The 70th Golden Globe Awards

So it's that time of year again - it's awards season, where the rich and famous gather to pat each other on the backs, and I can't get enough of it. We kick off the annual celebration of film and TV with The One That Isn't The Oscars, it's the Golden Globes.

Fey and Poehler were on top form.

This year marks the first time in a while that Ricky Gervais hasn't hosted the slightly trashier cousin of the Academy Awards. This year, that honour falls upon two Saturday Night Live alumni, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Unlike the previous two years where Gervais tiptoed right down the line between comedy and just pure vitriol, Fey and Poehler hosted with warmth, yet still provided many a laugh, in particular one excellent joke about Kathryn Bigelow's marriage to James Cameron being akin to torture. As for guest hosts, amongst the usual pairings of attractive Hollywood stars, Bill Clinton turned up, surprisingly, to introduce a clip for Spielberg's upcoming Lincoln. A chance passed by however, as no real risque jokes were levied at the former President, something which perhaps Gervais may have leapt at. Sacha Baron Cohen delivered an excellent segment as he pretended to be some sort of bourgeoise actor, and in a stroke of genius by the Hollywood Foreign Press, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sly Stallone were the hosts for the Best Foreign Language Film award. The pair played it for laughs and mocked their notoriously dodgy accents, so fair play to them for being great sports. The highlight of the night has to go to Will Ferrell and Kristin Wiig's sublime improvised segment where they took some liberty with the plots of some of the top nominated films.

Just in case you didn't watch that, let me treat you with the best part of their segment, the moment the camera panned to a decidedly unimpressed Tommy Lee Jones.

As for the actual award winners, there were no real surprises on show for the TV oriented awards, with Homeland once again sweeping most of the major categories, perhaps unfairly so on the back of an overrated second season. Then again, my rampant fanboyism for Breaking Bad could have something to do with it. Julianne Moore also picked up an award for her portrayal of Sarah Palin in Game Change, offering a chance for some banter between her and TV's other great Palin impersonator, Tina Fey.

Foster accepting the Cecil B. Demille award.

The film portion of the awards were a bit more surprising though. Perhaps the biggest shock of the evening was Ben Affleck picking up two gongs for Best Director and Best Motion Picture Drama for Argo, pipping a hotly tipped Spielberg. Affleck seemed genuinely overwhelmed by it all, considering just ten years ago he was experiencing a catastrophic career crash. Unsurprisingly however, Les Misérables dominated the categories it was nominated in, taking the awards for Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for Hugh Jackman's portrayal of Jean Valjean and to nobody's surprise, Anne Hathaway got the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her stunning performance as Fantine. Elsewhere, Daniel Day Lewis (seeing him not playing a role is bizarre) took the Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama Award for Lincoln, and Jodie Foster received a lifetime achievement award as she quits acting after a staggering 47 years in showbiz. She delivered a heartwarming speech perhaps only met by Adele's down-to-earth acceptance speech for her win in the Best Original Song in a Motion Picture award for Skyfall, to which Taylor Swift scowled most vigorously at.

All in all, it was a pretty damn good awards show, especially compared to previous years at the Golden Globes. What does it spell for the Oscars? Well, the unexpected success of Argo could mean that Lincoln and company have something to worry about come next month. Les Mis likewise is coming into the Oscars off the back of a strong Golden Globes performance, although that could perhaps be attributed to the split between drama and comedy/musicals, meaning that Hooper's French Revolution epic only had indie romcom Silver Linings Playbook to contend with. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see what this spells for the coming awards shows. Next up, the BAFTAs!

- James

Full List of Winners

Best Motion Picture Drama - Argo
Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical - Les Misérables
Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama - Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama - Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical - Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical - Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture - Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Best Director of a Motion Picture - Ben Affleck, Argo
Best Foreign Film - Amour
Best Animated Film - Brave
Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture - Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Best Original Score - Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Best Original Song - "Skyfall",  performed by Adele, written by Adele and Paul Epworth

Best TV Drama - Homeland
Best TV Comedy or Musical - Girls
Best Mini-Series or TV Movie - Game Change
Best Actor in a TV Drama - Damien Lewis, Homeland
Best Actress in a TV Drama - Claire Danes, Homeland
Best Actor in a TV Comedy or Musical - Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Best Actress in a TV Comedy or Musical - Lena Dunham, Girls
Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie - Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys
Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie - Julianne Moore, Game Change
Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series - Ed Harris, Game Change
Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series - Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

The Cecil B. Demille Award - Jodie Foster