Music, Style & Culture

The Descendants, The Artist Win Golden Globes

George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams take home acting awards.

Despite the Golden Globes being a bit of a joke, it's worth remembering the Hollywood Foreign Press Association have better judgment than the Academy on some occasions. For example, they wisely chose Brokeback Mountain as best film in a year the Oscar went to Crash.

The 69th Golden Globe Awards wass the first major event of award season, again a star-studded affair, but host Ricky Gervais was subdued. After making headlines with his bitchy remarks in 2011, he was invited back. However, wit was thin on the ground.

After enduring E!'s shocking broadcast, which saw Christopher Plummer's speech interrupted with a Kardashian-heavy ad break (the ads were shown about half a dozen times in the first half hour), the night threw few surprises.

The Descendants and The Artist were the big winners, after the two dominated their respective categories for drama and comedy/musical, with best director going to Martin Scorsese for Hugo. Madonna picked up a gong for her song in W.E., the only award her film is likely to win. Best score went to The Artist in a week where Vertigo star Kim Novak made disgraceful comments about the film's musical tribute to Hitchcock's classic.

The Globes' peculiar segregation meant Bridesmaids didn't stand a chance against The Artist, despite it being the comedy of the year. Likewise, Michelle Williams won best actress in that category, despite her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe being very much dramatic.

The film winners in full:

BEST PICTURE, DRAMA:
Winner: The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

BEST PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY:
Winner: The Artist
50/50
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn

BEST DIRECTOR:
Winner: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight In Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA:
Winner: George Clooney, The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio, J Edgar
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA:
Winner: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL:
Winner: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL:
Winner: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Winner: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Winner: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain , The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Winner: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
The Ides of March, George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
Moneyball, Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
Winner: The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Winner: A Separation
The Flowers of War
In The Land of Blood and Honey
The Kid WIth The Bike
The Skin I Live In

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Winner: The Artist, Ludovic Bource
W.E., Abel Korzeniowski
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Hugo, Howard Shore
War Horse, John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"Masterpiece," W.E.
"Lay Your Head Down," Albert Nobbs
"Hello Hello," Gnomeo and Juliet
"The Living Proof," The Help
"The Keeper," Machine Gun Preacher