The Hollywood Foreign Press handed out the 66th annual Golden Globe awards last night at the famed Beverly Hilton Hotel and a Who’s Who of Hollywood’s elite came out for the grand affair. As you may recall, the Golden Globe Awards were not held last year because of the Hollywood Writers’ Strike so many celebs were geared up to strut their stuff on the red carpet last night. Here are a few photos from the red carpet arrivals:

There were quite a few fashion disasters on the red carpet last night and I’m convinced that many of the folks who made their way down the red carpet were totally loaded. I watched NBC’s red carpet coverage and was aghast at how horrible the whole thing was. Not only did Nancy O’Dell look like she had a mop afixed to her head but she and her interviewer cohorts were simply HORRENDOUS as they interviewed the celebs:

If you watched the show, you know exactly what I’m talking about. But, once the show got underway and the awards started to get handed out, things leveled off and got sorta interesting. In the end, the Hollywood Foreign Press saw fit to bestow HEAPS of awards on Slumdog Millionaire (in the Film categories) and John Adams (in the Television categories). Here are a few pics from the press room and a rundown of what went down last night:

The movie “Slumdog Millionaire” emerged as the big winner at the 66th Golden Globes late Sunday, scooping four awards to underline its credentials ahead of next month’s Oscars. Late Australian actor Heath Ledger earned a posthumous Golden Globe for his performance in Batman blockbuster “The Dark Knight” while Kate Winslet won two awards for best drama actress and supporting actress. But, ironically, on a star-studded night in Beverly Hills, it was “Slumdog Millionaire” the rags-to-riches love story about an orphan who fights his way out of Mumbai slums on an Indian television game show. The film — featuring a cast of virtual unknowns — won best drama and also picked up honors for director Danny Boyle, as well as honors for best screenplay and best music. Sally Hawkins also won the best musical/comedy actress award for her performance in the light-hearted Mike Leigh film “Happy-Go-Lucky.” The 32-year-old actress beat favorite Meryl Streep (”Mamma Mia!”), Frances McDormand (”Burn After Reading) and fellow Britons Rebecca Hall (”Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) and Emma Thompson (”Last Chance Harvey”). After a disastrous event last year that was reduced to a celebrity-free zone by the entertainment industry’s writers strike, this year’s Globes red carpet read like a who’s who of the movie industry’s A-list. Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio were just a handful of the A-listers in attendance at the Beverly Hilton. Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes — which are chosen by around 80 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — have separate best picture awards for dramas and musicals. In the past four years the Globes have failed to accurately predict the best picture winner at the Academy Awards but overall, some 67 percent of Oscars best picture winners had first received a Golden Globe. As such the Globes are seen as an important staging post ahead of the Academy Awards, offering clues to which films will be successful at the Oscars, which take place at Hollywood’s Kodak Theater on February 22. The acting awards on Sunday saw Australian heart-throb Ledger honored as expected for his portrayal of arch-villain the Joker in “The Dark Knight.” Director Christopher Nolan accepted Ledger’s award, saying the actor’s death at the age of 28 had “ripped a hole” in the future of cinema. “All of us who worked with Heath on ‘The Dark Knight’ accept this with an awful mixture of sadness but incredible pride,” Nolan said. “For any of us lucky enough to work with him, I think for any of us lucky enough to enjoy his performances, he will be eternally missed, but he will never be forgotten,” he added. The victory cements Ledger’s status as the odds-on favorite to win a best supporting actor Oscar at next month’s Oscars. The other big winner in the acting categories was Winslet, who scooped best actress in a drama for her performance in “Revolutionary Road” and best supporting actress for “The Reader.” Winslet, 33, who had been overlooked after five previous nominations, was overcome following her double win, apologizing to her rival nominees and thanking “Revolutionary Road” co-star DiCaprio. “I’m so sorry, Meryl (Streep), Anne (Hathaway), Kristin (Scott-Thomas), the other one… Angelina (Jolie)!,” Winslet gasped. “Thank you so much… thank you soooo much!,” before adding to longtime friend and fellow “Titanic” star DiCaprio: “I love you with all my heart, I really do!” It was only the third time in Golden Globes history that an actor or actress had been honored with two awards on the same night. In the men’s acting categories there was an emotional victory for Mickey Rourke, who won best actor in a drama for his heart-wrenching portrayal of a washed-up prizefighter in “The Wrestler.” “This has been a very long road back for me,” said Rourke, whose career nose-dived through much of the 1990s after an ill-advised spell as a professional boxer. Rourke — who famously has a pet chihuahua — also paid tribute to canine friends who had comforted him over the years. “I’d like to thank all of my dogs, the ones that are here and the ones that aren’t here anymore because sometimes when a man is alone, that’s all you’ve got is your dog, and they meant the world to me,” Rourke said. Rock star Bruce Springsteen won for best original song for his theme song for “The Wrestler.” But it was a disappointing evening though for Brad Pitt and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” which had started the night with five nods alongside “Frost/Nixon” and “Doubt”. All three films came away empty-handed.

Poor Brangelina … they walked away from the Golden Globes with nothing but a free meal and prolly a very nice giftbag — that’s it! And, to add insult to injury, Angelina got called “the other one” by Kate Winslet (which sounded an awful lot like when John McCain referred to Barack Obama as “that one” during one of the Presidential Debates). Tsk tsk. Neither The Curious Case of Benjamin Button nor Changeling have done very well at winning awards thus far, have they? HMMM. I am SO thrilled that Slumdog Millionaire cleaned up last night … truly an underdog film that is worthy of the praise and accolades it continues to win. If you’ve not see the movie yet, I urge you to do so before the Academy Awards are held next month … you don’t want to miss out. I was happy, too, that Heath Ledger won the award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in The Dark Knight. I really hope he is on track for an Oscar, he really deserves the win. Props to Kate Winslet for being the first person to ever win both Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress awards in the same year (I understand that has never happened before). I’ve only heard amazing things about The Reader and Vicki Christina Barcelona … so I am now on a mission to see those films (as well as The Wrestler, which I’ve been dying to see anyways) as soon as I can. I really enjoyed this year’s Golden Globe Awards mostly because so many small, relatively unknown films did so well. It gets kinda boring when the usual suspects (ie. big, blockbuster A-list celeb movies) win all the awards … it’s nice to see the talented little guys get their time in the sun. Next up, Oscar noms which come out next week. How many of last night’s winners do you think will get tapped for Academy Award nominations? Also, what did you think of last night’s show … good, bad, you’re over it already?

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

The nominations for the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards have been announced for movies and television shows released this year and the movies/TV titles that you might’ve expected (and mebbe not expected at all) walked away with quite a few noms. In movies, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon and Revolutionary Road garnered a few of the big nominations … as did Batman: The Dark Knight, which snagged an acting nom for Heath Ledger (naturally, his family is proud). In television, 30 Rock, Dexter and Mad Men are the frontrunners. It looks like the upcoming Golden Globe Awards promises to be a contest comprised of quite a few of our fave titles:

Brad Pitt and Batman are expected to be among the front-runners here Thursday as the race for Oscars glory swings into top gear with the announcement of nominees for the 66th Golden Globes. Hollywood heart-throb Pitt is vying for honors for his performance in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1922 short story about a man who ages in reverse. Director David Fincher’s movie, which sees Pitt star opposite Australian icon Cate Blanchett, does not open in the United States until December 25 but has already wowed critics and audiences at sneak previews. “I think the presumption among pundits right now is that ‘Benjamin Button’ is the front-runner,” Tom O’Neil, an awards-season expert with the Los Angeles Times’ theenvelope.com, told AFP. Long-regarded as an indicator of films likely to challenge for top honors at the Oscars, which take place on February 22 next year, the Globes have thrown up a series of red herrings in recent years. The last movie to achieve the Golden Globes best drama and Oscars best picture double was 2003’s fantasy epic “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” However the Globes, which are chosen by around 80 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and handed out on January 11, can help to shape the overall field and give valuable momentum to front-runners. While “Benjamin Button” has emerged as the early favorite — receiving another boost on Tuesday with eight nominations for the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s annual awards — it faces stiff competition from a glut of other films including blockbuster “The Dark Knight.” As well as raking in nearly 1 billion dollars worldwide since its July release, director Christopher Nolan’s sequel was widely hailed as a masterpiece of movie-making that transcended its superhero genre. The film was also notable for an extraordinary performance from late Australian actor Heath Ledger, who is being strongly tipped to win a posthumous Oscar at next year’s Academy Awards for his cackling portrayal of the Joker. “Whether ‘The Dark Knight’ was the best movie of the year is a subject of debate, but it was certainly the movie of the year,” O’Neil said. “It was the most talked about, the one that mattered most, the one that made the most. “And the Globes have an obvious appreciation for blockbusters, the big crowed pleasers.” O’Neil cautioned however that studio films such as Paramount’s “Benjamin Button” and Warner Bros’ “The Dark Knight” could yet be upset by a crop of smaller budget movies. These include “Milk,” Gus Van Sant’s biopic starring Sean Penn as trailblazing gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, and “Slumdog Millionaire,” British film-maker Danny Boyle’s soaring love story about a boy seeking to escape poverty in Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of television gameshow “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” “These uplifting movies like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘Milk’ are likely to play a big role,” O’Neil said. I think both of those films are pretty sure bets for best picture nominations at the Oscars and the Globes.” A slew of other acclaimed films are also tipped to be in contention, including Sam Mendes drama “Revolutionary Road,” which sees “Titanic” co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet playing frustrated 1950s suburbanites; “Frost/Nixon,” Ron Howard’s adaptation of the successful stage play about disgraced former US President Richard Nixon’s series of interviews with British journalist Sir David Frost; and “Doubt,” starring Oscar-winner Meryl Streep as a Catholic nun locked in a duel with a priest played by Philip Seymour-Hoffman. Lew Harris, a consulting editor with the Hollywood.com website, said awards season could be “pretty chopped up” with prizes being evenly spread across several films. “You’ve got ‘Benjamin Button,’ ‘Doubt’. I just don’t see one big movie emerging,” Harris told AFP. “‘The Dark Knight’ has the most possibility of doing well across the board. But it’s hard to ignore some of the performances in films like ‘Frost/Nixon’ and ‘Milk.’ I think it’s going to be pretty chopped up.”

I think that just like in year’s past, we’ll see some of these same films nominated for Golden Globes garnering Oscar noms as well … but I’m still not convinced that the Academy is going to nominate The Dark Knight in the Best Picture category. I’d bet money that Heath Ledger will get an acting nomination (whether he wins or not is another matter) but I’m having a hard time believing TDK will get superhero treatment by the voting Academy. That being said, Beauty and the Beast (the 1992 animated Disney film) surprised everyone when it got nominated for Best Picture that year (becoming the first animated film to be nominated in that category — incidentally, it’ll prolly remain the only animated film to be nominated for Best Picture since animated films now have their own category, no other animated films would be eligible for Best Picture nomination) so it’s possible that The Dark Knight could get the nod as well. Personally, I do not feel it was the Best Picture of the year but I think it would be really cool if it did get the nom. I am really happy that Dexter and Michael C. Hall in particular received nominations … as well as Kiefer Sutherland for 24: Redemption, Danny Boyle for directing Slumdog Millionaire, WALL•E and In Treatment. I’m chagrined that Miley Cyrus got a nomination for Best Song but … well … there you have it. And so, with the announcement of the Golden Globe noms comes the start of the award season for the new year. And away we go! Click HERE to see a full list of nominees for the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards. Did any of your faves get nominated … anything that y’all are particularly thrilled/angered by?

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