What We Learned From the 2013 Golden Globes

The Golden Globe Awards, the funner, drunker love child of the Oscars and the Emmys, were last night, and while most of the event followed the typical awards show script—tearful acceptance speeches, teleprompter malfunctions—a few moments stuck out:

1. Jodie Foster wants privacy and/or a talking stick that only dogs can hear: Perhaps the most memorable speech of the Golden Globes was Jodie Foster's acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award. She started humorously enough, with a reference to the "I'm 50!" SNL skit.

From there the speech took all types of twists and turns, as she pseudo-came out of the closet, spurred (later clarified) retirement rumors by suggesting that she would hold a not-sparkly talking stick that may be "so quiet and delicate that only dogs can hear it whistle," and made a plea for more privacy, confirming that she is not, in fact, "Honey Boo Boo child." The speech deserved its own lifetime achievement in confusion: Some raved about it, others were just flat-out confounded.

2. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are the best: Everybody knew this before the Golden Globes even started. By explaining their own drinking game for the show last week, Fey and Poehler had already made the 2013 Golden Globes 100 percent more enjoyable, Their opening number, in which they took shots at James Cameron, James Franco, and "the rat-faced people of television," had more laughs than the entirety of other awards shows.

Their antics continued, posing as nominees for the ridiculous-sounding fictional movie Dog President, canoodling on George Clooney's lap, and even getting Daniel Day-Lewis to do the E.T. finger. The one complaint? There wasn't enough of them. But if Ricky Gervais gets to host three Golden Globes, then Fey and Poehler should be allowed host the next decade of award shows.

3. Hollywood loves Washington: Show business has a crush on its uglier counterpart, as politically themed T.V. shows and movies won the Hollywood Foreign Press's accolades. Homeland cleaned up the best television drama, best actor, and best actress awards, despite an uneven second season.

Game Change won for best miniseries or motion picture made for television, and Julianne Moore, while picking up her Globe for her portrayal of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, thanked Katie Couric and Tiny Fey for making "a significant difference in the 2008 election."

Argo, about the Hollywood-State Department collaboration to sneak American diplomats out of Iran, won for best drama and Ben Affleck for best director. Former President Bill Clinton even made a cameo, introducing Lincoln, prompting the best Amy Poehler-Tina Fey riff of the night: "That was Hillary Clinton's husband." "Bill Rodham Clinton!"

4. The red carpet gets redder: Red dresses ranging from orangy corals to deep burgundies ruled the red carpet, with Claire Danes, Jennifer Lawrence, Zooey Deschanel, Marrion Cottilard, Jennifer Garner, and Naomi Watts rocking the hue. And the fashion don't of the night? The weird, doily lace worn by Sienna Miller and Jennifer Lopez.

5. Even celebrities get sick: Meryl Streep was said to have missed the awards show because she was home sick. ("She has the flu and I hear she's amazing in it," Poehler assured us.) Jennifer Lawrence and Hugh Jackman were also reportedly suffering from the flu, but that didn't stop them from picking up their awards for best actress in a comedy and actor in a drama, respectively. Do they not dole out flu shots in Los Angeles?

Golden Globes: Will Ben Affleck and Katheryn Bigelow have better luck after Oscar snubs?

When you can make Daniel Day-Lewis claim he was the child star of “E.T.” you know you’ve got the crowd in the palm of your hands.

“Do the finger!” hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler encouraged the "Lincoln" star, prompting him to hold up one finger in the signature E.T. pose.

The two funny friends began the night with their signature jokes, mocking the various famous faces in attendance. Ben Affleck, Julianne Moore and Anne Hathaway were all early subjects of the duo’s jibes.

At times, even the "SNL" veterans struggled to keep a straight face; Fey paused to laugh after Poehler’s jab at “Zero Dark Thirty” director Kathryn Bigelow.

"When it comes to torture I trust the woman that was married to James Cameron for three years," Poehler quipped.

The evening, however, was definitely not without glitches. Paul Rudd and Salma Hayek had an awkward moment on stage when the Globes Teleprompter seemingly malfunctioned leaving them speechless.

Earlier, the stars began arriving around 6 p.m. to heat up the red carpet under sunny skies but crisp temperatures.

Hayden Panettiere, Ariel Winter of "Modern Family" and Kelly Osbourne were all spotted walking near heat lamps to warm the celebrities as the mercury stayed in the high 50s.

The Globes are in a rare place this season, coming after the Academy Award nominations, which were announced on Thursday.

Normally, the Globes serve as an indicator for who will take home the coveted Oscar nods, but this year fans and celebs alike were already privy to the favorites of the Academy…and the snubs.

Ben Affleck and Katheryn Bigelow’s films, “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” both took home Oscar best picture nominations, but neither director was honored with a best directing nod.

Affleck is expected to have better luck at tonight’s awards. Globe voters might also want to make right on a snub to Bigelow three years ago, when they gave their best-drama and directing prize to her ex-husband James Cameron for his film “Avatar” over her critically acclaimed flick “The Hurt Locker.”

But consolation wins for Affleck and Bigelow aren’t a sure thing. Globe votes were locked in before the Oscar nominations came out. Globe balloting closed Wednesday, the day before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its awards lineup.

The Globes feature two best-picture categories — one for drama and one for musical or comedy. Most of the Globe contenders also earned Oscar best-picture nominations, including all of the drama picks: "Argo," ''Lincoln," ''Life of Pi," ''Django Unchained" and "Zero Dark Thirty."

Yet only two of the Globe musical or comedy nominees — "Les Miserables" and "Silver Linings Playbook" — are in the running at the Oscars.

Acting contenders include Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones for "Lincoln"; Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables"; Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman for "The Master"; Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook"; Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained"; Alan Arkin for "Argo"; and Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty."

The Globes present 14 film awards and 11 television prizes.

Golden Globes preview: 5 things to look for, from cranky to swanky

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. will hand out the Golden Globes on Sunday, in what should be a fizzy stop in an unpredictable awards season for nominees including Ben Affleck, Kathryn Bigelow, Jennifer Lawrence and Hugh Jackman.

The Globes are uneven as Oscar predictors -- the small group of international journalists who make the selections have no crossover with the membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters. But the show is reliable as a "sloppy, loud party," as this year's co-host Tina Fey described the festivities in a promotional video. Fey and Amy Poehler will emcee the Globes, which air live on NBC at 5 p.m. PST/8 p.m. EST, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Here are a few things to watch for on the film front:

Cranky directors: The awards road can be a long and wearying one, especially for the directors who carry the full weight of a film's hopes on their shoulders. Three of the Globes' director nominees have extra reason to be a little testy Sunday: "Argo's" Affleck and "Zero Dark Thirty's" Bigelow were both just passed over for Oscar nominations, even though they were heavy favorites and their films were nominated for best picture. Bigelow has also endured a firestorm of criticism for her film's depiction of torture in the CIA's hunt for Osama bin Laden.

And "Django Unchained" director Quentin Tarantino, also passed over for an Oscar nom, has been snapping at reporters who have asked about violence in his movies in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Steven Spielberg should be buoyant, after "Lincoln's" 12 Oscar nominations and seven Globes nominations, and no one has ever reported seeing "Life of Pi's" Ang Lee in a bad mood.

Head-scratcher nominees: Thanks to its hazily defined musical or comedy categories and taste for telegenic stars, every year the HFPA selects some curious movies to reward. This year the oddball choices include the lightly regarded romantic comedy "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," which is nominated in the best picture, comedy or musical category, and its stars Emily Blunt (actress, comedy or musical) and Ewan McGregor (actor, comedy or musical). Also perplexing is the choice of Bill Murray (actor, comedy or musical) for his performance as Franklin Roosevelt in the historical drama "Hyde Park on Hudson."

Surprising speeches: Thanks to the bottomless bottles of champagne and low-stakes atmosphere, the Globes have lent themselves to some memorable acceptance speeches in the past, like Natalie Portman's awkward shout-out to her fiance when she won for "Black Swan" in 2011 or Jamie Foxx leading the crowd in a rendition of "What'd I Say" before crying about his grandmother when he won for "Ray" in 2005. This year we're hoping for some "Les Miserables"-esque talk-singing from supporting actress nominee Anne Hathaway or Thaddeus Stevens-style harrumphing from "Lincoln's" supporting actor nominee, Tommy Lee Jones.

Dames a plenty: British actresses and official dames Judi Dench (actress in a comedy or musical, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"), Maggie Smith (actress in a comedy or musical, "Quartet") and Helen Mirren (actress in a drama, "Hitchcock") will all be in attendance, as will America's closest dame equivalent, Meryl Streep (actress in a comedy or musical, "Hope Springs"). Expect queenly table manners and wry red carpet jokes from the lady rat pack.

A dramatic finish: In the Globes' best picture, drama category, front-runners "Lincoln" and "Zero Dark Thirty" will duke it out, while in the best picture, musical or comedy category, "Les Miserables" and "Silver Linings Playbook" will compete. Oscar's best picture race is still wide open, but Sunday's winners may help their films build momentum with any academy voters who are tuning in.

Golden Globes: 2013 Oscar snubs leave Globes with also-ran nominees

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Hollywood's junior prom for film honors features quite a different cast than the senior prom at next month's Academy Awards.

Sunday night's Golden Globes are in a rare place this season, coming after the Oscar nominations, which were announced earlier than usual and threw out some shockers that have left the Globes show a little less relevant.

Key Globe contenders lined up largely as expected, with Steven Spielberg's Civil War saga "Lincoln" leading with seven nominations and two CIA thrillers — Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" and Ben Affleck's "Argo" — also doing well.

All three films earned Globe nominations for best drama and director. Yet while "Lincoln," ''Argo" and "Zero Dark Thirty" grabbed best-picture slots at Thursday's Oscar nominations, Bigelow and Affleck were snubbed for directing honors after a season that had seen them in the running for almost every other major award.

The Globe and Oscar directing fields typically match up closely. This time, though, only Spielberg and "Life of Pi" director Ang Lee have nominations for both. Along with Spielberg, Lee, Bigelow and Affleck, Quentin Tarantino is nominated for directing at the Globes. At the Oscars, it's Spielberg, Lee, "Silver Linings Playbook" director David O. Russell and two surprise picks: veteran Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke for "Amour" and first-time director Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

That forces some top-name filmmakers to put on brave faces for the Globes. And while a Globe might be a nice consolation prize, it could be a little awkward if Affleck, Bigelow or Tarantino won Sunday and had to make a cheery acceptance speech knowing they don't have seats at the grown-ups table for the Feb. 24 Oscars.

That could happen. While "Lincoln" has the most nominations, it's a purely American story that may not have as much appeal to Globe voters — about 90 reporters belonging to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association who cover entertainment for overseas outlets.

The Bigelow and Affleck films center on Americans, too, but they are international tales — "Zero Dark Thirty" chronicling the manhunt for Osama bin Laden and "Argo" recounting the rescue of six U.S. embassy workers trapped in Iran amid the 1979 hostage crisis.

Globe voters might want to make right on a snub to Bigelow three years ago, when they gave their best-drama and directing prize to ex-husband James Cameron's sci-fi blockbuster "Avatar" over her war-on-terror tale "The Hurt Locker."

Bigelow made history a month later, becoming the first woman to win the directing Oscar for "The Hurt Locker," which also won best picture.

Globe voters like to be trend-setters, but they missed the boat on that one. Might they feel enough chagrin to hand Bigelow the directing trophy this time?

Spielberg already has won two best-director Globes, so that might be a further inducement for the foreign-press members to favor someone else this time.

Their votes were locked in before the Oscar nominations came out. Globe balloting closed Wednesday, the day before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its awards lineup.

The Globes feature two best-picture categories — one for drama and one for musical or comedy. Most of the Globe contenders also earned Oscar best-picture nominations, including all of the drama picks: "Argo," ''Lincoln," ''Life of Pi," ''Django Unchained" and "Zero Dark Thirty."

Yet only two of the Globe musical or comedy nominees — "Les Miserables" and "Silver Linings Playbook" — are in the running at the Oscars. That's not unusual, though, since Oscar voters tend to overlook comedy. The other Globe nominees for musical or comedy are "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," ''Moonrise Kingdom" and "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen."

Acting contenders include Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones for "Lincoln"; Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables"; Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman for "The Master"; Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook"; Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained"; Alan Arkin for "Argo"; and Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty."

Globe acting recipients usually are a good sneak peek for who will win at the Oscars. All four of last season's Oscar winners — Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady," Jean Dujardin for "The Artist," Octavia Spencer for "The Help" and Christopher Plummer for "Beginners" — took home a Globe first.

Jodie Foster will receive the Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the 70th Globes ceremony, airing live from 8-11 p.m. EST on NBC.

There will be a friendly rivalry between the hosts of the Globe ceremony, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The co-stars of the 2008 big-screen comedy "Baby Mama" both are nominated for best actress in a TV comedy or musical series, Fey for "30 Rock" and Poehler for "Parks and Recreation."

The Globes present 14 film awards and 11 television prizes.

Ben Affleck at the Golden Globes: Will His Kids Write on His Hands Again for Good Luck?

Ben Affleck may need to hide the pens in the house today.

At the Critics' Choice Movie Awards on Thursday, Affleck explained during his acceptance speech for Best Director for Argo why he had scribbles on his hands. "My daughter wrote my name on my hand for luck. I don't know how that works, but I guess it worked," he said.

As for tonight's Golden Globes, he joked with me yesterday at the BAFTA Tea, "She's going to write a paper—800 words single-spaced."

Kidding aside, Affleck said he didn't know if the doodling will become a regular thing. "I'm not a big believer in forcing the stuff or getting too focused on it," he said. "I think the healthiest version of this experience, if there is one, is go have fun, get to run into people you admire in life and tell them you like their movie and then go home and hang out with your kids."

And then maybe let them write on your hands?

Also at the annual Audi-sponsored BAFTA soiree, which took place at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, were Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Bradley Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Lawrence, Eddie Redmayne, Sally Field, Michelle Dockery, Jon Bon Jovi, Freida Pinto, Dev Patel, Sienna Miller, Juno Temple, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Kara Hayward and this year's Miss Golden Globes Francesca Eastwood.