'Boyhood, 'Grand Budapest' take top Golden Globes

Richard Linklater's directorial "Boyhood" won three trophies here Sunday night at the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony, which was attended by Hollywood's biggies like Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon.

"Boyhood", which was shot intermittently over 12 years to encapsulate the life of a boy from the tender age of five to 18, was named the Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Director. Patricia Arquette was handed over Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture trophy for her performance in the film.

"Boyhood" was closely followed by "The Theory of Everything", which received Golden Globes for Best Original Score - Motion Picture (Johann Johannsson) and Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (Eddie Redmayne) at the event, which saw a glamorous turnout of celebrities at The Beverly Hilton hotel here.

"Birdman", which was nominated in seven categories, also bagged two awards at the ceremony, hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It won for Best Screenplay and Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical (Michael Keaton).

The Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical title went to Amy Adams, who became emotional with the honour.
Eddie Redmayne for "The Theory of Everything" and Julianne Moore for "Still Alice" were lauded as the Best Actor and Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama.
In the Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical category, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" -- a story about theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune, took away the accolades.

Also, Dean DeBlois's directorial "How to Train Your Dragon 2" was felicitated with the Best Animated Feature Film trophy, and the Best Foreign Film went to Russia's "Leviathan", which tells the story of a man who struggles against a corrupt mayor who wants his piece of land.

India stood no chance of winning a Golden Globe this year after two films -- "Fandry" and "Liar's Dice" -- from the country, couldn't make it to the final nominations despite being among the 53 movies considered for the foreign film category.

In the television categories, "Fargo" won big. It was honoured for Best Actor - TV Mini-series or Movie (Billy Bob Thornton) and Best TV Mini-series or Movie.

"Transparent" also got two awards -- Best Lead Actor - TV Comedy for Jeffrey Tambor, and Best TV Comedy or Musical.

Kevin Spacey, who has been nominated eight times, finally walked away with Best Actor in a TV Series - Drama award for his performance in US political drama television series "House of Cards".

It was a first win for Ruth Wilson too as she bagged the Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama award for "The Affair".

In other TV categories related to actors, the Best Lead Actress - TV Comedy or Musical went to Gina Rodriguez for "Jane the Virgin", Best Actress - TV Mini-series or Movie was bagged by Maggie Gyllenhaal ("The Honorable Woman").

Even Matt Bomer and Joanne Froggatt bagged trophies for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie at the gala.

The ceremony was high on star factor. Apart from the winners and the nominees, some of the presenters included Jennifer Lopez, Naomi Watts, Colin Firth, Salma Hayek and Katie Holmes.

George Clooney was honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement honour, and he spoke lovingly of his wife and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, apart from paying tribute to victims of the attack on the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

That apart, from Clooney to Helen Mirren and Jared Leto -- a string of celebrities expressed their solidarity with the victims of the Jan 7 attack by two gunmen in Paris.

Clooney flaunted a "Je Suis Charlie" pin on his tuxedo, while his human rights lawyer wife Alamuddin had a "Je Suis Charlie" emblem on her clutch.

At the red carpet of the gala, Mirren, Diane Kruger, Joshua Jackson and Kathy Bates also showed off "Je Suis Charlie" signage, while French composer Alexandre Desplat, nominated for his "The Imitation Game" score, also brought a copy of the sign, reports variety.com.

"Je Suis Charlie," French for "I Am Charlie," is the slogan adopted by supporters of press freedom around the world and the French version has fast become one of the most-used hashtags ever on Twitter.

The tributes continued during the ceremony, with Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Theo Kingma calling for freedom of speech around the world; Leto taking a moment to say "Our thoughts, our prayers, our hearts are with you tonight"; and Clooney addressing the issue in the acceptance speech of his special award.

"Today was an extraordinary day, there were millions of people who marched not just in Paris but around the world, and they were Christians and Jews and Muslims, they were leaders of countries all over the world and they didn't march in protest. They marched in support of the idea that we will not walk in fear. So Je suis Charlie," said Clooney.