Did Ricky Gervais personally hire the cameramen at the Golden Globes last night? Though the comedian’s lacerating stand-up is the talk of the town today, the ceremony’s reaction shots were often just as unflattering: Celebrities were caught during awkward moments and happy acceptance speeches were juxtaposed with cutaways to audience members who could barely contain their hostility (especially during Toy Story 3’s win — what was that about?). Vulture sorted through the kudocast and picked sixteen faces that just about summed the whole thing up.
Johnny Depp grinds his teeth and thinks, I should have brought the rose-colored glasses while Ricky Gervais insults The Tourist to his face. (Cameramen might have tried to capture Angelina Jolie’s reaction to the jab, but anyone who dared to make eye contact with her during the moment was immediately turned into a pillar of salt.)
This is how you do self-effacing reaction shots: Chris Noth flashes a dastardly grin during a Gervais joke about how the women of Sex and the City 2 are old (though three are younger than Gervais himself, so … ), and nods to his date, confirming the amount of airbrush work that went into the poster.
Nobody was happier when Carlos won Best Miniseries than 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer (on the right side of the frame), who looked like he might explode from sheer joy the entire night.
And you know, as far as giving good face goes: How about that hunky Carlos star Edgar Ramirez, huh?
As Chris Colfer speechifies, Matthew Morrison bites his finger in a delightful combo of pride, concern, and hunger.
“Brad, it’s picture day at school, and you are not going to embarrass me.”
Robert Downey Jr. was very on last night, wasn’t he? Even during the cut to commercial, he was either staging a wink attack for the cameras or trying to catch an errant fly between his eyelids.
Megan Fox was not having Annette Bening’s speech.
Cute.
It was not Halle Berry’s fault that the camera caught her stonefaced reaction to Claire Danes shouting “Holla!” during her speech.
Pregnant, yes, but still incredibly teeny, Best Actress winner Natalie Portman made faces and waddled like a duck, because pregnancy tradition demands it.
Helen Mirren tried to play to the room by saying, “God, there are some gorgeous women here tonight,” but Michelle Pfeiffer was clearly steamed that she didn’t warrant a personalized shout-out.
Angelina Jolie was perfectly attuned to the camera all night, alternating between “glamorous unreadability” and “I’m just so fatigued by this ceremony, I simply must rest my head on my A-list movie star companion, Sexiest Man Alive Brad Pitt.” Only once did she drop her guard, when the camera caught her applying lip gloss, and the moment was oddly endearing.
Losing nominee Helena Bonham Carter was not pleased by Melissa Leo limiting her enthusiastic shout-out to just the female winners of the night.
Did you feel a little secondhand embarrassment during Robert De Niro’s unusually outgoing and oddly paced speech (which may have been made more palatable simply because Ricky Gervais outdid him so on the biting roast front)? If so, Hope Davis — here one moment away from face-palming — was an avatar for your pain.
This Thomas Jane reaction spoke for the whole crowd last night.
