The film 12 Years a Slave took the coveted Golden Globe for best drama, and American Hustle won best musical or comedy on Sunday in a kickoff to the Hollywood awards season that foreshadows a wide scattering of honors for a year crowded with high-quality movies.
Only two films garnered more than one award at the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards, an important but not entirely accurate barometer for the industry's highest honors, the Academy Awards to be held on March 2.
American Hustle, a romp through corruption in the 1970s directed by David O. Russell, was the top winner with three Globes for its seven nominations, while the modest AIDS film Dallas Buyers Club starring Matthew McConaughey, took two acting awards - for him and co-star Jared Leto.
British director Steve McQueen's brutal depiction of pre-Civil War American slavery in 12 Years a Slave, based on a true story of a free black man, Solomon Northup, who was sold into slavery, only won one award out of its seven nominations. It was entirely shut out from the acting honors, for which it was the presumed favorite.
But best drama is the top award of the Golden Globes and McQueen thanked actor and producer Brad Pitt, who played a small part in the film but a big role in getting it made. "Without you this movie would never had gotten made, so thank you, wherever you may be," McQueen said.
Among the films passed by were two darlings of the critics: the Coen brothers' paean to the 1960s folk scene Inside Llewyn Davis and Alexander Payne's homage to the heartland, Nebraska.
The first big night of the Hollywood awards season is the journalistic domain of 90 some members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who wield outsized clout in the awards race as buzz around the early honors influences members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in their voting for the Oscars.
Oscar nominations are to be announced on Thursday, and 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle are likely to be in the list of 10 nominees for best picture, going head-to-head unlike in the Globes, where they competed in two separate categories.
The Globes have a mixed record when it comes to predicting the Oscar best picture, though last year's best drama winner, Argo, did go on to win the Academy Award for best movie.
Array of recognition
In a setting more intimate and whimsical than the tightly scripted Oscars, A-listers and returning co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler poked fun at the most powerful in the glamorous audience.
It was a night in which there seemed to be a prize for most every film, a reflection of a banner year for quality cinema in which critically acclaimed films piled up in the last half of the year.
The top drama acting awards went to Cate Blanchett for her turn as a riches-to-rags socialite in Woody Allen's tragicomedy Blue Jasmine and McConaughey for his portrayal of unlikely AIDS activist Ron Woodroof, a role for which he lost 22.7 kilograms.
"Ron Woodroof's story was an underdog, for years it was an underdog, we couldn't get it made. ... I'm so glad it got passed on so many times or it wouldn't have come to me," said McConaughey, widely lauded for a string of strong performances this year.
Russell, who reunited cast members from his previous films, reaped the rewards of loyal actors.
Amy Adams won best actress in a musical or comedy for her role as the conniving partner of a con-man played by Christian Bale in American Hustle, while Jennifer Lawrence took best supporting actress for her turn as his loopy wife.
"David, you write such amazing roles for women," Adams told the star-studded room as she accepted the award. She starred in Russell's 2010 The Fighter, while Lawrence won the best actress Oscar last year for his previous film, Silver Linings Playbook.随着上周日好莱坞颁奖季揭开帷幕，电影《为奴十二年》获得梦寐以求的金球奖最佳剧情片，《美国骗局》获得最佳音乐/喜剧奖，颁奖季的来临意味着各种荣誉将广泛散落到那些优质电影头上。
在第71届金球奖上，只有两部电影夺得一个以上奖项，而金球奖是业内最高荣誉奖即奥斯卡金像奖(即将于3月2日举行)的一个重要风向标。
由大卫?O?拉塞尔导演的关于20世纪70年代美国政府的犯罪剧情片《美国骗局》是大赢家，七项提名中了三个，而由马修?麦康纳主演的关于艾滋病人的《达拉斯买家俱乐部》则拿走最佳男主角和最佳男配角两个奖项。
英国导演史蒂夫?麦奎因讲述美国内战前夕奴隶制的《为奴十二年》是基于一个自由黑人所罗门?诺瑟普不幸被贩卖为奴隶的真实故事，该电影七项提名仅中一项，完全没沾上大众期待的演技类奖项。
不过最佳剧情片是金球奖的最高奖项，导演麦奎因感谢演员兼制片人布拉德?皮特，尽管他只出演了一小部分，但却是电影成型的关键人物。麦奎因说，“没有你，这部电影不可能完成，所以谢谢你，无论你此时在哪里。”
被淘汰的电影中有两部是评论家的挚爱：科恩兄弟关于20世纪60年代风俗民情的《醉乡民谣》和亚历山大?佩恩的《内布拉斯加》。
好莱坞颁奖季的首个夜宴迎来好莱坞外国记者协会的90多名业界人士，他们对美国电影艺术与科学学院评比奥斯卡有着重要的影响。
奥斯卡提名将于周四公布，《为奴十二年》和《美国骗局》很有可能入围最佳影片的提名并直接对抗，而不是像金球奖那样在不同的分类中角逐。
尽管去年金球奖的最佳剧情片《逃离德黑兰》确实也赢得奥斯卡金像奖的最佳影片，但是金球奖在这方面的预报也不总是靠谱。
好评如潮
比起严格照本宣科的奥斯卡颁奖礼，金球奖的氛围更让人感到亲近和搞怪。一线明星和再次搭档的主持蒂娜?菲和艾米?波勒对着大腕儿观众逗趣。
这晚似乎大部分电影都有奖拿，反映出今年优质电影的大丰收，尤其是下半年广受好评的电影一部接一部。
凯特?布兰切特获得最佳女主角，她在伍迪?艾伦的悲喜剧《蓝色茉莉》中扮演由富变贫的社会名流。马修?麦康纳获得最佳男主角，在《达拉斯买家俱乐部》扮演艾滋病晚期病患者罗恩?伍德鲁夫，为此角色他特意减重22.7公斤。
麦康纳今年的演出广受好评，他说，“罗恩?伍德鲁夫的故事一直不被看好，多年来如此，我们本来也完成不了……我很开心它通过了重重考验，否则我就没有这个机会了。”
《美国骗局》主演来自导演拉塞尔之前执导的电影，囊括了最佳女主角和女配角奖项。
艾米?亚当斯凭借最佳音乐剧/喜剧《美国骗局》赢得音乐/喜剧类最佳女主角，戏中角色为克里斯提安?贝尔扮演的行骗大师的合伙人，詹妮弗?劳伦斯在戏中扮演糊涂妻子，获得最佳女配角。
台下众星云集，亚当斯的获奖感言是，“大卫，你为女演员编的角色真是太棒了”。亚当斯在2010年主演了拉塞尔的《斗士》，而詹妮弗?劳伦斯去年则因拉塞尔导演的《乌云背后的幸福线》而获得奥斯卡最佳女主角。