This year’s Golden Globes restores the lost faith in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and their annual award ceremony. Over the last few years, overshadowed by other award shows, both commercial and indie, the Globes–which is responsible for several benchmarks (especially in Television)–fared poorly in terms of coverage and prestige in the opinion of film audiences the world over. It was mostly viewed as a preview to the Academy Awards, which it precedes. And last year’s WGA strike threw an even bigger blow at HFPA, which had to settle for a news conference-style awarding ceremony. But observing the presentation and sound judgment this year it seems the HFPA’s struggle to restore and enliven the Globes has paid off.

So, hurray for that.

And hurray for Danny Boyle. He took home the Globe for Best Director and was back on stage for the second time to collect Best Picture for Slumdog Millionaire. Also deserving highlighted mention is A. R. Rahman who won Best Original Score, and Simon Beaufoy who won Best Screenplay, both for Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman is the first Indian to ever win a Golden Globe. He will take home the Globe to Bollywood, the world’s largest film industry. Now it’s evidently clear–backed by popular vote, critic vote and the Golden Globes–that Slumdog Millionaire was last year’s best film. If you ask us, we were all for Slumdog winning under Direction, Screenplay and Score, but we’re not too sure if it is Best Picture material.

Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona won the Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) and rightly so.

Mickey Rourke is back they said, and HFPA agrees. Mickey took the Best Actor (Drama) Globe for his comeback and mighty performance in The Wrestler. Welcome back Mickey.

Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) took a surprise turn when Colin Farrell was announced as the winner for his role in In Bruges. Yeah, we were taken aback too. But he gave one hell of an acceptance speech.

The talented starlet Kate Winslet was weighed down by one in each hand. She was awarded the Best Actress (Drama) for her role in Revolutionary Road, and Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Reader.

Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) went to Sally Hawkins for her role in Happy-Go-Lucky.

And this we all knew was coming. A posthumous Best Supporting Actor Globe to Heath Ledger for his performance in The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan, the film’s director accepted the award on behalf of Heath.

Wall-E won the Best Animated Film.

Israel’s entry, Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir was awarded the Globe for Best Foreign Film.

We don’t usually talk much about television series and made-for-television films, but deserving special mention are the two big telly award winners. 30 Rock won Best Television Series (Musical or Comedy) and the best show on TV, Mad Men, won Best Television Series (Drama).

And the winners are:

Cecil B. DeMille Award
Steven Spielberg

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director - Motion Picture
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Kate Winslet for Revolutionary Road

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Colin Farrell for In Bruges

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Kate Winslet for The Reader

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Slumdog Millionaire - A.R. Rahman

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
The Wrestler - The Wrestler

Best Animated Film
Wall-E

Best Foreign Language Film
Vals Im Bashir

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
John Adams

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Paul Giamatti for John Adams

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Linney for John Adams

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Tom Wilkinson for John Adams

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Dern for Recount

Best Television Series - Drama
Mad Men

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
Gabriel Byrne for In Treatment

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama
Anna Paquin for True Blood

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy
30 Rock

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Tina Fey for 30 Rock