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Survival tales 'Revenant,' 'Martian' big winners at 2016 Golden Globes

'Robot,' 'Mozart' win top TV prizes

Two frontier survival tales -- The Revenant and The Martian -- led a bleep-filled Golden Globes where the star power of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jennifer Lawrence was challenged only by the relentless mocking of the show's beer-wielding host, Ricky Gervais.

In an upset, Alejandro González Iñárritu's bloody 1820s thriller The Revenant won best drama, as well as best director for Iñárritu and best actor for Leonardo DiCaprio. Though Iñárritu had a similar run at the Academy Awards last year with the best-picture winning Birdman, he won only a share of best screenplay at last year's Globes.

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"Pain is temporary," said Iñárritu, referring to the film's arduous shoot in the Canadian Rockies. "A film is forever."

Two of this award season's top critical picks -- the journalism procedural Spotlight and Todd Haynes' lesbian romance Carol -- went home empty-handed. Instead, it was The Revenant -- made with the same seamless cinematography of Birman that emerged triumphant -- on the same weekend it nearly toppled the box-office juggernaut Star Wars: The Force Awakens with a $37 million opening.

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DiCaprio, who could be headed for his first Oscar, dedicated his award to "First Nations people represented in this film and all the indigenous peoples around the world."

"It is time that we recognize your history and that we protect your indigenous lands from corporate interests and people out there to exploit them," he said.

Questionably nominated in the comedy categories (a theoretically easier route to statuettes), Ridley Scott's stranded astronaut tale The Martian took best comedy and best actor in a comedy for Damon. Stepping to the podium, Scott wondered, "Comedy?" and answered with a skeptical wave of his hand.

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Damon had to suffer being introduced by Gervais as "the only person who Ben Affleck hasn't been unfaithful to." The actor later said the nearly $600 million success of The Martian was an unlikely pleasure: "I have made a lot of movies that people just didn't go see."

In this image released by NBC, Ridley Scott accepts the award for best motion picture comedy...
In this image released by NBC, Ridley Scott accepts the award for best motion picture comedy for "The Martian" at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards.(Paul Drinkwater / The Associated Press)

Sylvester Stallone scored a knockout 29 years after the first Rocky. Nominated for the same character that earned him his only other Golden Globe nod, Stallone took best supporting actor for the Rocky sequel-reboot Creed. The crowd greeted him with a standing ovation.

"I want to thank my imaginary friend Rocky Balboa for being the best friend I ever had," said Stallone.

Jennifer Lawrence continued her Golden Globes hot streak by winning best actress in a motion picture comedy for her portrayal of Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano in Joy.

This is her third Golden Globe win for a performance in a David O. Russell movie. She previously won a supporting award for American Hustle and for her leading role in Silver Linings Playbook, and the trend was not lost on Lawrence.

"Every time I'm up here is because of you," Lawrence said in her acceptance speech, which focused mainly on Russell.

"Thank you for teaching me so much, professionally, personally," Lawrence continued. "I want us to be buried next to each other. I really do."

In this image released by NBC, Amy Schumer, left, and  Jennifer Lawrence introduce their...
In this image released by NBC, Amy Schumer, left, and Jennifer Lawrence introduce their nominated films "Trainwreck" and "Joy."(Paul Drinkwater / The Associated Press)

Brie Larson, meanwhile, won for best actress in a drama film for her role in Room. She plays a mother trying to give her son a normal upbringing despite the fact they're both captives of a man who abducted her years earlier.

The first win of the night Sunday was a slight surprise, with Kate Winslet winning best supporting actress for the Aaron Sorkin-penned box-office dud Steve Jobs.

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Citing the crowded categories, Winslet remarked:

"What an incredible year for women in film."

In an election year, Gervais had the only cutting political remark in the show's first hour. He introduced presenters Eva Longoria and America Ferrera as two talented actresses who "your next president, Donald Trump, can't wait to deport."

Quentin Tarantino accepted the award for Ennio Morricone's score for his The Hateful Eight -- a winner that presenter Jamie Foxx initially read as Straight Outta Compton in a parody of the Miss Universe winner debacle.

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Cue the voice of Joy for the makers of Inside Out, which was named best animated film. The film goes inside the head of a little girl as she feels different emotions, ranging from sadness to fear, anger and joy.

After a 10-year ratings high three years ago, the Golden Globes' viewership has dipped slightly since, with an audience of 19.3 million tuning in last year.

That, though, is still very strong for the Golden Globes, which have worked to shed an image of eccentric selections made by a group of little-known international journalists. The Globes have instead grown into one of the most popular award show broadcasts of the year, thanks to increasingly credible nominees, its trademark relaxed atmosphere and its unique position as a major award show that honors both film and television.

Hamm and Henson take top honors for television

Taraji P. Henson poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress...
Taraji P. Henson poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a TV series - drama for “Empire.”(Jordan Strauss / The Associated Press)
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Jon Hamm won a farewell Golden Globe on Sunday in his last chance to be honored as Don Draper in Mad Men, a sentimental choice among television awards that emphasized the medium's diversity and put the spotlight on some lesser-known performances.

AMC's Mad Men ended its run with a memorable scene, ad man Draper supposedly getting the idea for a Coke commercial that was a landmark in the 1970s. Hamm, in accepting his second Golden Globe for his role, joked that he appreciated writers not taking his suggestion to end the series with music from the British band Chumbawamba.

"Thank you so much to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for supporting our show for as long as you did -- all the way to the end," he said.

Taraji P. Henson channeled her Empire character after winning the Golden Globe Award for best actress in a television drama.

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Henson walked to the stage passing out cookies, a reference to her popular character, Cookie Lyon, on the show. "Cookies for everyone tonight! My treat," she said.

Pop music star Lady Gaga made the transition to acting in a big way, winning a Globe for her role as the Countess in American Horror Story: Hotel. She recalled another woman who started in music, Cher, and her role in Moonstruck.

"I wanted to be an actress before I wanted to be a singer," Gaga said, "but music worked out first."

The USA network captured a big prize with Mr. Robot'swin for best drama, plus the supporting actor award for Christian Slater. He plays the title role as a hacker who tries to recruit series star Roni Malek into his anarchist group. The critically applauded series is a key one for the USA network as it tries to establish edgier fare.

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"Thank you, Hollywood, for letting me do what I love to do for the last four decades," Slater said.

Rachel Bloom immediately burst into tears upon learning that she had won best actress in a comedy for her work in the freshman series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on the CW network. The quasi-musical has won critical plaudits but has struggled to find an audience.

She recalled how another network rejected the pilot, and then six other networks in a single day turned down a chance to acquire it.

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"We knew it was good and Mark Pedowitz of the CW picked it out and he's the one that saved us," Bloom said. A year earlier, the CW's Gina Rodriguez won the same award for Jane the Virgin, which airs back-to-back with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on Mondays.

Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle, about backstage battles in New York City's classical music world, won the Globe for best comedy or musical, and its star, Gael García Bernal, won best actor for his role as the conductor Rodrigo De Souza.

Jeffrey Tambor of Transparent was considered such a favorite for the award by insiders that fellow nominee Aziz Ansari pretended to read a book, How to Lose to Jeffrey Tambor With Dignity, as he was introduced.

"This is incredible," Bernal said. "This is a really big surprise."

Veteran Maura Tierney won a supporting actress award for her work as the spurned wife in Showtime's The Affair, a role that required a lot of quiet seething.

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The victory of Wolf Hall in the category of best TV movie or miniseries led to an international political pitch. Producer Colin Callender said programs like the 1500s period piece would not have been made without a strong BBC, and he urged the British government not to weaken it. The win was a boost for PBS, which broadcasts the program in the United States, as it faces the ending of its popular Downton Abbey.

Oscar Isaac won a supporting actor award for his work in Show Me a Hero, the HBO limited series about the struggle to build public housing in Yonkers, N.Y.

Host Gervais back on skewering form

In this image released by NBC, host Ricky Gervais appears at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe...
In this image released by NBC, host Ricky Gervais appears at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards.(Paul Drinkwater / The Associated Press)
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The awards show kicked off with a predictably astringent opening monologue from host Ricky Gervais, who happily played the part of beer-sipping villain to the starry crowd that he labeled "pill-popping sexual deviant scum."

Gervais' first joke included a poke at Sean Penn, who conducted an interview with Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán and penned an essay for Rolling Stone magazine. Gervais joked he wanted to get through his monologue and go into hiding -- somewhere even Penn couldn't find him.

He then called the actor a "snitch" -- a reference to Mexican authorities' claims that Penn's interview helped lead them to Guzman.

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He joked that NBC was the perfect network to broadcast the Globes, since it had no nominations. And he lauded Caitlyn Jenner for being a role model and breaking down barriers when she announced her transition, but then added, "She didn't do a lot for women drivers."

Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, was involved in a fatal car crash in February. She is being sued over the wreck, but prosecutors refused to pursue charges.

Sunday's ceremony is the fourth time Gervais has hosted the boozy ceremony honoring top television shows and films.

Gervais, who has skewered many stars during his three previous times hosting the Golden Globes, promised in a pre-show interview that "I won't break any laws, you know."

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Profanity gets the silent treatment

The show lived up to its reputation as a free-wheeling, wise-cracking affair, with frequent microphone cutaways to silence profanity.

In the first hour of the show, Andy Samberg joked about Bill Cosby giving a full confession, and Jonah Hill presented an award wearing a bear hat. Hill was cut off twice.

North Texas actress Jaimie Alexander, star of NBC's The Blindspot, also had a mic cut when she criticized the person running the teleprompter during an awards presentation.

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Tight security jams traffic before show

This year's heightened security created a mile-long traffic jam outside the site of the ceremony.

Each limo, SUV or other vehicle arriving for valet parking at the Beverly Hilton Hotel had to stop while authorities checked the contents of the trunk. Mirrors were used to check underneath vehicles.

The heavy security presence around the hotel and the Globes' red carpet includes SWAT officers, dogs and representatives of multiple police agencies.

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The Associated Press, staff writer Leslie Snyder