

When: 5 p.m. PT Sunday

THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN

Anke Hofmann (left) and Zoya Malinskaya start the process of printing and issuing 1308 of the hottest tickets in town for next week’s 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

RICKY: I MAY REALLY BE DRUNK THIS TIME

Hollywood beware! Ricky Gervais has warned that he may “really be drunk” when he hosts the Golden Globes awards show on January 15.

The controversial British comedian whose remarks at last year’s show offended some of the  star guests told Matt Lauer on the Today Show: “Controversy is irrelevant to me…I do it my way and they don’t know what I am going to say until I say it.”

It is the third time Ricky has hosted the Golden Globes  show and although he said last year he wouldn’t do it again, he explained: “What tipped the balance was all the people saying I’d never be invited back. That’s like a red rag to a bull.”

He dodged the question of whether he would tone down his remarks this year but gave a hint of what is to come when he admitted: “Whenever I go out live I could always say the wrong thing.”

And then he added: “And I might really be drunk this year.”

GLOBES MENU SPANS THE CONTINENTS

It has taken six months of meticulous planning for the chefs at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to prepare for the Golden Globe ceremony on January 15.   Executive chefs Suki Sugiura and pastry chef Thomas Henzi have created an elegant and mouth-watering  menu reflecting the global nature of the Golden Globes and it will take a team of 40 chefs and 110 kitchen staff members to prepare it on show day.

Chef Sugiura has combined local produce with an ensemble of cuisines from around the world to create a globally harmonised menu.  It will include an appetiser of pistachio crusted pistou ravioli with wild arugula, smoked tomato, kabocha compote and burrata; a combination entree of miso and sake lees marinated pacific sea bass with grilled king oyster musroom and braised prime short rib of beef with porcini pine nut herb ragout in a light cream of sherry wine ginger tamari sauce with roasted fingerling potatoes, candy striped beets, baby bok choy and yellow baby carrots.

For dessert Chef Henzi will be serving a trio of chocolate delice almond crunch terrine and acacia honey, caramel and fresh berries, which will pair ideally with the Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2002 magnums specially created for the show.

GLOBES GUESTS WILL DRINK 9,000 GLASSES OF CHAMPAGNE

  More than 1,000 mini bottles and 500 magnums of Grand Vintage 2002 Moet & Chandon champagne —-more than 9,000 glasses—-will be served on the red carpet and inside the ballroom at this year;s glittering Golden Globes awards ceremony on January 15.

For 21 years Moet & Chandon has provided the champagne for the 1,500 guests and this year will be celebrating its anniversary with its specially-created, award-winning 2002 Grand Vintage.

The champagne, which sells at a retail price of $84.95 a bottle, was introduced by Moet’s new home entertaining expert, Aida Mollenkamp (left) at a  preview at the Beverly Hilton the week before the  show.

“Once again we’re happy to have Moet & Chandon on board with us as the official champagne of the Golden Globes,” said HFPA president Dr. Aida Takla-O’Reilly. “This year marks a special year for us as our partnershi8p enters its 21st year.”

GOLDEN GLOBE INVITATIONS GO OUT

The coveted invitations to the 69th Golden Globe awards on January 15 are on their way to the 1,500 lucky guests who will pack the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for an evening of fun, laughter, some tears and most of all, awards given in recognition of creative achievements in film and television during the year.

Among the guests will be George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep and a host of other stars.  The special guest this year will be Morgan Freeman who is receiving the Cecil B DeMille award, which is given every year by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.

The controversial British comedian Ricky Gervais will be returning to host the ceremony.

CLOONEY AND PITT (AND OTHERS) VIE FOR GLOBES

   Two old pals who have starred together in several movies are in contention for Golden Globe awards.

In the nominations that were announced by at the Beverly Hilton Hotel today by Rashida Jones, Woody Harrelson, Sofia Vergara and Gerard Butler, (pictured  left with HFPA president Dr. Aida Takla-O’Reilly)  George Clooney has been nominated for best actor for his role as the beleaguered father in The Descendants while Brad Pitt, who co-starred with him in Ocean’s 11 and its sequels, is a contender with his performance as baseball general manager Billy Beane in Moneyball.

Both Clooney and Pitt have twice been named Sexiest Man of the Year by People magazine.

Clooney has been nominated eight times before and won twice, for O Brother Where Art Thou? and Syriana. Pitt has been nominated four times and won once, for best supporting actor for Twelve Monkeys in 1996.

  Leonardo DiCaprio,  nominated for J. Edgar, has six previous nominations, winning in 2005 for The Aviator while Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March) has been nominated twice, in 2008 for Lars And The Real Girl and last year for Blue Valentine.

German-born Michael Fassbender has been in five movies this year but the one he has been nominated for is  Shame. It is the 34-year-old actor’s first Golden Globe nomination.

In the Best Actress category,  Meryl Streep, nominated this year for her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, is a Golden Globes veteran, having been nominated on 25 previous occasions, winning seven times, most recently in 2010 for Julie and Julia.

Her fellow New Yorker Glenn Close, who produced, co-wrote and stars in Albert Nobbs, has been nominated ten times before, winning twice, both for television roles, in 2003’s The Lion In Winter and  Damages in 2007.

Michelle Williams, the 30-year-old actress from Kalispell, Montana, who portrays Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn, has been nominated twice before, for Brokeback Mountain and Blue Valentine.

It is The Help star Viola Davis’s first Best Actress nomination although she was previously nominated as best supporting actress in 2008 for Doubt.

Tilda Swinton, whose nomination is for her performance in the drama We Need To Talk About Kevin, has been nominated twice before, for Michael Clayton and The Deep End.

Rooney Mara, the 26-year-old star of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, who was relatively unknown until now, is celebrating her first nomination.

In the television categories, Claire Danes, nominated for her performance as CIA agent Carrie Mathison in Showtime’s terrorism drama Homeland has won twice before for her television roles in 1995 for My So-Called Life and last year for Temple Grandin.

Mildred Pierce’s Kate Winslet has been nominated seven times before, winning twice, both in 2009 as best supporting actress in The Reader and Best Actress in Revolutionary Road.

Kelsey Grammer, nominated for his dramatic turn as Tom Kane, the ruthless Chicago mayor in Boss, is no stranger to Golden Globes: he has been nominated eight times in the past for his role as Frasier, winning in 1996 and 2001.

Veteran character actor Steve Buscemi, the 54-year-old Brooklyn- born star of Boardwalk Empire, won last year for his performance as the mobster Nucky Thompson.

Damian Lewis, the British actor who stars in Homeland as the returned Marine who may or may not be a terrorist, was previously nominated in 2002 for his role in the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers.

IT’S NOMINATIONS TIME!

All eyes will be on the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton hotel tomorrow (Thursday) when the nominations for the 2012 Golden Globes are announced.

Sofia Vergara (right), Woody Harrelson, Rashida Jones and Gerard Butler will  be introduced by Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Aida Takla-O’ Reilly to announce this year’s nominees in 25 categories for movies and television.

The ballots were submitted to the accounting firm of Ernst and Young on Monday and millions of viewers will be tuning in to discover who are this year’s Golden Globe nominees.

The nominations will be televised by NBC live at 5.30am on the West Coast and the awards will be presented on January 15 at a star-studded ceremony hosted again by Ricky Gervais.

Photo: Theo Kingma

YOUNG HOLLYWOOD COMES OUT TO PARTY

Young Hollywood came out in force for the HFPA/In Style’s Young Hollywood party at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood. TV and movie stars, including J.Edgar’s Arnie Hammer, ate, drank and renewed old friendships at the annual party.  Those attending included the stars from the hit TV shows Big Bang Theory, Entourage, Boss (below right) and many others.

Earlier the HFPA President Aida Takla-O’Reilly introduced Miss Golden Globe for 2012, Rainey Qualley, the actress/musician daughter of Andie McDowell.

Pictures: Theo Kingma

RAINEY QUALLEY—MISS GOLDEN GLOBE 2012

This is actress/musician Rainey Qualley who has been chosen by the HFPA as Miss Golden Globe 2012.

The announcement was made by HFPA president Dr. Aida Takla-O’Reilly (right) at the HFPA/InStyle Young Hollywood Party at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood. “She is a talented and beautiful young woman,” said Dr. O’Reilly. “We’re excited to have her as part of this year’s show.”

Rainey, 21, who recently appeared in the movie Mighty Fine and is writing songs and working on her first album, is the daughter of actress Andie McDowell.

While studying at Belmont University Rainey performed in Thoroughly Modern Millie and Swing! and went on to study at RADA where she appeared in Two Gentleman of Verona.

Miss Golden Globe is traditionally the child of a celebrity and assists during the Golden Globes awards ceremony, which this year will be held on January 15.

Pictures: Theo Kingma