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(AP) — “La La Land” came into the Golden Globes as the big favorite, and it started out four-for-four.
At the 74th annual Golden Globes on Sunday in Beverly Hills, California, “La La Land” was steamrolling through a Jimmy Fallon-hosted ceremony that mixed the expected Hollywood celebration with often-voiced concern over president-elect Donald Trump.
Damien Chazelle’s Los Angeles musical, which had a leading seven nominations, won best actor for Ryan Gosling, best screenplay for Chazelle’s script, best score (Justin Hurwitz) and best song for “City of Stars.”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been mistaken for Ryan Reynolds,” Gosling joked, looking at his fellow nominee, the “Deadpool” star. In one of the evening’s more emotional acceptance speeches, Gosling dedicated his award to his late brother-in-law, Juan Carlos Mendes.
“While I was singing and dancing and playing piano and having one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a film, my lady was raising our daughter, pregnant with our second and trying to help her brother fight his battle with cancer,” said Gosling, referring to his partner, Eva Mendes.
The Golden Globes got off to a rocky start, with a broken teleprompter initially froze Fallon. “Cut to Justin Timberlake, please,” implored a desperately improvising Fallon. It was the second fiasco for Globes producer Dick Clark Productions, which presented the infamous Mariah Carey flub on New Year’s Eve.
The “Tonight Show” host started the show with a cold open ode to “La La Land” in a lavish sketch more typical of the Academy Awards than the Globes. Fallon did a version of the film’s opening dance scene, with starry cameos from Timberlake, previous Globes host Tina Fey, Amy Adams and the white Ford Bronco of “The People v. O.J. Simpson.”
In a more truncated monologue, Fallon’s sharpest barbs weren’t directed at the stars in the room (as was the style of frequent host Ricky Gervais) but president-elect Trump. He compared Trump to the belligerent teenage king Joffrey of “Games of Thrones.” Fallon’s first line (at least once the teleprompter was up) was introducing the Globes as “one of the few places left where America still honors the popular vote.”
That, though, isn’t quite true. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a collection of 85 members, has its own methods of selecting winners. Best supporting actress winner Viola Davis, the co-star of Denzel Washington’s August Wilson adaptation “Fences,” alluded to the group’s reputation for being wined and dined.
“I took all the pictures, went to luncheon,” said Davis, to knowing chuckles through the ballroom, as she clutched her award. “But it’s right on time.”
While Davis’ march to an Oscar seems virtually assured, other picks were more idiosyncratic.
The British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson took best supporting actor for his performance in Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals.” It was a surprise that Taylor-Johnson was even nominated, so his win over favorites Mahersala Ali from “Moonlight” and Jeff Bridges from “Hell or High Water” was a shock.
There were expected winners, like “The People v. O.J. Simpson” taking best miniseries, as well as an award for Sarah Paulson. But other winners were less prepared. Donald Glover looked visibly surprised when his FX series “Atlanta” won best comedy series over heavyweights like “Veep” and “Transparent.”
“I really want to thank Atlanta and all the black folks in Atlanta,” said Glover. “I couldn’t be here without Atlanta.”
Hugh Laurie, star of “The Night Manager,” looked even more surprised when he won best supporting actor in a limited series or TV film over the likes of John Travolta (“The People v. O.J. Simpson”) and John Lithgow (“The Crown”).
Laurie was one of the few early winners to pepper his acceptance speech with comments about Trump. “I accept this award on behalf of psychopathic billionaires everywhere,” he said. “The Night Manager” won two more awards, including best actor for Tom Hiddleston.
Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” won best foreign language film. Disney’s “Zootopia” took best animated feature. Other winners incluced Tracee Ellis Ross (“Black-ish”) and Billy Bob Thornton (“Goliath”).
After recent terrorist truck attacks in Europe and Friday’s airport shooting in Florida, security was heavier than ever at the Globes. Long lines of police SUVs and officers on foot created a tight seal around the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Red carpet fashion at the Golden Globes
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Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.