The Golden Globes — the first major event in Hollywood’s awards season — opened yesterday with a show of solidarity with France after Islamist attacks and a pledge of support for freedom of expression.
Comic duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler opened the three-hour show — second only to next month’s all important Oscars — with a monologue making fun notably of the recent Sony Pictures hack and the firestorm over “The Interview,” a farce about killing North Korea’s leader.
The duo joked that the evening was to celebrate “all the movies that North Korea was okay with.”
The evening took a more serious turn when the head of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — which hands out the Globes — brought the audience at the Beverly Hilton to its feet with a pledge to support freedom of expression in the wake of both the Sony hack and the French attacks.
“Together we will stand united against anyone who will repress free speech, anywhere, from North Korea to Paris,” said HFPA chief Theo Kingma.
While an eve-of-show computer glitch appeared to suggest two other films could take the top prizes, “Birdman” is still in strong position with the most nominations at seven.
The movie, starring former “Batman” Michael Keaton as a washed-up film actor trying to revive his career on stage, earned the most nominations with seven, on top of a string of accolades and other nominations leading up to the Globes.
Coming-of-age drama “Boyhood” and Nazi code-breaking thriller “The Imitation Game” starring Britain’s Benedict Cumberbatch are also hotly tipped to take home trophies with five nominations each.
J.K. Simmons won the first prize of the night — the best supporting film actor Globe for his performance as a bullying jazz drumming teacher in “Whiplash.”
“Fargo” took home the prize for best miniseries or television movie, while “Transparent” won Amazon’s first Golden Globe, for best comedy/musical television series.
This year’s crop of nominated movies are heavily based on true stories, four of the five Globes best drama contenders are based on real-life events.
Among the historical figures featured are British geniuses Stephen Hawking and Alan Turing, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Unlike the Oscars, which are voted on by some 6,000 industry members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Globes are selected by fewer than 100 journalists from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
However, a Golden Globes win can still provide a huge boost for an Oscars campaign. Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday. The actual Awards will then be held on February 22.
