The nominee reaction quote is a delicate thing, a tightrope in which excitement must be conveyed without sounding too needy, pride must be subsumed, and one’s colleagues must always receive a lion’s share of the credit.
Golden Globe nominees were finessing their reactions all Tuesday morning, many in statements that came out of publicists’ offices and were all but interchangeable.
Julianne Moore, for instance, is “honored and thrilled” to receive a Supporting Actress nod for “A Single Man.” Kathryn Bigelow is “thrilled” for the respect shown to her, and her film “The Hurt Locker.” “The Young Victoria” star Emily Blunt says it’s “a massive thrill. “Nine” director Rob Marshall is “so thrilled,” his leading man Daniel Day-Lewis is “delighted and very grateful,” and co-star Penelope Cruz is “so honored,” and also “thrilled” that “Broken Embraces” was nominated for Best Foreign Film …
“Crazy Heart” star Jeff Bridges, on the other hand, adopted an appropriately folksy tone: “The Hollywood Foreign Press has been mighty fine to me over the past 30 years, and this year is especially sweet.” Fellow Best Actor – Drama nominee Colin Firth (“A Single Man”) found a joke in it: "The Hollywood Foreign Press have just given me a time out from my 20 year midlife crisis. My heartfelt thanks to them.” And supporting Actor nominee Christoph Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds”) came up with a novel turn of phrase, thanking the HFPA for transporting him “from the unbelievable into the unimaginable."
Marc Webb, the director of “(500) Days of Summer,” tapped into one of the keys to the Golden Globes ceremony with the last line of his statement: “we promise to drink a lot of vodka for the show.” And George Clooney, naturally, got off a good, casual line that downplayed the whole thing without being dismissive: "Not a bad way to start a Tuesday."
Almost everybody praised the competition … and only “Crazy Heart” actor and producer Robert Duvall, bless him, tooted his own (or his film’s own) horn: “This is a film that certainly deserves any and all recognition that it gets, both the film and Jeff Bridges’ performance.”
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While those statements were being crafted in publicists’ offices, other happy nominees got on the phone with the Wrap and recalled the work for which they’d been honored.
“Up” director Pete Docter, whose film was a presumed runaway winner in the Animated Feature category before Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and Henry Selick’s “Coraline” picked up some critics’ nods, said he found the new energy in the animated field refreshing.
“There’s a lot of exciting stuff that’s going on there, of all different types stylistically,” he said. “Ultimately, I think that’s good for everybody. It keeps everybody on their toes.”
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Lionsgate racked up total of nine awards, including for "Precious" and "Mad Men." Said Vice Chairman Michael Burns to TheWrap: "We're excited to have tremendous award recognition for both television and feature films.
