Golden Globes

Facebook film “The Social Network” picked up four GoldenGlobe Awards on Sunday, including Best Film drama, making it a front-runner inHollywood’s Oscar race.

“Social Network” picked up the best director award for David Fincher, best screenplay for writer Aaron Sorkin and best musical score for its music, written by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor.

The film recounts the story of the founding of social networking site Facebook, an international phenomenon with millions of users that started in a college dormitory. Accepting the Golden Globe, producer Scott Rudin called the movie “a metaphor for communication and the way we relate to each other.”

Another winner of some big awards was “The Kids Are All Right,” which featured two lesbian parents whose children search for their sperm donor father. “Kids” also picked up the award for best actress in a film comedy for its star Annette Bening, who portrayed one of the mothers in the film.

British actor Colin Firth was named best actor in a film drama for his portrayal of stuttering King George VI in “The King’s Speech,” while Natalie Portman took home the Golden Globe trophy for best actress in a drama with “Black Swan.” Paul Giamatti won the prize for best actor in a comedy film for his role as a caustic man in “Barney’s Version.”

The Golden Globe Awards, which are given out by the nearly 90 members of the HFPA, are one of the major Hollywood award shows leading to the film industry’s most-prized honors, the Oscars, which are handed out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Many film industry watchers look at the winners of Golden Globes and other honors for clues as to which films, performers, directors and writers might win Oscars. This year, “Social Network” has swept many early honors and added the Golden Globe to its cache of trophies.

In other movie honors, boxing drama “The Fighter” picked up two GoldenGlobes for Christian Bale as supporting actor portraying a drug-addicted fighter and for Melissa Leo as supporting actress playing the mother ofChristian Bale’s character.

“Toy Story 3″ was named best animated movie for what director Lee Unkrich called “”an animated movie that beat with a human heart.” And Denmark’s “In a Better World” was named best foreign language film.

Golden Globe Nominations 2011

The Golden Globe nominations 2011 may be a bellwether for the Oscars. However, the Golden Globe nominations 2011 aren't the only clue to the Oscars this month. Many critics awards have already gone out, with most of them favoring The Social Network. After those awards, and after weeks of making predictions, today's announcement might not have raised that many eyebrows. Yet the 2011 Golden Globe nominations still had their share of notable results and surprises.

The Social Network and The King's Speech are considered the two favorites for the Oscars. This morning, they did little to change that, although The King's Speech got a boost by getting the most nods of the day. Despite mixed results in the critics' awards, The King's Speech received seven nods to The Social Network's six.

However, the Golden Globe nominations 2011 didn't have The Social Network or King's Speech stand alone. The Fighter is being regarded as a sleeper pick, and it came on strong with six nods, to tie for second overall.
Behind these three frontrunners, Black Swan, Inception and The Kids Are All Right tied with four selections. Yet the likes of The Tourist, Burlesque and Alice in Wonderland followed with three, as they had to fill out the music and comedy categories.
In the individual Golden Globe nominations 2011, the likes of Colin Firth, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Annette Bening, Christian Bale, Geoffrey Rush and Nicole Kidman got their expected slots. But the left field selections included Michael Douglas, Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, and Johnny Depp twice.
The drama movie field was made up of The Social Network, The King's Speech, Inception, Black Swan and The Fighter. Yet the comedy field was left with The Kids Are All Right towering over Burlesque, Alice in Wonderland, The Tourist and Red.
On the TV side of the Golden Globe nominations 2011, Glee led the way with five nods. Meanwhile, the likes of 30 Rock, Mad Men, The Good Wife, Dexter, Modern Family and newcomer Boardwalk Empire tied with three. The Walking Dead even broke into the drama series category, despite airing six episodes, while Lost was shut out in its final try.

This awards show may not be the major Oscar indicator that it once was. After all, they still only select five Best Picture nominees for drama and comedy, while the Oscars now have 10 slots. In many ways, this morning backed up what everyone knew, as The King's Speech and Social Network led the field. Yet as The Fighter prepares for a wider release, its chances to sneak up on them are getting serious.

The 2011 Golden Globe nominees will hold the year's biggest party on January 16 on NBC, with Ricky Gervais coming back to host.