Over the last few months, George Clooney has been at the center of one of the most extensive award's season campaigns in Hollywood history, granting interviews to (and, more importantly, appearing on the cover of) just about every entertainment magazine currently in print. It looks like all that hard work has finally paid off: Clooney just won the Golden Globe for best actor in drama for his performance in The Descendants, making him the odds on favourite for the Oscar race.

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The Artist received more Golden Globe nominations than any other movie, and perhaps not uncoincidentaly, it's also receiving more Golden Globe awards than any other movie. Earlier in the evening, The Artist won for best score (Ludovic Bource) and for best actor in a comedy/musical (Jean Dujardin), and now it's also won the Golden Globe for best motion picture comedy/musical.

UPDATE:

In a last minute surprise, The Descendants swept the remaining categories. George Clooney beat out favourite Michael Fassbender (Shame) for best actor, while the film itself beat out War Horse and Moneyball for best drama.

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For at least the 98th time in her 30+ year career, Meryl Streep has won an award for acting. This time around, the award in question was the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama for her performance in the Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady  — her 8th Golden Globe to date. Or is it her 9th? No one knows for sure.

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Just a few months ago, Jean Dujardin was a complete unknown in North America. If his performance in The Artist hasn't already made him a household name, maybe the fact that he just beat Owen Wilson, Ryan Gosling, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Brendan Gleason for the Golden Globe for best actor in a motion picture comedy or musical will.

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Martin Scorsese's Hugo was one of the biggest box office disappoints of 2011, making back only $70 million of its reported $170 million budget. Among the few people who actually did pay to see were the 100 or so members of the Hollywood Foreign Press, who just awarded Scorsese the best director trophy.

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In The Help, Octavia Spencer pulled off the unique feat of making a disgusting, excrement-themed subplot seem like it belonged in a serious, important movie about racism. Her accomplishment did not go unrecognized by the Hollywood Foriegn Press, who just awarded her the Golden Globe for best supporting actress.

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Following an awkward, semi-hostile exchange between presenter Madonna and host Ricky Gervais which will no doubt be remembered as the highlight of the night ("If you think I'm a virgin, why don't you come over here and do something about it? It's been a while since I've kissed a girl...on TV," Madonna said to Gervais, who had earlier questioned the accuracy of her song 'Like A Virgin'), the award for best foreign film was given to the universally acclaimed Iranian drama A Separation. The award was accepted by director Asghar Farhadi.

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Woody Allen never shows up to awards ceremonies, but that didn't stop the Hollywood Foriegn Press from giving him a Golden Globe for his 'Midnight in Paris' screenplay. Presenter Nicole Kidman accepted the award on his behalf.

'Midnight in Paris' is also nominated for best comedy, which will be presented later in the evening.

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Although it didn't perform particularly well at the North American box office, Steven Spielberg's Adventures of Tintin was a sensation in Europe. Since the Hollywood Foriegn Press is partially comprised of Europeans, it not surprsingly won the Golden Globe for best animated film, making it the first non-Pixar film to do so.

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For her brilliant, uncanny impression of Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn, Michelle Williams was awarded the Golden Globe for best actress in a motion picture comedy or musical. Williams was also nominated for a Golden Globe last year for Blue Valentine, but perhaps because her performance wasn't based on an impression of a well-known historical figure, lost to Natalie Portman for Black Swan.

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