Martin Luther King Jr., but then she remembered she had so many people to thank before she got played off by the orchestra like everyone else, because God help us people be given time to speak instead of trailers of all the nominated best pictures. (**) Octavia Spencer from “The Help” very briefly seemed like she was going to do something memorable when she began by quoting Dr. Maybe she can stop by “Shameless” now that “Desperate Housewives” is ending. A nice moment, and a reminder that those two need to be on-camera together more often. Macy and Felicity Huffman harmonized on a musical intro.

(*) A notable exception: the husband-and-wife team of William H. The awards were given out in what mostly seemed a random order, the introductions were largely stiff(*), the speeches largely tedious laundry lists of agents, managers and studio executives(**), and the show quickly began running behind.

He’s not Billy Crystal taking it easy on everyone and just trying to have a good time isn’t in his skill set.Īnd Gervais’ forgettable performance was just the start of what was a fairly brutal three hours. It was oddly reminiscent of his first time hosting the show, when he seemed nervous and unsure of just how far he could go.Ī defanged Gervais might make the event more comfortable for the stars, but it defeats the purpose of inviting the guy to host. His jokes were either extremely gentle, or at the expense of people who weren’t there (and weren’t likely to be there anytime soon) like Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber. Still, even if his re-invitation was essentially officially-sanctioned satire, Gervais seemed reluctant to go for the jugular the way he did in 2011.

“Now, the Hollywood Foreign Press have warned me if I insult any of you,” Gervais explained, “they’ll definitely invite me back next year as well.” And yet even he could go so far with that angle, what with this being his third time as host, and what with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association asking him back after he spent last year’s telecast gleefully ripping most of the movie stars in the room. Ricky Gervais came out to host the 2012 Golden Globe Awards and tried to again paint himself as a rebel undermining the system from within.

The Star Crystal by D.C. Daines