Oscar night is now officially around the corner, but judging by last nights Globes, the English are this year's favorites - Helen Mirren, Hugh Laurie and Sacha Baron Cohen some of the winners from last nights award show.
British actor Hugh Laurie, of the television series "House M.D.", holds his golden globe award for Best Performance by an actor in a television series - drama at 64th Golden Globes in Beverly Hills, California on Monday 15 January 2007. EFE/Armando Arorizo EPA/EFE/ARMANDO ARORIZO
It was good to see Martin Scorsese given the Best director award for "The Departed," but he's been given the "high hat" so many times by the Academy, with 5 Oscar nominations without winning, and unimaginably not even a nomination for Taxi Driver or Casino, it will be interesting to see how that will play out.
Babel won for Best Motion Picture - Drama. The story spans four countries and five languages, and made sense for the Foreign Press to take a shine to.
The star power of the Globes is blinding, with a red carpet scene that nearly equals the Oscars for eye popping couture and tabloid fodder, such as the whole sticky Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz seating proximity quagmire.
But last nights Golden awards were pure Hail Britannia , as the quick thinking and charming Brits were front and center, charming the world with their gracious and grossly humorous acceptance speeches.
Mirren nabbed two of the awards, for her turn as Elizabeth I in "Elizabeth I" on HBO and the current monarch in the film "The Queen."
Sacha Baron Cohen took Best Actor - Musical or Comedy, for Borat, and Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jeremy Irons and Emily Blunt won Globes in the TV categories.
America Ferrera, winner for Ugly Betty, and gave one of the better speeches by an American on stage. Meryl Streep, winning in the Supporting Actress category for "The Devil Wears Prada," was her charming and poised self: "I think I've worked with everybody in the room."
Sacha Baron Cohen's acceptance speech had the audience laughing hard. Baron Cohen said that, in making Borat, "I saw some dark parts of America, an ugly side of America... I refer of course to the anus and testicles of my costar Ken Davitian. Ken, when I was in that scene and I... saw your two wrinkled golden globes on my chin, I thought to myself, I better win a bloody award for this."
"House's" charming Hugh Laurie - who is such a good actor that many Americans think he is actually a Yank, dealt the best speech: "I am speechless. I'm literally without a speech. It seems odd to me that in the weeks leading up to this event, when people are falling over themselves to send you free shoes and free cufflinks and free colonic irrigations for two, nobody offers you a free acceptance speech. It just seems to me to be a gap in the market. I would love to be able to pull out a speech by Dolce & Gabbana." Classic.
American thespians can take a page out of his playbook and up their sadly lacking acceptance speech game.
Your Talkback on this Story