Movies News

The Social Network dominates Golden Globes

Jan 17, 2011, 11:48 GMT

A handout picture provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on 17 January 2011 shows US actor Jesse Eisenberg who starred in \'The Social Network\'."© HFPA" "68th Golden GlobeĆ Awards"

   Los Angeles - Much-fancied Facebook drama The Social Network, was friended by the Golden Globe Sunday night when it won four awards, including for the year's best drama.

   Its handful of trophies ensures it heads into the home stretch of the Hollywood awards season as the hot Oscar favourite.

   The movie, which focuses on billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, also won for best screenplay, director and score. On Friday it dominated the Critics Choice Awards after sweeping up other prizes early in the awards season.

   The Kids Are All Right, a comedy about a lesbian couple who meet the man who fathered their children, won the Golden Globe for the year's best comedy or musical. Television variety show Glee won for best TV comedy, while prohibition-era gangster series Boardwalk Empire won for best TV drama.

   The Social Network had been criticized in some areas for its unflattering portrayal of the young internet magnate. But producer Scott Rudin used his acceptance speech to thank Zuckerberg 'for his willingness to allow us to use his life and work as a metaphor to tell a story about communication and how we relate to each other.'

   Writer Aaron Sorkin also used his speech to praise Zuckerberg. 'You turned out to be a great entrepreneur, a visionary and an incredible altruist,' he said.

   The royalty of Hollywood had gathered at the Beverley Hilton Hotel for the 68th annual Golden Globes, widely considered Hollywood's second most important awards show after the Oscars.

   From cancer survivor Michael Douglas to teen star Justin Bieber, and from Hale Berry to Angelina Jolie, everyone who was anyone in Tinseltown came in their finest designer clothes.

   The leading contender had been The King's Speech, about the stuttering British monarch King George VI. It had seven nominations but in the end it only won one award for lead actor Colin Firth.

   Natalie Portman won best actress in a drama for her role as a ballerina in Black Swan. Paul Giamatti won the comic actor award for Barney's Version, while Annette Bening was named best comic actress for The Kids Are All Right.

   Johnny Depp was a double loser in the best actor stakes where he was nominated for both Alice in Wonderland and The Tourist.

   The first trophy of the night went to Christian Bale, who picked up the best supporting actor award for his role in boxing drama The Fighter. The movie also yielded a supporting actress award for Melissa Leo.

   The glittering spectacle took place in the shadow of a legal scandal after the event's former publicist filed a lawsuit late last week alleging that member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the awards, accepted bribes and favours from movie studios in return for supporting movies.

   Boardwalk Empire's Steve Buscemi and Sons of Anarchy's Katey Sagal won the Golden Globes for best actors in a TV drama, while the best actors in a TV comedy or musical were Laura Linney for The Big C and Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory. The honour for best TV mini-series or movie went to the French mini-series Carlos, while the best foreign film was Denmark's In a Better World.

   The most emotional moment of the night came when Chris Colfer won the best supporting actor on TV series for his role as an openly gay high school student in the series Glee. 'To all the amazing kids that watch our show and the kids that our show celebrates that are constantly told no by bullies in their school and they can't be who they are ... Well, screw that, kids,' he said.

   The Globes are often touted as a predictor of Oscar glory but its record has been less than stellar in recent years. In the past six years only one winner of the best picture Globe, Slumdog Millionaire, won the corresponding Oscar prize. Last year, the Globes awarded the dramatic film to Avatar with James Cameron winning for directing, while the academy gave best picture to The Hurt Locker and director to Kathryn Bigelow.

   Robert De Niro received the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.