The Golden Globe Awards: Five reasons why it’s a must-watch event

CTV News Channel: Fey and Poehler safe but funny Entertainment blogger Mike Morrison shares his thoughts leading up to Sunday night's Golden Globes, hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Here’s the skinny on the Golden Globe Awards: It’s not the ugly, less important and less loved sibling of the Academy Awards.

Sure, you might say: “The Golden Globe Awards aren’t nearly as prestigious, though.” And yes, it is true that the careers of acting legends such as Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks are all judged by their Academy Award wins.

But the Golden Globe Awards, which air Sunday night on CTV, won’t take a backseat to anyone. They have everything.

We’re talking Hollywood glamour, comedy, and big-budget blockbusters battling it out for bragging rights.  You’ll see tears, cheers and possibly jeers.

You’ll see celebrities roasted by other celebrities. And hopefully -- if we’re very lucky -- we’ll see some memorable fashion mishaps. (The mishaps are far more memorable then the fashion successes, anyway.)

Simply put: This is one heck of a celebration of film and TV. Here are five reasons to tune into the Golden Globes on Sunday.

The hosts

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are back as hosts of the 71st edition. Fey and Poehler both came into their own on SNL and now star on their own hit shows -- Fey on 30 Rock, and Poehler on Parks and Recreation.

The pair hosted last year’s awards and simply nailed it. There was that great opening monologue, filled with self-deprecating jokes.

“Only at the Golden Globes do the beautiful people of film rub shoulders with the rat-faced people of television,” Poehler said.

And, of course, there were tons of jabs at other celebrities. Fey at one point stuck it to actor James Franco, who had hosted the Academy Awards in 2011 with Anne Hathaway.

“Anne Hathaway, you gave a stunning performance in Les Miserables," Fey said. "I have not seen someone so totally alone and abandoned like that since you were on stage with James Franco at the Oscars.”

The two were at their best, and many are expecting the same Sunday.

The Big Names, the Big Titles

The Golden Globe Awards is the unofficial start of the awards season, and it’s the first time in the calendar year that so many huge celebrities are assembled in one room.

Clooney, DiCaprio, Blanchett, Bullock, Redford and Spacey. The Golden Globes have all of them first, beating the Academy Awards and the Emmys to the punch.

And if your New Year’s resolution is watching more movies and great television that cover a wide-range of topics, then the Golden Globe Awards is the best starting point.

12 Years a Slave, for example, a harrowing story chronicling a man’s quest for freedom in the pre-Civil War era American south, will take on Gravity in the Best Motion Picture Drama category, a movie that takes place entirely in space. It’s hard to imagine two films that are more different.

In the Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy category, Modern Family, a show about a not-so-typical American family, will battle it out against Girls, a show about the trials and tribulations of a self-obsessed, 20-something living in New York who struggles with the realities of adulthood. Both shows have been praised by critics and have been huge network successes.

The speeches

At any awards ceremony, you have great speeches, bad speeches, and weird speeches.

And if we’re keeping with our theme of what the Golden Globe Awards has on the Academy Awards, the most memorable speech of 2013 was Jodie Foster’s speech at last year’s Golden Globes.

It had long been speculated that Foster was gay. And during her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, she essentially told the world those rumours were true.

But some people were left confused by the often rambling speech, and Foster didn’t explicitly say she was gay.

“Loud and proud, right?” she had said, as the audience cheered.

Despite the lack of clarity, the speech was nonetheless memorable.

Woody Allen is receiving the same award this year. And while the women-obsessed comedian is not likely to shock Hollywood with a Foster-like confession, the master of neurotic humour will likely deliver a speech to remember.

The food

While you won’t be eating the fabulous meal served at The Golden Globes, food makes the list because it’s yet another thing the Academy Awards doesn’t have.

Moreover, knowing what’s going to be served will also give you the opportunity to live vicariously through celebrities. At the very least, you might come away with some new dinner-time ideas.

As an appetizer, the rich and beautiful will be served mini sweet pepper with feta cheese, pomegranate, herbs and California olive oil on a grilled pita.

This is followed by the main course: a Mediterranean spice-crusted braised beef short rib, coupled with a smoke filet of Atlantic sea trout, polenta cake, spinach corn ragout and cream of tomato dill sauce.

And finally for dessert, we have yogurt creme, coconut cremeux, creame anglaise and tropical compote.

We aren’t completely sure what three of those are, but they sound fantastic.

A send-off for Breaking Bad

For the soft-souled, sentimentalist out there, the Golden Globe Awards will be one of the last times the AMC series Breaking Bad will be honoured.

The hit show, which told the complicated journey of a well-intentioned science teacher who begins cooking methamphetamine to pay his medical bills, ended last year.

The show has been a favourite amongst both critics and fans -- some critics have gone as far as saying it’s one of the greatest series in history -- and it will certainly be lauded by many people at the awards.  Bryan Cranston, who played the now-iconic lead character Walter White, is up for the Best Actor award in a TV drama.

Who knew that a drug trafficking science teacher would capture our hearts?

Tune into CTV on Sunday for extensive coverage of the 71^st Annual Golden Globe Awards. Coverage starts with the one-hour 2014 Golden Globe Arrivals Special at 7 p.m. ET on CTV Two. The award ceremony begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CTV.