'Social Network,' Bale, Portman Globe-trot toward Academy Awards

BEVERLY HILLS - With the Golden Globe Awards parceling its finest hardware tonight, Hollywood kicked off its trophy season while clearing the Oscar picture a little.

And it could be a good couple of months for social networking, toy stories and Christian Bale.

This weekend, The Social Network, a skewering drama about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, got an early start in the awards hunt as it picked up drama, director and screenplay Globes and best-picture honors Friday from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, a canny predictor of Academy Award nominees and winners.

Natalie Portman accepts the award for Best Actress
in a Motion Picture Drama for her role in "Black Swan"
during the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Other big winners included Annette Bening, who won the comedic actress trophy for The Kids Are All Right, which also won best comedy. Natalie Portman needs to clear shelf space after winning the Globe and the BFCA's Critics' Choice award for her role as an obssessive dancer in Black Swan, which vaults her into an early lead for the Oscar statuette.

Another juggernaut emerging: Toy Story 3, which claimed the gold for best animated film, making it a heavy favorite when Oscar nominations are announced Jan. 25 and awards handed out Feb. 27.

Until then, brace for a boatload of back-slapping. Critics circles and Hollywood guilds still have honors to dole out, and studios are hoping their smaller movies find some traction.

Of course, the Globes have never much fretted the business side of Hollywood. It's all about the party. Which may explain the return of irreverent host Ricky Gervais, never shy about taking his colleagues to task.

"It's gonna be a night of partying and heavy drinking," Gervais told the audience, packed into the Beverly Hilton Hotel. "Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast."

Gervais, who hosted the show last year, joked on the red carpet that he was invited back because "they couldn't find anyone cheaper."

While Globe and Critics' Choice triumphs don't assure Oscar success, they can give considerable momentum. Aaron Sorkin took a prohibitive lead in the Oscar screenwriting race after a double win for his script of The Social Network, expected to be a multiple Oscar nominee. Colin Firth added to his collection Sunday with another win for playing King George VI in The King's Speech. Analysts almost unanimously expect him to pick up the best-actor Oscar. Continue ►