The story

Unlike a crippling writers strike that has dragged on for months, Hollywood's first big awards show was over in a flash, with no key winners, no stars in sight and no real fun for fans of show business glitz.

The Golden Globes on Sunday honored such films as the tragic romance "Atonement," the crime saga "No Country for Old Men," and the bloody musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Yet no one film gained critical momentum that might set it ahead of the pack for the Academy Awards on February 24, and a compressed Globes show highlighted what a joyless awards season this is for Hollywood.

The two-month-old strike by the Writers Guild of America scuttled the big celebrity bash at the 65th annual Globes, which were replaced by a bizarre and speedy news conference to announce recipients, without any winners around to gush their thanks.

"I wish circumstance would allow me to be there," Cate Blanchett, who won the supporting-actress prize for the Bob Dylan tale "I'm Not There," said in a statement. Read full article »

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