A night of good ol' Hollywood magic

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Kate Winslet, always the bridesmaid, was thrown a lavish party to rival any wedding Sunday night at the Golden Globes, winning for her roles in both "The Reader" and "Revolutionary Road."

"You'll have to forgive me. I have a habit of not winning things," said Winslet, referring to the fact that she's never won a Globe or an Oscar. The quip came during her first acceptance speech which might have been the most emotional of the night -- if she hadn't have topped it during the second one.

The only folks inside the Beverly Hilton that might have been more choked up were those associated with "Slumdog Millionaire," the feel-good sleeper that took home four awards, immediately thrusting it into the lead in the all-important Oscar race.

"Slumdog" was the main dish in an international buffet with awards going people from India, Israel, Australia, Ireland and England. If that wasn't enough, the best comedy was "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," the Woody Allen film shot in Spain.

Television also was ecognized, but it always plays second fiddle at the Globes, and this year it was barely in the bandshell. Part of the problem was that it was primarily a repeat of Emmy night with "John Adams," "Mad Men" and "30 Rock" taking top honors. But the bigger problem is that Hollywood, and most likely viewers, wanted stars. Big stars. They got them. Behind-the-scenes heroes like editors and cinematographers may be worthy of honors, but they're not exactly whom you want to gawk at.

You want Mickey Rourke, continuing his comeback story with a win for "The Wrestler" and a rags-to-riches acceptance speech that acknowledged he was almost finished until this movie came along. You want Bruce Springsteen, who won for penning "The Wrestler's" title song. You want a posthumous tribute to Heath Ledger, who, as widely expected, was honored for "The Dark Knight." ("He will be eternally missed, but he will not be forgotten," said "Knight" director Christopher Nolan, who accepted on Ledger's behalf.)

You want pretty boy Colin Farrell who won for "In Bruges," upstaging his less-than-glam co-star Brendon Gleeson. You want Steven Spielberg, the most successful, most known director in town, who spoke eloquently about the power of film in accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award. You want endless shots of a beaming Drew Barrymore, enough to convince you that she was winning the DeMille award.

They got gorgeous starlets and dreamboat leading men as presenters, milling around with each other before commercial breaks, drinking in the job of being celebrities, giving us good ol' Hollywood magic again at a time when the economy is sinking, and an actors' strike is looming. If we ever needed them to live it up, it's now.

"There are a lot of problems out there in the world, many of them serious, many of them that I care deeply about, but who am I, or any other actor, to get in the way of tradition?" Leonardo DiCaprio, "Revolutionary Road" nominee, said to a reporter on the red carpet "I think it's OK to take a night off and have some fun."

The party atmosphere started from the first minute, with kickoff presenter Jennifer Lopez trying to shush the crowd by saying, "Mamma talking, mamma talking." Ricky Gervais killed the crowd with mock bitterness about not being nominated -- and simultaneously made himself the front runner to host any awards show in the future. "Wrestler" director Darren Aronofsky playfully gave Rourke the finger from the crowd.

Tracy Morgan represented TV comedy winner "30 Rock," claming the title as the face of post-racial America. ("Deal with it, Cate Blanchett!") Farrell gave us a hilarious apology for his sniffles. ("I still have a cold. In the old days, it would have been something else.")

We even got "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen, zipping out a line that was almost as politically incorrect as letting an obese, naked man sit on your face. "The economy is so bad right now, even Madonna has gotten rid of one of her personal assistants," he said. "Our thoughts are with you, Guy Ritchie." OK, that line made several people in the audience wince, but that's the price you pay when you throw a freewheeling, open-bar party after a two-year break. (The Globes were all but canceled last year due to the writers' strike.)

Others who probably had a better time than most included actress Sally Hawkins, who barely could get through her acceptance speech for her work in "Happy Go Lucky"; Anna Paquin, honored for HBO's "True Blood"; Gabriel Byrne, who was not in attendance, but got the nod for HBO's "In Treatment," and the "Adams" family of Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson, all of them repeating their Emmy wins, as did "30 Rock" leads Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey. The latter solidified her status as the industry's go-to girl with a hilarious shout-out to all the bloggers who have criticized her on the Web.

"WALL•E" was named the year's best animated film. "Waltz With Bashir," an animated antiwar film from Israel that opens in the Twin Cities Jan. 23, won for best foreign language film. Director Ari Folman said he hoped they had made a film that today's children will look at as an out-of-date video game when they grow up.

The Golden Globes -- given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 freelance writers -- are not taken seriously as artistic milestones but are viewed as vital to maintaining momentum in the Oscar marathon. The best-picture Oscar has mirrored the association's choice for best drama or best comedy-musical in 14 of the last 21 years.

njustin@startribune.com • 612-673-7431