The 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony was held last night, and all of Hollywood came to the party… to be royally roasted by Ricky Gervais.
He’s a love-him-or-hate-him comedian, and I certainly belong to the former party. It’s hugely ironic that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the less-than-100 individuals who vote on the Golden Globes, has allowed him to host for two consecutive years – this group has a reputation for pandering to the stars.
In any case, the night boasted a huge upset in the television field when Katey Sagal won Actress in a Television Drama for the FX series Sons of Anarchy. She’d been nominated for Married… with Children in the past but finally triumphed this year despite some tough competition. The rest of the television awards went as expected, with Glee taking Television Series Musical/Comedy and supporting prizes for Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch. Newcomer series Boardwalk Empire took Television Series Drama and also netted the Actor in a Television Drama for veteran Steve Buscemi.
The film awards were also largely predictable. The only big “upset” occurred when The Social Network took the award for Motion Picture Drama. While the film is no doubt the front-runner to win the Oscar for Best Picture, it’s not the kind of film that the Globe voters usually prefer. Voters more often than not jump to award period pieces like The King’s Speech but instead opted to follow the critics groups that almost unanimously named it 2010’s best film, though Colin Firth’s performance in The King’s Speech did earn him Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. Lisa Cholodenko's dramedy The Kids Are All Right snagged Motion Picture Musical/Comedy, as well as the genre's Actress award for Annette Bening.
Here is a full list of winners:
Motion Picture Drama: The Social Network
Motion Picture Musical/Comedy: The Kids Are All Right
Director: David Fincher (The Social Network)
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
Motion Picture Drama Actor: Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
Motion Picture Musical/Comedy Actor: Paul Giamatti (Barney’s Version)
Motion Picture Drama Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Motion Picture Musical/Comedy Actress: Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Original Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network)
Original Song: Burlesque – “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” (written by Diane Warren; performed by Cher)
Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Foreign Language Film: In a Better World
Television Movie or Mini-Series: Carlos
Television Series Drama: Boardwalk Empire
Television Series Musical/Comedy: Glee
Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Al Pacino (You Don’t Know Jack)
Television Drama Actor: Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)
Television Musical/Comedy Actor: Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Actress in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Claire Danes (Temple Grandin)
Television Drama Actress: Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy)
Television Musical/Comedy Actress: Laura Linney (The Big C)
Television Supporting Actor: Chris Colfer (Glee)
Television Supporting Actress: Jane Lynch (Glee)
And now, my top seven moments of the night…
7. Jane Lynch’s win and acceptance speech: Slightly dipping into her “Sue Sylvester” character simply for jest, Jane Lynch gave one of the night’s most memorable speeches. Plus it’s a nice makeup for last year.
6. Johnny Depp loses both of his nominations. Enough said.
5. Helena Bonham Carter’s “You must be joking” face during Melissa Leo’s Supporting Actress speech: Classic. You simply don’t get these faces at awards shows anymore. Just fake smiles and applause.
4. Chris Colfer’s win and acceptance speech: He had no idea that he was winning, and it was totally obvious that he was clueless to his (arguable) front-runner status. That’s what always makes for the best awards show moments, isn’t it?
3. Robert Downey, Jr.’s monologue: See it – and laugh – below.
2. Annette Bening’s win and acceptance speech: This was her moment to either say “Sayonara” to her Oscar hopes or push her back into a rivalry against Natalie Portman. Thankfully, Bening gave a terrific and heartfelt speech about her “labor of love,” called Julianne Moore “a class act,” and gave a shout-out to hubby Warren Beatty.
1. Ricky Gervais as the host: Digging on The Tourist, throwing in some jokes about bad bodies of work, and countless other comedic highlights. What’s not to love?
What were your favorite wins and moments of the night?
