After enduring host Ricky Gervais throughout the evening, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association named their choices Sunday night for film and television. British comedian Gervais kept the evening real and the glittery stars on their toes by instilling some comically sardonic jabs and mild cynicism. But nonetheless helped maintain to keep the show running on time.

The expected winners were on the mark as The Social Network was chosen for Best Drama, Natalie Portman for Best Actress in a Drama for Black Swan and HBO’s ambitious “Boardwalk Empire” for Best Television Drama. The weakest category artistically this year were the offerings for Best Actor in a Drama-Motion Picture. With the novelty occurrence of nominating Johnny Depp twice in the same category, I did not see a rightful “winner” here. But an award needs to be given, so HFPA gave the honors to Paul Giamatti for his performance in Barney’s Version, an under-the-radar indie film.

The Golden Globe Awards serve as the prognosticator to what films should be considered for the Academy Awards nominations coming up on January 25. We’ll have to wait until then to see if there is some general agreement between the two awarding organizations.

The complete list of winners and nominees are on the Golden Globes page at http://culturetourist.com/golden-globes/.

Categories: Awards, FilmTags: Academy Awards, film, Golden Globes, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Oscars