Goofy, shameless and rude: That is the Golden Globes.
The awards show that everyone loves to insult -- even its own host got his digs in -- put the annual Hollywood awards season into overdrive on Sunday night.
Most of the early prizes went to TV shows, because that keeps the movie people in their seats and in front of the TV cameras. They also got the chance to consume more alcohol before getting to the stage, reinforcing the notion that the Globes are party time, while the Oscars are more formal and stuffy.
Christian Bale took the supporting-actor award for The Fighter. Sometimes mercurial and unpredictable, Bale proved to be on his best behaviour, at least until his final shout-out to Robert De Niro when he exclaimed, "Holy s---!", pointed to his hero down front and then had his mic shut off as the music drowned out the rest of his speech. Otherwise, Bale graciously spread the kudos around, especially to Fighter co-star Mark Wahlberg, whose calm, controlled and quiet performance allowed Bale to be the loud one in the movie.
In what was expected to be first of many, The Social Network took best music score, giving the team of Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose momentum for the Oscars. In stark contrast in style to the contemplative Social Network score, the best song award went to Diane Warren for writing You Haven't Seen the Last of Me, the big song from Burlesque.
In TV categories, there were some surprises. Katy Sagal won as best actress for a TV drama for her role in Sons of Anarchy and Steve Buscemi won as best actor for a TV drama for his role in the breakout crime show Boardwalk Empire. In Sagal's case, she edged out favoured Julianna Marguiles for The Good Wife. In Buscemi's case, he edged out Jon Hamm for Mad Men.
Then Boardwalk Empire clinched the deal, taking the long walk to the stage to cop the prize for best TV Drama, beating out Mad Men, among others.
Glee's Chris Colfer won for best supporting actor in a TV series. He plays the closet gay singer who has to come out and stand up to prejudice. Colfer defiantly used his acceptance speech to denounce school bullies who pick on other kids because they are different.
In a different vein altogether, Carlos won as best TV movie or mini-series. In epic style, this 330-minunte Freance-Germany co-production tells the story of Venezuelan revolutionary and terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez.
The tone of the awards was loose, cheeky and juvenile. Returning host Ricky Gervais told off-colour jokes. "I warned them!" Gervais said after one rude bit of business seemed to get groans instead of laughs from the celebrity crowd. Gervais also bit the hand that fed him, alluding to allegations that superstars such as Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp can get noms just by promising to show up. Then he announced bluntly: "They also accept bribes."
In what must seem like deja vu all over again, Robert De Niro was set to get the Cecil B. DeMille Award for life achievement. In the hyperbolic words of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which votes on the Globes, the DeMille goes to people "who have made an incredible impact on the world of entertainment."
