It's raining Golden Globes

Celebrities had to walk a soggy red carpet and suffer through frizzy hairdos, drenched evening gowns, designer shoes and tuxes on the night of the Golden Globes as the heavens opened on the carefully coiffed VIPs.

The awards, hosted by acerbic British comic Ricky Gervais, are given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Accociation (HFPA)

There was a solemn moment at the start of the awards when actress Nicole Kidman — wearing a ribbon to recall the victims of the Haiti earthquake — urged audiences to donate money for disaster relief and to tune in for Friday's Hope for Haiti telethon organised by actor George Clooney.

But the night really belonged to Avatar.

The sci-fi blockbuster — the most expensive movie ever made and on track to become the highest-grossing film ever made — won the Golden Globe for best dramatic film and best director for James Cameron.

Avatar shared the spotlight at the 67th annual ceremony with Up, which won trophies for score and animated film, and the small independent drama Crazy Heart, which won best actor in a drama for Jeff Bridges and song.

First timers

On the film front, it was elementary, my dear Watson, that Robert Downey Jr. won best actor in a comedy or musical for playing the famed super sleuth in Sherlock Holmes.

Sandra Bullock won her first Golden Globe, for best actress in a drama for The Blind Side.

The Globes also tossed taste out the window, honouring the raucous R-rated hit The Hangover with best comedy or musical motion picture.

Visionary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who has directed such classics as Taxi Driver, GoodFellas and The Departed, was honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille award.

Christoph Waltz won supporting actor for a drama as a nefarious Nazi in Inglourious Basterds. Though he was ruthless and brutal in the movie, onstage he was a soft-spoken pussy cat and seemed nervous.

Meryl Streep also beat out Meryl Streep for best actress in a comedy or musical for her dead-on embodiment of chef Julia Child in Julie & Julia.

She was competing against herself — she was also nominated for It's Complicated.

Mo'Nique got the night's first award for her role as a vicious mother in Precious.

What they said

Chloë Sevigny's acceptance speech stood out for two reasons. First, she said she wanted to "share the award with my sister wives, Jeanneane Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin." And because — on a night where most winners were thanking their agents and other Hollywood muckity mucks — she thanked "George," her favourite production assistant, who goes over her lines with her each morning. "Without him, I would never remember anything."

"I think a matter of personal health is very much a personal matter." Michael C. Hall shared. "I had to be completely frank with you, every intention of keeping it quiet, but because the award shows were imminent, I figured I'd make a statement."

Hall wore a black cap to the Awards and joked that, "It is nice to sort of have a justifiable excuse for accessorising."

"A year and a half ago I was exposed to the gravitational forces of Quentin Tarantino," said Christoph Waltz. "He took my modest little world, my globe, and with the power of his talent and his words and his vision, he flung it into its orbit, a dizzying experience."

Meryl Streep told the audience that playing Julia Child in Julie & Julia allowed her to channel her late mother, who came from the same generation and "shared her verve" and shared her determination not to let anything get her down. "She had no patience for gloom and doom. I am not like that," Streep said.

In a self-deprecating speech, Robert Downey Jr said he had no one to thank and then proceeded to thank everybody, including producer Joel Silver who jumpstarted his career "at least 12 times," and his wife, Susan, the film's producer. If it wasn't for her, Downey said, he would be bussing tables at the Daily Grill.

In an aside to her husband, Jesse James, Sandra Bullock said it was no coincidence that her on-screen work improved after the two met. Because, she said, until then she didn't know what it was like for someone to "have my back".

Known mostly for her comedic roles, Bullock thanked the HFPA for honouring her stepping over to "the other side" with this drama inspired by the true story of a wealthy white Southern family that adopts a homeless African American teenage boy who later becomes a pro football player.

"We didn't expect this," Todd Philips said of his film, The Hangover, which was filled with nudity, foul language, and even a cameo by brawler Mike Tyson.

Hey it's not just film

On the TV front, the Globes did not disappoint. Fox's freshman musical comedy series Glee won best TV series, comedy or musical. And for the third year in a row, AMC's stylish Mad Men took the trophy for dramatic TV series.

The Globes also had big love for Chloë Sevigny, who won her first Golden Globe for supporting actress in a TV series, mini-series or TV movie for playing a Mormon fundamentalist and plural wife on HBO's series Big Love.

In other awards, Kevin Bacon and Drew Barrymore won their first Golden Globes — Bacon for best actor in a TV movie or miniseries for Taking Chance and Barrymore for best actress in a TV movie or miniseries for Grey Gardens.

Gardens also won for TV movie or miniseries. Alec Baldwin won for actor in a TV comedy series or musical for 30 Rock. Julianna Margulies earned actress in a TV series drama for freshman legal series for The Good Wife, while Toni Collette took home actress in a comedy series or musical for The United States of Tara.

It was also a good night for serial killers.

Michael C. Hall won best actor in a TV series drama for Dexter, in which he plays a good-guy serial killer — yes, he's a killer but (usually) kills bad guys.

Wearing a knit cap to cover his head — it was recently revealed that the Dexter star is being treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma — Hall dedicated the honour to his colleagues on the show. He also thanked his wife, Jennifer Carpenter, who happens to play his sister on Dexter, whom cameras caught trembling in her seat.

"We are walking in the footsteps of the people who came before us."