Hawaii Produced “The Descendants” Scores Big at Golden Globes

The Hawaii produced movie “The Descendants” starring George Clooney scored big at the Golden Globe Awards last night. The movie walked away with trophies in two main categories; Best Picture in the Drama category, and a Best Actor nod for the film’s star George Clooney.

The Descendants is a story about a family in crisis. It was shot entirely in Hawaii, and made excellent use of the islands and culture of our state as a beautiful backdrop to what was going on in the movie.

The Descendants, which is inspired by the novel by local author Kaui Hart Hemmings, had received a total of five nominations. But the film’s nominees for best director (Alexander Payne), best supporting actress (Shailene Woodley) and best screenplay went to other films.

As usual, the Golden Globes (as is the case with most Hollywood awards shows) was long and drawn out. However, “The Descendants” did walk away with the nights two final awards, arguably the two biggest categories at the Golden Globes.

“It was nerve-wracking but it was terrific,” producer Jim Burke said by telephone.

Even though critics had praised the film for months, Burke said he and Payne felt like a man who walks into a room on his birthday and everyone shouts “surprise.” It has been a whirlwind year for the film, which has taken home several awards and hopes to continue that feat into the rest of award’s season.

“It’s all just being sorted out in our heads,” Burke said.

The filmmakers had planned a longer thank-you to the people of Hawaii but were told just before their awards were announced that all speeches needed to be cut short.

“We are really, really grateful,” Burke said after the show. “If we could do it over again, the only thing we would express more emphatically was our gratitude for the people of Hawaii.”

Leave it to the Golden Globes to run a show for three hours – most of which is rubbish, and then tell winners to cut their speeches short. Oh well, at least the people of Hawaii got a shout out online and through the press.

Golden Globes Winner’s List

MOVIES

• Best drama: “The Descendants”
• Best musical or comedy: “The Artist”
• Dramatic actor: George Clooney, “The Descendants”
• Dramatic actress: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
• Director: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
• Actor, musical or comedy: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
• Actress, musical or comedy: Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”
• Supporting actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
• Supporting actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
• Foreign language film: “A Separation”
• Animated film: “The Adventures of Tintin”
• Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
• Score: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”
• Song: “Masterpiece” (Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), “W.E.”

TELEVISION

• Best drama: “Homeland,” Showtime
• Best comedy: “Modern Family,” ABC
• Dramatic actor: Kelsey Grammer, “Boss”
• Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, “Homeland”
• Actress, musical or comedy: Laura Dern, “Enlightened”
• Actor, musical or comedy: Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes”
• Miniseries or movie: “Downton Abbey,” PBS
• Actress, miniseries or movie: Kate Winslet, “Mildred Pierce”
• Actor, miniseries or movie: Idris Elba, “Luther”
• Supporting actress: Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story”
• Supporting actor: Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”
• Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Morgan Freeman