71ST ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

With award season in full force, it seems every weekend Hollywood is dressing to the nines to accept or not accept their accolades from the previous year. If the PGA Awards is the straight-A student and the People’s Choice Awards is the popular kid, the Golden Globes is the guy that throws the biggest parties.

Unlike the more conservative and esteemed Oscars, The Golden Globe Awards allows stars to kick back, drink up and bask in the glory of their fame. They don’t sit facing forward come show time; they schmooze among each other at dinner tables with free-flowing food and wine. And while the night commences at 7 p.m., the Beverly Hilton Bar opens at 2:30. Needless to say, it’s a booze-filled dress rehearsal for the Academy Awards. And audiences eat it up.

After the PR storm that Ricky Gervais caused from 2010-2012, the Hollywood Foreign Press played it safe for the 2nd year in a row. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler delivered a solid opening monologue with witty jokes and perfect chemistry. The SNL BFFs didn’t appear too often, but their quality-over-quantity-approach was a breath of fresh air. Surprisingly, the night didn’t offer any “OMG” moments, such as last year’s bizarre Jodie Foster rant. But we did get a “Yea, b***h” from Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul during the show’s acceptance for best television drama.

With the Oscar nominations coming out this Thursday, many look to the Globes to foreshadow what the Academy will announce. American Hustle and 12 Years of Slave led the pack with seven nominations each. Not surprisingly, both won in their respected categories of Drama and Comedy/Musical. While the Oscars have only one award for best movie, it will be interesting to see these two square off on March 2. Adding fuel to this fire, American Hustle earned Amy Adams a win for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical and Jennifer Lawrence for her supporting role.

The year 2013 saw a box office killing, raking in a whopping $10.9 billion. Therefore, it was interesting to see how the big boys like The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle would do against smaller, yet critically acclaimed hits such as Her and Nebraska. Most critics considered Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in Wolf to win him the trophy, with Nebraska’s Bruce Dern to be the true deserver. DiCaprio took the prize, but the Scorsese protégé might not fair as well at the Academy Awards. Oscar has never showed much love to Leo, and Dern might take the cake that time around.

We’ve read all year about the extraordinary acting in the film Dallas Buyers Club. The performances were not over looked, with Jared Leto taking home the award for Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama. Leto probably stood as the most predictable win, with his transformation into an HIV-positive transsexual generating rave reviews. Matthew McConaughey also joined the party, beating out the likes of 12 Year’s Chiwetel Ejiofor and All is Lost’s Robert Redford for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama in Dallas Buyers Club. Again, with many expecting Redford to win, it will be interesting to see what Oscar has to say.

The show didn’t stray to far from simply dishing out awards. One highlight came when Diane Keaton, who could only be described as looking like a formal Annie Hall, gave the Cecil B. Demille award to pal Woody Allen. As usual, the award show-shy funnyman was not present, but Cate Blanchett was there, accepting the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama, for Allen’s Blue Jasmine.

Perhaps the biggest surprises of the night happened on the TV end. Giving The Big Bang Theory a break for once, the new show Brooklyn Nine-Nine won for Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical. Even more surprising, Andy Samberg beat out Bang’s Jim Parsons and Michael J. Fox for his role in the humorous cop show.

Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston of course snagged the award for Best Actor in a Television Drama, as the edge-of-your-seat show recently saw its last season. Host Poehler beat out Girl’s Lena Dunham and Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus for her staring role in the mockumentary show Parks and Recreation.

All in all, the night went by without a hitch. Things will no doubt begin to heat up, as the Oscars are only six weeks away. Will they share the same sentiments as the Globes? Only time will tell.

View our red carpet photo gallery!