'Social Network' big winner at Golden Globes

Besides best drama, "The Social Network," about the founding of Facebook, won for David Fincher's direction, Aaron Sorkin's script and the score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. After receiving top honors from critics groups coast to coast, this resounding victory positions the film as the front-runner at the Academy Awards.

Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 25, with the ceremony itself set for Feb. 27.

Until then, we have the Globes to feast on. It's a loose, boozy dinner anyway, but Gervais, returning for the second straight year, infused it with an even more subversive vibe than usual. He took jabs at Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey Jr., Mel Gibson, Scientologists, several of the nominated films and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association itself, which hands out the Globes.

(...) Even Robert De Niro, recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement — and a notoriously reticent public speaker — got in on the act, joking about HFPA's reputation for shmoozing celebrities.

(...) The expected winners in the dramatic acting categories all walked away with statues: Colin Firth as the stammering King George VI in "The King's Speech," Natalie Portman as a ballerina teetering on the brink of madness in "Black Swan," and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for their supporting roles in the boxing drama "The Fighter."

"The King's Speech" went into the night with the most nominations, seven, but only won that one award.

On the musical or comedy side, the top film was "The Kids Are All Right," about a lesbian couple trying to keep their family together. Its star, Annette Bening, won best actress. Best actor in a musical or comedy went to Paul Giamatti as a curmudgeon in "Barney's Version."