Golden Globes open award season

By James Hill III

The Golden Globes are generally considered to be the most casual of the major film award shows. Though some years their results eerily mirror the Oscars, other years the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the voting body of journalists behind the Globes) goes in a different direction than the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars' voting bloc).  Regardless, the Globes are always an interesting spectacle honoring the best in film and television.

British comedian Ricky Gervais hosted the celebration for the second straight year. He opened with a biting and controversial monologue mocking the night's traditional heavy drinking, Charlie Sheen, the 3D explosion, The Tourist, Sex and the City 2's airbrushing, Scientologists, 84-year-old Hugh Hefner's impending marriage to a 24-year-old, and Mel Gibson.

Gervais then ceded the stage to first presenter Scarlett Johannson, who awarded the Best Supporting Actor award to Christian Bale for his performance in "The Fighter."

The first television award of the night, Best Supporting Actress in a Series or Miniseries, went to first-time winner Katey Segal ("Married…With Children") for her turn in FX drama "Sons of Anarchy."  Chris Colfer of "Glee" (who plays Kurt Hummel) won the supporting actor award in television and looked genuinely stunned.

Colfer was later joined in the winner's circle by "Glee" cast-mate Jane Lynch, who won the Best Supporting Actress in a TV series, Comedy or Musical. The show itself took home the Best Comedy award.

Meanwhile, Steve Buscemi won the lead actor award for his performance as 1920's Atlantic City gangster Nucky Johnson in the critically acclaimed HBO drama "Boardwalk Empire," which proceeded to win the Globe for Best Television Drama.

The beloved "Toy Story 3" took home Best Animated Feature Film, and director Lee Unkrich joked about the ages of teenage presenters Justin Bieber and Hailee Steinfeld; he wondered if either of them was even born when "Toy Story 3" was released.  

Meanwhile, another major award was handed out to Annette Bening, star of "The Kids are All Right," for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy or Musical.  

One quirk of the Globes is that the awards are divided into Drama and Comedy/Musical categories, which means that occasionally both favorites can take home awards if they're in separate groupings.

A textbook case of this was seen later in the broadcast when "Black Swan's" Natalie Portman won the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress in a Drama, telling us absolutely nothing about who might be the Oscar favorite.

Portman pointed out a funny coincidence when she thanked "Black Swan" choreographer Benjamin Millipied, who she met on the set and is now her real-life fiancé and father of her child.   In the film, when his character is asked whether he'd sleep with Portman, he replies with a curt "no."

Another amusing moment from the acceptance speeches came from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who received the Best Screenplay award for "The Social Network."

Sorkin attempted to smooth things over with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, saying that he "turned out to be a great entrepreneur, a visionary and an incredible altruist."  

Melissa Leo finished a supporting actor sweep for "The Fighter" before ceding the stage to Matt Damon, who presented the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award to the legendary Robert DeNiro, who began to show the signs of the night's more...festive atmosphere with cracks about journalists, waiters and Javier Bardem's "deportation."

Paul Giamatti won the Best Actor award in a Comedy/Musical for "Barney's Version" over twice-nominated Johnny Depp.  

The appreciative Oscar favorite, Colin Firth, thanked The King's Speech director Tom Hooper and costar Geoffrey Rush, calling them  "two other sides of a surprisingly robust triangle of man love;" Firth said the award for Best Actor in a Drama was "all that stands between me and a Harley Davidson".

As for Best Picture, relationship dramedy "The Kids Are All Right" won the Comedy/Musical category while "The Social Network" took home Best Picture for a Drama, potentially foreshadowing an Oscar victory over expected contender "The King's Speech" ("Social Network" director David Fincher also won the Best Director trophy).

Gervais then came back out and, with a short "That's it," closed the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards; Gervais hadn't been seen on stage in so long that Twitter users wondered whether or not he had been fired mid-broadcast for comments Robert Downey, Jr. called "hugely mean-spirited."

The 83rd Academy Awards close out the award season on Feb. 27 (nominations are announced Jan. 26).

For those of you interested, the 31st Golden Raspberry Awards (‘honoring' the worst in film for 2010) occur the day before the Oscars.

Contact James at jhill@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.