Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Hello everybody, and Happy (very belated) New Year. There's a lot of territory to dig up in this first blog of 2007, starting with -- of course -- the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards last night.

"Dreamgirls" took Supporting Acting honors for Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson, as well as Best Picture (Musical/Comedy). Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat") and Meryl Streep "(The Devil Wears Prada") claimed that category's lead acting prizes. In Drama, "Babel" picked up Best Picture, while Forest Whitaker received Best Actor for "The Last King of Scotland" and Helen Mirren making it double with Best Actress for "The Queen" and TV Miniseries/Movie Actress for "Elizabeth I". Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" got Foreign Language Film and Martin Scorsese, Best Director for "The Departed."

On the television side, "Ugly Betty" was the big story, garnering Best Comedy and Best Comedy Actress for a surprised America Ferrara; "30 Rock's" Alec Baldwin won Comedy Actor. Fellow ABC hit "Grey's Anatomy" made up for their Emmy shutout by picking up Best TV Drama, with Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer") and Hugh Laurie ("House") being honored in acting.

Hollywood's party of the year began with -- where else -- the red carpet. Beyonce, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Teri Hatcher, the suddenly single Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Biel, Angelina Jolie, and Drew Barrymore all proved why they are called the "Golden Globe Awards" for a reason (especially Barrymore after last year), while Cameron Diaz, Sharon Stone, and the Arquette sisters (Patricia and Rosanna) were probably better off with the Bronze Globes.

However, the real buzz at and prior to the Globes remains the big news about the Beckhams' landfall in the United States. For those not in the know, David Beckham last week agreed to a five-year, $250 million deal to play for Major League Soccer's L.A. Galaxy. David is a big name in soccer; he's like the Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods/Wayne Gretzky of his sport with Victoria (Posh Spice) as his wife. Yeah, now they're going to be calling the States home, the term "Soccer Mom" has already been given a whole new meaning! When the couple landed in L.A. over the weekend, they didn't waste any time shopping for a new home.

What does this mean to soccer on this side of the Atlantic? For decades now, it has taken a backseat to basketball, football, baseball, and (shudder) NASCAR, and Beckham will hopefully be a shot in the arm. And that's what his goal is, to make soccer a mainstream sport in North America than in Europe.

And last but not least...it's never too late for me to chime in on the ongoing verbal brawl between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump, which has already spilled right into 2007. If you saw "WWE RAW" last week, they parodied it with two unknowns playing Rosie and Trump in a mock wrestling match. It was so lame that a few minutes into this, the crowd was chanting "Boring!", "We want wrestling!", and believe it or not, "TNA!" Yes...right in Vince McMahon's ear they were rooting for WWE's new rival! Trump "won" of course, but the damage has already been done.

If the two really want to settle their differences once and for all, they should quit with the squabbling and make up. But then again, I think Rosie has the advantage. Heck, put the thing on pay-per-view, bring in Michael Buffer, and let's watch the fists really fly! With that said, so long!

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