Worldwide box office up to date is 501,4 Million Dollars. But the film generated overseas four times more than the box office in the North American territories: 100,4 mill.

The film had one of the strongest showing in China with a total of 90,8 Million US-Dollars.

Due to the continuing international response Ang Lee’s film has a good chance to become one of the 100 biggest box office successes of all time.

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US Fall Films (September-December) 2012

Sep 5  FOR ELLEN (Tribeca) Paul Dano, Jon Heder, Jena Malone

Sep 7  BACHELORETTE (Weinstein-Radius) Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, James Marsden

Sep 7  THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY (Lionsgate-Summit) Bruce Willis, Henry Cavill, Sigourney Weaver

Sep 7 THE EYE OF THE STORM (Sycamore) by Fred Schepisi: Charlotte Rampling, Judy Davis, Geoffrey Rush

Sep 7  THE WORDS (CBS Films) Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde, Dennis Quaid

Sep 14  10 YEARS (Anchor Bay) Channing Tatum, Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Anna Faris, Chris Pine

Sep 14  ARBITRAGE (Lionsgate-Roadside) Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth

Sep 14  LIBERAL ARTS (IFC) by Josh Radnor: Elizabeth Olsen, Zac Efron, Richard Jenkins

Sep 14 LITTLE BIRDS (Millennium) Juno Temple, Kay Panabaker, Leslie Mann, Kate Bosworth

Sep 14  THE MASTER (Weinstein) by Paul Thomas Anderson: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern

Sep 14  THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (Lionsgate- Summit) Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd, Dylan McDermott

Sep 14  RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (Sony) by Paul W.S. Anderson: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez

Sep 14  STOLEN (Millennium) by Simon West: Nicolas Cage, Josh Lucas, Malin Ackerman, Danny Huston

Sep 21  ABOUT CHERRY (IFC) Ashley Hinshaw, James Franco, Dev Patel, Heather Graham, Lily Taylor

Sep 21  DREDD (Lionsgate) Karl Urban, Olivia Thirby, Lena Headley

Sep 21  END OF WATCH (Open Road) Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick

Sep 21  HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET (Relativity) Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Shue, Max Thieriot

Sep 21  TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (WB) Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman

Sep 28  BRINGING UP BOBBY (Monterey Media) Milla Jovovich, Spencer List, Bill Pullman, Marcia Cross

Sep 28  HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (Sony) animated

Sep 28  LOOPER (FilmDistrict-Sony) Joseph Gordon Levitt, Emily Blunt, Bruce Willis, Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels, Paul Dano

Sep 28  WON’T BACK DOWN (aka LEARNING TO FLY, Fox) Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holly Hunter, Oscar Isaacs, Ving Rhames

Oct 5  BUTTER (Weinstein) Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Yara Hshahidi, Olivia Wilde, Hugh Jackman, Alicia Silverstone

Oct 5  FRANKENWEENIE (Disney) by Tim Burton: animated

Oct 5  THE ORANGES (IDP-ATO) Leighton Meester, Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Adam Brody,  Oliver Pratt, Allison Janney

Oct 5  THE PAPERBOY (Millennium) by Lee Daniels: Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack

Oct 5  PITCH PERFECT (Universal) Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson

Oct 5  SINISTER (Lionsgate- Summit) Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio

Oct 5  TAKEN 2 (Fox) Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace

Oct 12  ARGO (WB) by Ben Affleck: Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman

Oct 12  HERE COMES THE BOOM (Sony) Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Henry Winkler

Oct 12  SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (CBS Films) by Martin McDonagh: Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Abbie Cornish

Oct 19  ALEX CROSS (Lionsgate- Summit) by Rob Cohen: Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Edward Burns, Jean Reno

Oct 19  KILLING THEM SOFTLY (aka COOGAN’S TRADE, Weinstein) Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini

Oct 19  NOBODY WALKS (Magnolia) John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, Rosemarie DeWitt, Dylan McDermott

Oct 26  THE BIG WEDDING (Lionsgate) Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Robin Williams

Oct 26  CLOUD ATLAS (WB) by Tom Tykwer+Andy & Lana Wachowski: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving

Oct 26  CHASING MAVERICKS (aka OF MEN AND MAVERICKS, Fox) by Curtis Hanson: Gerard Butler, Elisabeth Shue, Abigail Spencer, Jonny Weston

Oct 26  THE SESSIONS (aka THE SURROGATE, Fox Searchlight) John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William Macy

Nov 2  A LATE QUARTET (Entertainment One) Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Christopher Walken

Nov 2  THE DETAILS (Weinstein) Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, Laura Linney, Ray Liotta, Kerry Washington

Nov 2  FLIGHT (Paramount) by Robert Zemeckis: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, John Goodman

Nov 2  THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS (Universal) RZA, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu

Nov 2  THIS MUST BE THE PLACE (Weinstein) by Paolo Sorrentino: Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Judd Hirsch

Nov 2 VAMPS (Anchor Bay) Alicia Silverstone, Sigourney Weaver

Nov 2  WRECK-IT RALPH (Disney-Pixar) animated

Nov 9  LINCOLN (Disney) by Steven Spielberg: Daniel Day-Lewis, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Jackie Earl Haley, Jared Harris

Nov 9  SKYFALL (Sony) by Sam Mendes: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, Naomi Harris, Bérénice Marlhoe

Nov 16  ANNA KARENINA (Focus) by Joe Wright: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Saoirse Ronan, Matthew MacFayden, Olivia Williams, Emily Watson

Nov 16  TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, Part 2 (Lionsgate- Summit) by Bill Condon: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Michael Sheen

Nov 21  LIFE OF PI (Fox) by Ang Lee: Suraj Sharma, Tobey Maguire, Gerard Depardieu

Nov 21  RED DAWN (Film District) Josh Hutcherson, Chris Hemsworth, Adrianne Palicki, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Isabel Lucas

Nov 21  RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (Paramount) animated

Nov 21  SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (Weinstein) by David O. Russell: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Stiles, Jacki Weaver

Dec 7  DEADFALL (aka BLACKBIRD, Magnolia) Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnan, Sissy Spacek, Kris Kristofferson

Dec 7  HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (Focus) Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Laura Linney

Dec 7  LAY THE FAVORITE (Weinstein) by Stephen Frears: Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, Joshua Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Vince Vaughn

Dec 7  PLAYING FOR KEEPS (aka PLAYING THE FIELD, Film District) by Gabriele Muccino: Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Dec 14  THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (WB) by Peter Jackson: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood

Dec 14  LES MISÉRABLES (Universal) by Tom Hooper: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Amanda Seyfried

Dec 19  MONSTERS INC (Disney) animated

Dec 19  ZERO DARK THIRTY (Sony) by Kathryn Bigelow: Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, Chris Pratt, Jessica Chastain

Dec 21  THE IMPOSSIBLE (Summit) Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor

Dec 21  JACK REACHER (aka ONE SHOT, Paramount) Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall, Richard Jenkins

Dec 21  ON THE ROAD (IFC) by Walter Salles: Garret Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Alice Braga, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen

Dec 21  THIS IS 40 (Universal) by Judd Apatow: Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Megan Fox, Melissa McCarthy, John Lithgow, Albert Brooks

Dec 25  DJIANO UNCHAINED (Weinstein) by Quentin Tarantino: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington

Dec 25  THE GUILT TRIP (aka MY MOTHER’S CURSE, Paramount) Seth Rogen, Barbra Streisand

Dec 25  PARENTAL GUIDANCE (Fox) Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei

Dec 28  PROMISED LAND (Focus) by Gus Van Sant: Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, Rosemary DeWitt, Hal Halbrook

Dec 28 QUARTET (Weinstein) by Dustin Hoffman: Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Michael Gambon, Pauline Collins

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La Jazz Fest

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May 4  A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN (Millennium) Kate Hudson, Gael Garcia Bernal, , Rosemarie DeWitt, Kathy Bates

May 4  THE AVENGERS (Disney) Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson

May 4  THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (Fox Searchlight) by John Madden: Tom Wilkinson, Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel

May 4  LOL (Lionsgate) Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore

May 4  THE PERFECT FAMILY (Variance) Kathleen Turner, Jason Ritter, Emily Deschanel, Richard Chamberlain, Elizabeth Peña

May 11  DARK SHADOWS (WB) by Tim Burton: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Chloe Grace Moretz, Bella Heathcote

May 11  THE DICTATOR (Paramount) Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, John C Reilly, Ben Kingsley

May 11  GIRL IN PROGRESS (Lionsgate-Pantelion) Cierra Ramirez, Eva Mendes, Matthew Modine, Patricia Arquette

May 11  HICK by Nick Cassavetes (Phase 4) Chloe Grace Moretz, Eddie Redmayne, Blake Lively, Juliette Lewis, Alec Baldwin

May 16  THE SAMARITAN (IFC) Samuel Jackson, Tom Wilkinson

May 18  BATTLESHIP (Universal) Alexander Skarsgaard, Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, Liam Neeson

May 18  HYSTERIA (Sony Classics) Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Felicity Jones, Rupert Everett, Jonathan Pryce

May 18  VIRGINIA (Entertainment One) by Dustin Lance Black: Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Emma Roberts, Amy Madigan, Toby Jones

May 18  WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING (Lionsgate) Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Anna Kendrick, Elizabeth Banks, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Matthew Morrison, Brooklyn Decker, Chace Crawford

May 25 HIDE AWAY (Archstone) Josh Lucas, James Cromwell, Ayelet Zurer, Casey LaBow

May 25  MEN IN BLACK III (Sony) by Barry Sonnenfeld: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson

May 25  MIGHTY FINE (Adopt Films) Chazz Palminteri, Andie MacDowell, Jodelle Ferland

May 25  MOONRISE KINGDOM (Focus) by Wes Anderson: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton

June 1  FOR GREATER GLORY (Arc) Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, Peter O’Toole, Oscar Isaacs

Jun 1  HIGH SCHOOL (Anchor Bay) Adrien Brody, Colin Hanks, Michael Chiklis

June 1  SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN (Universal) Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Ian McShane

June 8  BEL AMI (Magnolia) Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci

June 8  LOLA VERSUS (Fox Searchlight) Great Gerwig, Bill Pullman, Debra Winger

June 8  MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED ((Paramount-Dreamworks) animated

June 8  PEACE, LOVE AND MISUNDERSTANDING (IFC) by Bruce Beresford: Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, Elizabeth Olsen, Chace Crawford, Jeffrey Dean Morgan

June 8  PROMETHEUS (Fox) by Ridley Scott: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, Patrick Wilson, Idris Elba

Jun 8  SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED (Film District) Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Kristen Bell

June 15  THAT’S MY BOY (aka I HATE YOU DAD, Sony) Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, James Caan, Susan Sarandon

June 15  ROCK OF AGES (WB-New Line) by Adam Shankman: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti

June 15  YOUR SISTER’S SISTER (IFC) Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass

June 15  THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH (ATO) Ethan Hawke, Kristin Scott Thomas

June 22  ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER (Fox) Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Rufus Sewell

June 22  BRAVE (Disney-Pixar) animated

June 22  SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD (Focus) Steve Carell, Keira Knightley

Jun 22  STELLA DAYS (Tribeca) Martin Sheen

June 22  TO ROME WITH LOVE (aka NERO FIDDLED) by Woody Allen: Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page

June 29  MAGIC MIKE (WB) by Steven Soderbergh: Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer

June 29  PEOPLE LIKE US (Disney) Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Pfeiffer, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau

June 29  TAKE THIS WALTZ (Magnolia) by Sarah Polley: Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman

Jun 29  TED (Universal) Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi

July 3  THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN (Sony) by Mark Webb: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Denis Leary

Jul 6  COLLABORATOR (Tribeca) by Martin Donovan: David Morse, Olivia Williams

Jul 6  CRAZY EYES (Strand) Lukas Haas, Madeline Zima, Jake Buse

Jul 6  THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE (Magnolia) by Rob Reiner: Morgan Freeman, Virginia Madsen

July 6  SAVAGES (Universal) by Oliver Stone: Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Emile Hirsch

July 13  ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT (Fox) animated

Jul 13  RED LIGHTS (Millennium) Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy, Elizabeth Olsen

July 13  TRISHNA (IFC) by Michael Winterbottom: Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed

Jul 13 UNION SQUARE (Magnolia) by Nancy Savoca: Mira Sorvino, Tammy Blanchard

July 20  THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (WB) by Christopher Nolan: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman

Jul 20  GRASSROOTS (Goldwyn) by Stephen Gyllenhaal: Jason Biggs, Lauren Ambrose, Cedric The Entertainer, Christopher McDonald

July 25  RUBY SPARKS (aka HE LOVES ME, Fox Searchlight) Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening

Jul 27  KILLER JOE (LD) by William Friedkin: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon, Juno Temple

July 27  THE WATCH (aka NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH, Fox) Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill

Aug 3  360 (Magnolia) by Fernando Meirelles: Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Foster

Aug 3  THE BOURNE LEGACY (Universal by Tony Gilroy: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Joan Allen, Scott Glenn, Albert Finney,David Strahairn

Aug 3  CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER (Sony Classics) Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg

Aug 3  DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS (Fox) Greg Heffley

Aug 3  TOTAL RECALL (Sony) by Len Wiseman: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel

Aug 10  2 DAYS IN NEW YORK (Magnolia) by Julie Delpy: Chris Rock

Aug 10  THE AWAKENING (Cohen) Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton

Aug 10  HOPE SPRINGS (Sony) by David Frankel: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell

Aug 10  THE CAMPAIGN (aka RIVALS, WB) by Jay Roach: Will Ferrell, Zach Galafianakis, Jason Sudelkis

Aug 15  THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN (Disney) Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, Cameron Adams, Dianne Wiest

Aug 17  LITTLE BIRDS (Millennium) Juno Temple, Kay Panabaker, Leslie Mann, Kate Bosworth

Aug 17  PARANORMAN (Focus) animated

Aug 17  THE EXPENDABLES 2 (Lionsgate) Sylvester Stallone, Liam Hemsworth, Jason Statham, Chuck Norris, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme

Aug 20  SPARKLE (Sony-Screen Gems) Jordin Sparks, Whitney Huston, Mike Epps, Derek Luke

Aug 24  HIT AND RUN (aka OUTRUN, Open Road) by Dax Shepard: Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper

Aug 24  PREMIUM RUSH (Sony) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon

Aug 24  ROBOT & FRANK (Goldwyn) Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, Liv Tyler, James Marsden, Peter Sarsgaard

Aug 29  LAWLESS (aka WETTEST COUNTY, Weinstein) Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska, Guy Pearce

Aug 31 FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL… (Focus) Lauren Miller, Ari Graynor, Seth Rogen, Justin Long, Nia Vardalos, Mimi Rogers

Aug 31  THE GOOD DOCTOR (Magnolia) Orlando Bloom, Riley Keough, Michael Peña, Rob Morrow, Troy Garity

Aug 31  THE POSSESSION (Lionsgate) Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick

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Sean Penn at Cinema for Peace Gala

Friday, January 13, 2012 at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills: The first official Cinema for Peace (CfP) event in Hollywood was an amazing success: Sean Penn was honored for his tireless efforts in earthquake damaged Haiti and an extraordinary amount of friends and colleagues celebrated with him: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Demi Moore, Mel Gibson, Nastassia Kinski, Harvey Weinstein, Roland Emmerich….

Bill and Hillary Clinton contributed per video, so did Oprah Winfrey. As MC entertained Bill Maher. Angelina Jolie donated one of her rings for auction, U2′s Bono gave one of his guitars (it went for an astonishing $450,000). Within an hour the auction brought 5 million Dollars – for schools, hospitals, housing in Haiti. My guest this evening was Yoshiki, the Japanese composer, pianist and drummer of the rock band “X”. I was sitting next to Mel Gibson who wrote a fat check which pays for a new school for the poorest of the poor in Haiti.

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Not so much glamour for all of us who made it possible: Tired, hungry, sober, hurting feet. But that’s okay. It’s OUR BIG EVENT OF THE YEAR and we have every reason to be proud of it.

All results are on www.hfpa.org. Here are some fun facts and statistics:

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association hosted its 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards this Jan. 15. Have you ever wondered how many people will be on hand that day? How big a red carpet would have to be to hold all that high-watt talent? How much all that bubbly costs? Who scored the most Globes but never bagged an Oscar? Entertainment Weekly.com has got answers! Keep reading…

250 million Estimated number of global viewers tuning in for this year’s ceremony
$3 million Value of Jennifer Lopez’s Harry Winston earrings in 2011
$850,000 Cost of the 124-karat Chopard bracelet tucked away in Christina Hendricks’ cleavage when she stashed it there after nearly losing it on the red carpet last year
80,900 Google hits for Natalie Portman’s highly meme-able chortle during her 2011 Best Actress acceptance speech
30,000 Square feet of red carpet
9,000 Glasses of Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut 2002 served throughout the night (at $84.95 a bottle, that’s about $84,950 of champagne)
$7,000 Reported cost of Black Swan star Mila Kunis’ HD Diamond and Ruby Peel pre-red carpet facial
5,500 Number of people on site the day of the ceremony, including attendees, viewing parties, and press
3,000 Strands of Swarovski crystal decorating the set of the 68th ceremony
1,500 Retweets of Chris Colfer’s acceptance speech for 2011 Best Actor in Glee
$550 Value of last year’s gift bags
100 days Length of the 2008 Writer’s Strike that interrupted the Globes telecast (the only time the show hasn’t been broadcast since 1958)
156 minutes Length of The Song of Bernadette, the first Globes Best Picture winner
71 years Age gap between the Globes’ oldest and youngest winners — 80-year-old Jessica Tandy for Driving Miss Daisyin 1990 and nine-year-old Ricky Schroder in 1980 for The Champ
53 Years since celebrities began hosting the Golden Globes after Rat Pack-ers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. stormed the stage with whiskeys and cigarettes and took over the show
43 Number of times the event has been held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel since 1961
37 Jamie’s Foxx’s age when he became the first person ever to be nominated for three Globes in a single year (Helen Mirren was 61 when she, too, became a triple threat two years later)
27 Most nominations by any single actor (current nominee Meryl Streep, of course, who also holds the record for the most performance-based wins)
25 Total number of awards handed out (14 film, 11 television)
24 Number of nominees for Best Animated Feature since the category was added in 2006 (Pixar has taken the trophy all five years so far)
22 Age of Rainey Qualley, Miss Golden Globe and daughter of former winner Andie MacDowell
14 Years the show had no host between the 1995 telecast (hosted by John Larroquette and Janine Turner) and when Ricky Gervais took over in 2010
11 Globes (including honorary awards) won by Barbra Streisand — the most of any celebrity
10 Years since Judy Davis triumphed in Life With Judy Garland: Me And My Shadows (Garland herself was the first female recipient of The Cecil B. DeMille Award 50 years ago)
9 Most nominations for one film, 1975′s Nashville, in a single year (the film only took home one statuette for Best Song)
8 Founding members of the HFPA (there are 88 listed on the Association’s website today)
7 minutes, 22.5 seconds Average time of Gervais’ monologues
5.5 lbs. Weight of the iconic statuette, which was introduced in 1946 by HFPA then-president Marina Cisternas
5 Golden Globes Rosalind Russell was nominated for and won (Number of Oscars: 0)
4 Actresses who have snagged two acting awards in the same year — Sigourney Weaver, 1989; Joan Plowright, 1993; Helen Mirren, 2007; Kate Winslet, 2009 (no actors have yet accomplished this feat)
3 Number of people who tied for Best Actress in 1989 (Jodie Foster, Sigourney Weaver, and Shirley MacLaine)
2 Cheeks seen by the audience when Jack Nicholson mooned the audience in 1990
1 Person to win the Golden Globe, Oscar, and Razzie all in the same year (here’s lookin’ at you, Sandra Bullock!)
0% Chance Gervais, Angelina Jolie, and Brad Pitt will head out for a celebratory “Animal Style” nosh at In-N-Out Burger after the show

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After a wild and fiery Luau and the obligatory umbrella drinks followed a feeble attempt to climb the Diamond Head Volcano the next morning.

As if the flick in question was not “Journey” but  ”Hangover 3″. 

Fiery Luau

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Roy's Station. Proudly ignoring desert storms and changing times

After we had enough water in the desert we headed for Las

No Photoshop: Sunset with Yuccas

Vegas. First Yucca Valley with the lonely outpost of 1950′s California livin’: Roy’s Oasis (click on photo). Then: On to the Mojave Desert. Ranger Station: Don’t forget water. Of course not, ma’am. Alone. Horizon free elbows. Huge wings gliding through the periphery. A friendly race with a joyfully honking freight train. A melancholy purple sunset worthy of a Martian’s dream.

Viva Las Vegas. Swell. Let’s Viva! Time for Viva!  It’s New Years Eve in Sin City.

The house waiting for us turned into a live demonstration how my buddy Carl Gilberg described his boyhood science: He caught a little lizard, put it into the freezer and watched it get bone hard frozen. Next morning he took it out and put it in his mother’s bed. It warmed up, started to move, maybe a little sneeze and off it went to delightfully crown its resurrection by causing Mom’s screaming fit.

Unfortunately, Carmen and I were the lizards. And the house was the freezer. No warm maternal bed in sight. Frantically I tried to get the heater going. Around 10 PM we went to the only hotel promising a room: The Golden Nugget. After shlepping our bags and finding the reception, it turns out: Error. No rooms. Back to the house. Carmen calls Hotel Service. Vegas is booked solid.

Carmen in her best survival mode asks the Hotel Service (!) where in Viva Las Vegas one could buy a portable heater on New Years Eve. “No clue. But probably at Walgreens. They are always open”. We knew one close by. It was a race against time and frost bites. On one shelf a little heater, ok let’s pay for that cheapo peace of shit. But the cashier, a grandmother without grandkids, growled: “I want to see the fireworks”, and stepped outside. Countdown to midnight. “Happy New Year”. Usually, fireworks aim heavenwards, but icy winds changed that.

Stratosphere Casino with horizontal fireworks

Here we were. On the Walgreens parking lot with a homeless man and a grumpy cashier, all with chattering teeth, staring at horizontal fireworks, firmly embracing our still unpaid little warmer-upper. We just looked at each other and laughed our frigid asses off.

Wrapped in blankets we put the little helper in one small room at full blast, while we slurped ice cold (of course, it was in the house!) champagne. Walgreens had “Cup’o'Noodles” which we could warm up – the best soup we had all year (2012). After 2 hours of heroic heating efforts and repeated playing of JJ Cale’s “After Midnight – we let it all hang out” we cuddled in every available piece of fabric  (incl. towels and curtains) and slept happily into the dawning new year. Viva 2012.

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Hollywood Glamour in Seattle: The Paramount

A Christmas present from my son.Who, of course, knows my affection for Woody Allen and for fun music.

Surprising: The music is for “dance halls, street fairs and whorehouses” as Woody pointed out. Sitting in a concert hall listening to it would be boring after the fifth song, I mused secretly. Not so. Those not so young white guys jammed with such joy that two hours went like a blast.

The audience, obviously not as jaded as in NY or LA, hollered and clapped for encores. Until Woody begged for merci: “I need my 8 hours sleep. Or I really show my age tomorrow evening in Portland”.

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Public Library Seattle

In my  ”Frequent Flying” blog I mentioned the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas who designed the Seattle Public Library. Now I’m mentioning him again. For two reasons: I’m about to return to Seattle in a few days and one of the highlights of my trips to the Rainy City in recent years has been the marvelous design and construction of the Public Library.
And secondly because Der Spiegel published an interview with him about the state of modern architecture in general and the  exciting “HafenCity” project in Hamburg, the harbor city which was my home for many years.

Here is the interview:

www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,803798,00.html#ref=nlint

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