Recounting the best moments of the 2015 Golden Globe Awards

Providing a lighthearted and laid-back vibe absent in other awards shows, the Golden Globes Awards never fail to bring out priceless moments from presentations by drunk celebrities, to amazing zings by hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey.

This year, Hollywood’s most remarkable talents of the year from film and television alike congregated in the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles for the annual show on Jan. 11.

For their third and final hosting, Poehler and Fey did not let the audience down when they opened with a strong monologue. The duo cracked jokes that were seemingly playful, but had true and important undertones. In their reference to Patricia Arquette’s performance in “Boyhood,” they quipped that “there are still great roles for women over 40, as long as you get hired when you’re under 40.”

But perhaps the highlight occurred when they jokingly compared George Clooney to his wife, Amal Almuddin.

“George Clooney married Amal Almuddin this year. Amal is a human rights lawyer who worked on the Enron case, was an adviser to Kofi Annan regarding Syria and was selected for a three-person UN commission investigating rules of war violations in the Gaza Strip. So tonight, her husband is getting a lifetime achievement award,” Fey said.

One of the more emotional parts of the show occurred when “Selma,” which was snubbed of many award nominations this year, won Best Original Song for “Glory” by Common and John Legend. As Oprah listened teary-eyed, Common gave an extremely moving speech about the Civil Rights movement, even referring to director Ava DuVernay as a “superhero,” though DuVernay did not get an Oscar nomination for best director.

Another great speech was given by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who won Best Actress in a Mini Series or TV Motion Picture for her role in “The Honorable Woman.” In her speech, she celebrated the wealth of roles for “actual women,” saying that this year’s female roles have been “sometimes powerful and sometimes not; sometimes sexy, sometimes not; sometimes honorable and sometimes not.”

But my favorite part of any awards ceremony — this year’s Golden Globes being no exception — occurred when Kristen Wiig presented the award for Best Screenplay. She was accompanied on stage by Bill Hader and did her usual improvisation, but this time with “well-known movie lines.” Wiig and Hader recited the most popular quotes of all time from movies like “Titanic” and “The Terminator,” except they intentionally got them comically wrong.

“We all know from E.T., you know when he’s pointing his finger into space and he’s looking at the stars and he says, ‘Kids, I really — I’ve got to get back to my planet,’” Wiig kidded as the audience erupted in laughter.
Though there were a few disappointments, in particular that “Selma” did not win big, the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards show was a memorable one with heartfelt speeches, ruthless disses from the hosts and many well-deserved wins.