For whatever reason — more alcohol, fewer fawning montages and less strictness in general — the Golden Globes are looser, funnier and generally better TV than their big brother, the Oscars. Years of Golden Globes shows have seen their fair share of nuttiness, from Elizabeth Taylor’s sadly strange yelling of “Glaaaadiator!” in 2001 to the Rat Pack hijacking the show in 1958. Read about more embarrassing moments here.

 

This year, the big story was Jodie Foster and her sprawling, sort-of coming-out speech upon receiving the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award. Whether from the pressure of being in the spotlight for nearly the entirety of her cognizant life, and/or the added pressures of those pushing her to reveal details of her personal life and the criticisms of her friend, Mel Gibson (whose googly eyed expression took to memesville), Foster chose to use her time at the podium to air her frustrations in a defensive, almost bitter but fiercely real speech.

Sorry about my jenky screen grabs. Celeb photos 'R' expensive.

I’m still processing what happened — regardless of how blase it may seem when a famous person whom everyone presumes is gay comes out of the closet, it’s still a big deal for its ripple effects. Foster’s speech didn’t make me feel sorry for her, but it did make me like her even more. It’s clear she’s reached the don’t-give-a-fuck stage of her life and career, at age 50, after starring in more than 70 films, directing three and producing several more, and winning two Oscars. Her candidness and awkwardness was a big breath of fresh air during a televised awards show, most of which tend to be rife with unrelenting ass-kissing. Read her entire speech here. See more coming-out speeches here.

We are once again right in the middle of awards season. The Golden Globes are on Sunday, January 13th. The Oscar Nominations usually come out after the Globes are aired, but they are out a bit earlier this year. The Oscars take place on Sunday, February 24th this year. The Oscar Nominations come out this Thursday, the 10th of January. They came out last year on the 24th of January! So this is the time of year when I like to get together with my coworker Jackie and talk about what we think will be nominated. And also what we hope is nominated. I basically like to pretend that we are members of the Academy putting in our votes for the various Oscar categories. If you are feeling nostalgic for last year's Oscars, here is our Oscar Nominations Predictions from 2011. We both did pretty good last year. If you include our possible picks, Jackie beat me in her predictions by 5 picks. She got 45 out of 49 nominations correct. I got 40 out of 49 correct. I never imagined that Extremely Loud would have made it into last year's top 9 Best Picture nominations. But there is always a movie like Crash or Finding Neverland that somehow sneaks into 5 or 10 nominations for Best Picture. I don't think there will be a movie like that this year. There are simply too many good movies this year. But you never know! Jackie and I both see a ton of movies every year and of course have our opinions about what our favorite films and performances were.

Are you ready? Here we go...

We are once again right in the middle of awards season. The Golden Globes were this last weekend. And the Oscars are about 5 weeks away. The Oscar Nominations come out this Tuesday the 24th of January. So this is the time of year when I like to get together with my coworker Jackie and talk about what we think will be nominated. What we hope is nominated. I basically like to pretend that we are members of the Academy putting in our votes for the various Oscar categories. We are sadly without our moderator Miss Ess from the last couple of years. If you are feeling nostalgic for last years Oscars, here is our Oscar nomination predictions for 2010 blog from last year. So it will be just Jackie and I this year. We both see a ton of movies every year and of course have our opinions about what are favorite films and performances were.

Are you ready. Here we go...

Brad:
Jackie! Are you ready for this? I seriously can't believe it is already time for this. I have been trying to catch up the last couple of weeks and see all the movies that I need to see. I am still a bit behind. But I saw Tin Tin on Sunday and just saw Young Adult last week. So I am almost there. We should start off first by talking about the host. I was happy that Brett Ratner resigned from the show. I was really not looking forward to a show produced by him. I had come to accept Eddie Murphy as the host. But after he dropped out too I was really hoping for some interesting choices. I think the show should always be hosted by a comedian. Last year just didn't really work. I still think Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon would be great together. But we are getting Billy Crystal this year. I actually think he did a great job in years past as the host. So I think it will be a fun show again. Maybe not as edgy as I had hoped. But it is the Oscars. I expect him to come out on a horse wearing a Hawaiian Shirt with a baseball bat and maybe a dragon tattoo. Maybe dressed up as a maid or a bridesmaid. But maybe he will surprise us all with some amazing material and jokes. I am looking forward to the show as always. Regardless of who the host is. Jackie...Thoughts on the host. Are you hoping for a When Harry Met Sally reunion on stage. Or maybe he could come out with Carol Kane in their makeup from The Princess Bride.

Check out the Game of Thones soundtrack on Amoeba.com.

The year is quickly drawing to an end -- Christmas Eve is a week away, and New Year's Eve is two weeks from today! I really do love this time of year. I love the weather in December. I love all the movies that come out at the end of the year. I love the holidays. I love the best of the year lists. I am not ashamed to love December. As the music releases slow down this month, the big movies are all coming out this month -- movies hoping to get nominated for Oscars tend to come out toward the end of the year. The Golden Globes Nominations just came out this week! The Golden Globes take place on Sunday, January 16th. Oscar Nominations come out on Tuesday, January 25th and the Oscar ceremony is on Sunday February 27th! They decided to change the Best Picture category for the Oscars last year to ten nominees. The Golden Globes have always had 10. There are five comedy / musical nominees and five dramas. I think it is easy to pick 10 best pictures every year but the Foreign Press seems to have a hard time coming up with 5 comedies and musicals. The nominees for comedy/musical are a bit ridiculous this year. I am embarrassed for them! The 5 nominees for Drama are Inception, Black Swan, The Fighter, The King's Speech, & The Social Network. Now that the Oscars have 10 nominees, these films are almost guaranteed to also get nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture. These films will probably be joined by Toy Story 3, True Grit, & The Kids Are Alright. The last 2 nominees will probably be 127 Hours & The Town. Maybe Winter's Bone, Biutiful or Get Low will sneak in there. I would love to see Never Let Me Go, Animal Kingdom, or Ghost Writer included. These were three of my favorites this year. But they will most likely be looked over.