As is the case every year with all Award shows, there were some winners I agreed with and some I did not. Even though Casey Affleck’s performance in Manchester by the Sea was great, Denzel Washington’s performance in Fences was incredible and he should have won and will probably win the Academy Award.  For best screenplay clearly, the winner should have been Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea rather than Damien Chazelle for La La Land. La La Land is a good movie but in my opinion it received too many awards because it was a highly unusual musical. Both Fences and Manchester by the Sea were better movies.

All of the Golden Globe awards for me meant nothing against Merrill Streep’s on point and great acceptance speech. Everything she said about Donald Trump and him making fun of a disabled reporter some months ago was as perfect and brilliant as any acting performance she has ever given.  The next day, Trump responded by calling Streep overrated as an actress and then repeating once again, that he never made fun of the disabled reporter, even though there is a video of him doing that exact thing. If Merrill Streep is overrated as an actress, then the profession of acting does not even exist.  

Best Motion Picture – Drama
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Lion”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight” *WINNER

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
“20th Century Women”
“Deadpool”
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“La La Land” *WINNER
“Sing Street”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Amy Adams – “Arrival”
Jessica Chastain – “Miss Sloane”
Isabelle Huppert – “Elle” *WINNER
Ruth Negga – “Loving”
Natalie Portman – “Jackie”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Casey Affleck – “Manchester by the Sea” *WINNER
Joel Edgerton – “Loving”
Andrew Garfield – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Viggo Mortensen – “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington – “Fences”

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Colin Farrell – “The Lobster”
Ryan Gosling – “La La Land” *WINNER
Hugh Grant – “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Jonah Hill – “War Dogs”
Ryan Reynolds – “Deadpool”

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Annette Bening – “20th Century Women:
Lily Collins – “Rules Don’t Apply”
Hailee Steinfeld – “The Edge of Seventeen”
Emma Stone – “La La Land” *WINNER
Meryl Streep – “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Mahershala Ali – “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges – “Hell or High Water”
Simon Helberg – “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Dev Patel – “Lion”
Aaron Taylor-Johnson – “Nocturnal Animals” *WINNER

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Viola Davis – “Fences” *WINNER
Naomie Harris – “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman – “Lion”
Octavia Spencer – “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams – “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Director
Damien Chazelle – “La La Land” *WINNER
Tom Ford – “Nocturnal Animals”
Mel Gibson – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Barry Jenkins – “Moonlight”
Kenneth Lonergan – “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Screenplay
Damien Chazelle – “La La Land” *WINNER
Tom Ford – “Nocturnal Animals”
Barry Jenkins – “Moonlight”
Kenneth Lonergan “Manchester by the Sea”
Taylor Sheridan – “Hell or High Water”

One day there will be a study from some college or psychologist who will try to figure out why people like Vampires so much. Could it be the eternal life thing or the weird ways you can kill a Vampire or their thirst for blood? I have never been a fan of Vampire or Zombie movies, and as far as films like this latest Underworld, this is just the latest in a long list of films in this franchise starring Kate Beckinsale. As long as these movies keep making money there will be more of them and probably most of the reason for their popularity is because of Beckinsale and her attractiveness on screen. But as far as the overall quality of these films, there is not much to speak of.

For this latest installment, “Underworld: Blood Wars”, there are long scenes of set-up for a payoff in a later scene that involves huge battles between different factions of Vampires or Vampires vs Ware Wolves. In my opinion, the set-ups for these war scenes took too long and made the movie more boring than it should have been. The special effects are nothing more than what we have seen before in the previous movies in this franchise, so there is really no reason to see this movie because if you have seen any of the other movies, then you have really seen this film already. It is all the same thing, repeated over and over again, therefore I do not recommend this movie.

“The Devil Wears Prada” came out in 2006 and is great film for a number of important reasons. The acting was very good, starring Merrill Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci. But for me, this movie was so great because it tapped into the stress and anger so many of us have to deal with every day when we work for other people. The Devil in this movie is played perfectly by Merrill Streep and during the entire story, she reminds all of us of one of my favorite quotes: “Power Corrupts Absolutely”. Merrill plays a famous fashion executive Miranda Priestly, loosely based on an actual fashion executive, Anna Wintour and in scene after scene, she is incredibly rude, condescending, short tempered, vicious, and abusive to everybody, especially her new employee played by Hathaway. Some scenes in this movie are difficult to watch, especially for those of us who have had to put up with abuse at work, to make a living. We all know that Priestley is so abusive to people because she can be, she answers to no one, and she has no sense of human compassion for other people.

I asked myself many times during while watching this film, why does poor Andy, played by Anne Hathway, have to put up with so much abuse by her boss, played by Merrill Streep and even her co-worker, played by Emily Blunt? Well, because if she doesn’t, she loses her job, potentially damages her career, loses money and it could take her a long time to get another job, if she can at all. So she contains her anger every day, doesn’t complain, or report this constant abuse and rudeness to the company or Human Resources. Stress builds and in some cases can even damage your health after months or years of abuse. There are many bosses in companies in this world who are decent, treat people with respect and remember what it was like when they had the job that their employee now has, but unfortunately, this seems to be too few and far between.

I really liked the messages at the end of this movie, where integrity wins out over screwing over someone else. Rising above it all, realizing that you have to like yourself as a human being first, before doing things that are beneath who you are to get ahead. We all like to believe that we could be Anne Hathaway at the end of this movie, but how many of us really could be, considering the payoff you would leave behind?

It is hard to believe that this movie came out over 10 years ago, and because of the work-realism, very relatable story and messages about making a living, I highly recommend The Devil Wears Prada.