The nation's movie critics have been saying for the last month that "The Social Network" is the best film of 2010.
(Read also: TheWrap's Complete Golden Globes Coverage)
Now, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has agreed with them.
David Fincher's drama about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was named best dramatic film at the 68th Golden Globes, which also honored "The Kids Are All Right" in the comedy category, and bestowed acting honors on Colin Firth and Natalie Portman in the drama field and Annette Bening and Paul Giamatti on the comedy or musical side.
(See: TheWrap's full list of Golden Globes winners and nominees)
In his acceptance speech, "Social Network" producer Scott Rudin thanked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg "for allowing us to use his life and work as a metaphor for communication and the way we relate to each other."
"The Social Network" also won awards for its director David Fincher (who said that without the support of many people "I'd just be a bitter man with a lot of opinions"), screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Its four awards made it the night's biggest winner among the Globes movie categories, two more than "The Fighter" and "The Kids Are All Right."
In the television categories, the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire" was named Best TV Series – Drama, "Glee" won the award for Best TV Series – Comedy, and the French-made "Carlos" was named Best Miniseries or Television Movie.
Firth, who won the Best Actor – Drama award for "The King's Speech," paid tribute to director Tom Hooper and co-star Geoffrey Rush, the other sides of "a surprisingly robust triangle of man-love."
"Black Swan" winner Portman, visibly pregnant and giggly when she spoke of the father of her child, dancer/choreographer Benjamin Millepied, made a nod to the lengthy awards season when she said "truly the most wonderful part of this whole experience has been to spend time with so many of the people in this room."
As they did at Friday night's Critics Choice Movie Awards, the two supporting awards went to co-stars from "The Fighter," Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. Both paid particular tribute to director David O. Russell and the film's star and co-producer Mark Wahlberg — who, said Bale, was the "quiet center" that Bale's "loud performance" could play off.
Bale also joked about never really knowing who the Hollywood Foreign Press Association were, except that they argued amongst themselves at press conferences. "Suddenly I realize how wise and perceptive those guys really are," he joked.
He was not the only one to poke fun at the controversial HFPA: the show's host, Ricky Gervais, opened the show with a few obligatory Charlie Sheen jokes, and then dove right into a series of jabs at the HFPA for nominating "The Tourist" and "Burlesque."
The allegations that they nominated "The Tourist" for three awards just because the 80-odd HFPA members wanted to hang out with stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, he said, were nonsense. "They also accepted bribes."
Though he was nominated twice in the Best Actor – Comedy or Musical category, Depp lost to "Barney's Version" star Paul Giamatti, who said that the other nominees in his category (Depp, Jake Gyllenhaal and Kevin Spacey) are "my superiors in every regard, as men and actors."
Best Actress – Comedy or Musical winner Annette Bening saluted her husband Warren Beatty by mentioning that he had been named the Globes most promising new actor … in 1962.
"Toy Story 3" was named Best Animated Feature, while the award for Best Foreign Language Film (a category Gervais said "nobody in America cares about") went to Susanne Bier's Danish film "In a Better World," which will soon have a U.S. release via Sony Classics.
Music awards went to Reznor and Ross for "The Social Network," and songwriter Diane Warren for the song "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" from "Burlesque."
"Boardwalk Empire," with two awards, and "Glee," with three, were the big winners in the television categories.
Television acting awards went to Katey Sagal for "Sons of Anarchy," Jim Parsons for "The Big Bang Theory," Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer for "Glee," Al Pacino for "You Don't Know Jack," Steve Buscemi for "Boardwalk Empire," Claire Danes for "Temple Grandin," Laura Linney for "The Big C."
The BFCA's Cecil B. DeMille Award was presented to Robert De Niro, whose speech was almost a standup comedy routine, pointing out the films of his that most people didn't see, and then taking yet another swipe at the evening's hosts.
"We're all in this together," he said. "The people who make the movies, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association members who pose for pictures with the stars."
