Golden Globe Rundown: Best Actresses

Jessica Chastain gets her game face on

After detailing the Supporting Actress Race, let us briefly examine the Best Actress Drama and Comedy/Musical.  As expected, Jessica Chastain is biting at Jennifer Lawrence's heals.  SAG will be VERY interesting.  Will they go comedy or drama?  For the Globes, Chastain's competition was Marion Cotillard, Helen Mirren, Naomi Watts, and Rachel Weisz.  As it turns out, her only real threat was Watts, as none of the other ladies made their way into the Oscar race.  As well, some suggest that Watts might be dark horse.  Which brings me to Chastain's speech.

Best Dressed out of
the nominees

First, "middle-aged" George Clooney got a little dig into Ben Affleck for forgetting to thank the Argo producers when his name was called for director, before proceeding to announce her name.  She hugs and acknowledges a few people including Megan Ellison and director Kathryn Bigelow (and her grandmother?  Amy Pascal?).  When she gets up to the stage, she thanks the HFPA and immediately expresses gratitude for being acknowledged "for YEARS" of toiling through the Hollywood maze.  What was going on through Naomi Watts' mind when Chastain said that?  She can relate, right?  Her 90s were Chastain's 00s.  Except, Watts has never made it up to the podium at the Golden Globes, SAG, or Oscar.  Mulholland Dr. was thirteen years ago, and she didn't receive a nomination by any of those institutions for the David Lynch film.  That was her breakout role (compare to Chastain's The Help).  The follow-through was 21 Grams (Chastain's Zero Dark Thirty).  While Chastain is up against Harvey Weinstein, Watts had to contend with Charlize Theron's performance of the decade.  Since, Watts has been plugging away, winning commercial-friendly, yet off-kilter remakes and sequels, while balancing her resume with more baity fare.  She has been doing what she does well and she doesn't fill her face up with chemicals.  She has also been waiting "for YEARS" to be validated.  Is this too much, too soon for Chastain?  Or does that get extended more to the younger Lawrence?  Watts isn't breaking a sweat, though.  Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, Gertrude Bell, etc.  Even with inevitable comparisons to Michelle Williams' Monroe and Australian Nicole Kidman's Princess Monaco, she is just getting started and is playing for keeps.  If Susan Sarandon did it at almost fifty, so will she.  She will give the AMPAS many chances to reconsider, and the inundation, like with Sarandon, may pay off.

Chastain thanks her team (and if her stylist is among them, it's time for him/her to move on), the crew, cast, specifically Jason Clarke, Annapurna's Ellison, Sony, Pascal, her grandmother, the screenwriter, and her director.  She compares her character to Bigelow.  "To powerful, fearless women that allow their expert work to stand before them.  You've said that filmmaking for you is not about breaking gender roles.  But, when you make a film that allows your character to disobey the conventions of Hollywood, you've done more for women in cinema [that you] can take credit for."  Bigelow was visibly moved and Chastain had taken the breath right out of her.

I already touched on Lawrence's win.  She was up against Emily Blunt, Judi Dench, and Maggie Smith, who, of course, had no real chance at winning.  However, much was made of her fourth fellow nominee Meryl Streep, after Lawrence made the fun and innocent reference to The First Wives Club.  Because I like to spend my time looking up insignificant facts, I learned that Streep has actually been nominated twenty-seven (!) times for a Golden Globe (two times were for television/cable projects).  While she won eight of those Globes, she lost nineteen times.  So, as Lawrence would rightfully point out, there were shockingly nine opportunities to make that crack before her: Kate Winslet, Sally Hawkins, Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Hilary Swank, Cate Blanchett, Alfre Woodard, Brenda Blethyn (as well as pre-Wives: Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange, Miranda Richardson, Julia Roberts, Jessica Tandy, Jodie Foster, Whoopi Goldberg, Shirley MacLaine, Dyan Cannon) AND Meryl Streep herself.  Yeah, that's right, for 2009, Streep beat herself, having been nominated twice in the Comedy category for Julie & Julia and It's Complicated.  Not that any of the winners would have made the reference, as most of them are not Americans, and First Wives is a very American film.  As far as the First Wives themselves are concerned, Streep actually beat Diane Keaton twice at the GG's, but was never nominated opposite Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, or Stockard Channing, for that matter.  

As far as the fashion and styling of the nominees (Streep had The Flu; Maggie Smith and Judi Dench were also absent), there was a lot left to be desired.  Best in show was Helen Mirren looking classy wearing black Badgley Mischka with gold brocade.  Simple and elegant, she looked marvelous.  Jessica Chastain played it safe, so she didn't look bad, just predictable.  The sky blue shows off her eyes and hair, but then oddly she creases back the sides.  She certainly could look worse, but I'd like to see something more daring and sexy on her.  Emily Blunt was also boring, and almost repeated her outfit from last year.  I hated Jennifer Lawrence's dress the night of the globes, but, now, not as much.  It's certainly low cut and looks weird, but not terrible.  Still, she went with a safe, solid color from the Martha Stewart Jr collection like most everyone else.  Marion Cotillard looked beautiful in asymmetrical Christian Dior, but the dress length and shoes bother a little.  I give kudos to Naomi Watts for her hair and makeup.  Her face is smashing.  And the Zac Posen burgundy open-backed dress is dramatic, but I'm not sure if it works for her (or her skin tone).  The color is too deep and she is too milky/blonde.  Rachel Weisz probably has the best hair and makeup, but that black sheer Louis Vuitton is a hot mess.  Cute on top, but then what is going on around her legs.  So wrong.  Daniel Craig should have just gotten on all fours and tore off that gam-veil with his mouth.  That would have been hot and necessary.