Glenn Rose
Staff Writer
The start of the year means a lot of things, one of which is award shows. Many of them do a good job of reflecting what movies, shows, and songs have been the best throughout the year. Most of the time you only end up hearing about these award shows’ decisions when they aren’t popular; example, Macklemore winning “Best New Artist” at the Grammys over the favorite Kendrick Lamar. Both are really important figures in their genre which has become the most mainstream by leaps and bounds. They both rap about issues that are important to and reflective of current society. Lamar focuses on racial issues, and Macklemore has become a household name as being a champion of gay rights. Now, which issue is more important is not my place to guess, but I can say that the issue of sexual equality is a hot button issue right now.
While the Grammy’s have been under fire, the Golden Globes were generally well received by the public. American Hustle had their two female leads (Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence) win for the “Best Actress/Supporting Actress in A Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy” while Dallas Buyers Club’s Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto swept “Best Actor/Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama.” Both of these movies are incredible and worth your time and money.
The Golden Globes are not a joke, but at the end of the day movies want to win Oscars, which are the highest of movie awards. There are many good movies and actors/actresses this year to pick from. American Hustle has been projected to win a lot of awards, but I don’t think 12 Years a Slave should be counted out for winning best picture, as it has been reviewed by many high up movie critics as one of the most realistic depictions of slavery in cinema. My guess for Actress awards is that American Hustle will take home the Oscar for both just like the Golden Globes. The men aren’t so easy. DiCaprio is a popular choice since everyone wants to see him finally win an Oscar, but Chiwetel Ejiofor of 12 Years a Slave and McConaughey of Dallas Buyers Club both acted, possibly, the role of their lives. A front runner for the supporting actor role is Barkhad Abdi who played the head pirate in the biopic “Captain Philips.” This is the only movie Abdi has ever been in and wowed the watchers with his terrifying portrayal of a Somali pirate that toward the end you almost end up being sorry for.
After these ceremonies are over there are bound to be people who think something or somebody else should have won, but at least most of the nominees were almost as good. For movies and music this year there have been strides in improving these forms of art, which you can see in the overall quality of the music and cinema of 2013.
