Beverly Hills, California: The Facebook tale The Social Network won top honours on Sunday at the Golden Globes with four prizes, including best drama and director, solidifying its prospects as an Academy Awards favourite.
Winning the dramatic lead-acting prizes were Colin Firth for the British monarchy saga The King’s Speech and Natalie Portman for the thriller Black Swan.
Lead-acting honours for the Globes’ musical or comedy categories went to Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right and Paul Giamatti for the curmudgeon tale Barney’s Version.
The boxing drama The Fighter earned both supporting actor Globes, for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo.
David Fincher, directing winner for The Social Network, said he thought it was strange when The Social Network script came to him, since he usually makes dark character studies about misanthropes or films about serial killers. His films include the murder tales Seven and Zodiac.
“I’m personally loath to acknowledge the kind of wonderful response this film has received for fear of becoming addicted to it, so suffice it to say, it’s been really nice,” said Fincher.
Sorkin, creator of TV’s The West Wing, had kind words for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network.
“Mark Zuckerberg, if you’re watching, Rooney Mara makes a prediction at the beginning of the movie. She was wrong. You turned out to be a great entrepreneur, a great visionary and an incredible altruist,” Sorkin said.
The win by Portman for her role as a ballerina coming unhinged amid a production of Swan Lake sets her up for a two-woman showdown for best actress at the February 27 Oscars with Bening, who won for her role in The Kids Are All Right, which also won for best musical or comedy film.
Portman thanked the film’s choreographer, her fiancé Benjamin Millepied, with whom she’s expecting a child. He also appears in the movie, and his character doesn’t want to sleep with hers.
“He’s the best actor! It's not true, he totally wants to sleep with me,” Portman said, giggling.
Bening won the musical or comedy actress prize in a field that included The Kids Are All Right co-star Julianne Moore. The film stars Bening and Moore as a couple whose family falls into turmoil after their teen children seek out the sperm donor that fathered them.
“I'm very proud to be a part of this very special film,” Bening said. “My partner, Julianne Moore, I have to thank first. She asked me to do the picture with her. She made it possible for us to shoot it where we shot it, when we did, so Julianne, you are a class act, thank you.”
The buzz around Globes was not only about likely winners, but also about a lawsuit filed on Thursday by a former longtime publicist for the Globes claiming the organisation that runs the show, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, engages in payola schemes for nominations and awards. The allegations have been denied by the HFPA, a group of about 90 reporters covering show business for overseas outlets.
Ricky Gervais returned as Globes host for the second-straight year. Gervais joked that Globe nominees weren’t picked just so that Globe voters could hang out with stars such as Depp.
“They also accepted bribes,” Gervais said, referring to the publicist lawsuit.
Gervais pulled few punches as the night progressed, mocking Hugh Hefner, Charlie Sheen, Cher, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Scientologists and Robert Downey Jr, among others.
“Aside from the fact that it’s been hugely mean-spirited, with mildly sinister undertones, I’d say the vibe of the show is pretty good so far, wouldn’t you?” Downey, a presenter, shot back, perhaps only half-jokingly.
Bale, who won for his role as a former boxer whose career unraveled amid drugs and crime, thanked his collaborators on The Fighter, among them director David O. Russell and star and producer Mark Wahlberg.
“I’ve really got to give a shout out to Mark, because he drove this whole movie, and you can only give a loud performance like the one I gave when you have a quiet anchor and a stoic character,” Bale said. “I’ve played that one many times, and it never gets any notice.”
Bale seems to be on the same awards track as his "Batman" co-star, the late Heath Ledger, was two years ago, when he won supporting actor at the Globes for "The Dark Knight" on the way to earning a posthumous Oscar.
Toy Story 3, the top-grossing film released last year and the second sequel to 1995’s digital animation pioneer Toy Story, won the Globe for animated films.
“Wow, were you two even born when the first Toy Story came out?”, Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich said to his award's presenters, 16-year-old pop star Justin Bieber and 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, co-star of the hit Western True Grit.
Robert De Niro received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement.
The usually taciturn De Niro gave an uncharacteristically interesting acceptance speech, suggesting that most people in the room hadn’t seen a lot of the films he was proud of, including Stone, Marvin’s Room and Stanley and Iris.
“Some of you would be seeing them for the first time. You didn't even watch the screeners, did you?” De Niro said.
Among TV winners, Glee won three prizes, best comedy and supporting-acting prizes for Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer.
Complete list of Golden Globe winners
Following is a complete list of winners at the 68th annual Golden Globe Awards, held on Sunday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
FILM
Drama - "The Social Network"
Comedy - "The Kids Are All Right"
Actor, drama - Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"
Actress, drama - Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"
Actor, comedy - Paul Giamatti, "Barney's Version"
Actress, comedy - Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"
Supporting actor - Christian Bale, "The Fighter"
Supporting actress - Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"
Director - David Fincher, "The Social Network"
Screenplay, film - Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network"
Original score, film - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, "The Social Network"
Original song, film - Diane Warren, "You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" (From "Burlesque")
Animated film - "Toy Story 3"
Foreign language film - "In A Better World" (Denmark)
TELEVISION
Drama - "Boardwalk Empire"
Comedy - "Glee"
Miniseries/TV Movie - "Carlos"
Actor, drama - Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"
Actress, drama - Katey Sagal, "Sons Of Anarchy"
Actor, comedy - Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"
Actress, comedy - Laura Linney, "The Big C"
Actor, Miniseries/TV Movie - Al Pacino, "You Don't Know Jack"
Actress, Miniseries/TV Movie - Claire Danes, "Temple Grandin"
Supporting Actor - Chris Colfer, "Glee"
Supporting Actress - Jane Lynch, "Glee"
