(Seriously. I expected to FF through it underwhelmed, a la the common man's trophyfest, the People's Choice Awards. But I was enraptured, unable to skip a single "thank you" or moment of the brilliant Mingle Cam.)

But it's probably just because the Hollywood Foreign Press has terrible taste.

Not all the time, of course. There were plenty of deserving (or at least herd-approved) noms and wins: Slumdog Millionaire took all four categories for which it was nominated (best picture drama, best director, best screenplay, and best original score). I was thrilled that Mickey Rourke, looking totally gangsta, won Best Actor for The Wrestler, and although I was generally zipping through the television categories, I had to stop to watch the love for 30 Rock, my only must-see show that I can admit to adoring without shame. (As opposed to Rock of Love, whose every incarnation I got sucked into. There, I said it.)

But Burn After Reading and Mamma Mia! for best comedies? Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson for their (literally) walk-in-the-park performances in feel-good romance Last Chance Harvey? I wasn't blown away by Sally Hawkins' Globe-winning turn in Happy-Go-Lucky, but I'm glad she won the category, because between her, Thompson, Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia!), Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading), and Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Hawkins was the only actress who actually had to break a sweat.

That said, here are some of the show's highlights:

1.) Sting, presenting Best Song but looking like he should be slaying vampires with a dark beard and goth-y black coat;

2.) Bruce Springsteen's win for his contribution to The Wrestler, because I'm just as happy to hear him talk as sing;

3.) Andrew Stanton, who said that his wife and kids "inspire every emotion I try to capture onscreen" in his acceptance speech for the lovely WALL*E;

4.) Colin Farrell, who was funny when he blamed his sniffing on a cold and "not the other thing it used to be" while presenting an award and touching when he talked about love while accepting one for In Bruges;

5.) Renee Zellweger's crazy-person dress, which narrowly beat Maggie Gyllenhaal's fashion disaster;

6.) Rourke giving a loving shout-out to his pets, because "sometimes when a man's alone, all you got is your dog;"

7.) Darren Aronofsky, so seemingly mild-mannered, caught on camera giving Rourke the finger;

8.) Tracy Morgan announcing that "I am the face of post-racial America. Deal with it, Cate Blanchett!"

and, perhaps my favorite,

9.) Tina Fey telling her Internet haters to "suck it":

The film is a surprisingly touching story about a washed-up pro wrestler that stars Tomei and an Oscar-worthy Mickey Rourke. Fans of Aronofsky's, whose previous work includes Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Fountain, may be disappointed to find that The Wrestler is...absolutely straightforward. Linear. No trippiness, no confusion. (Drugs, though...there are drugs.)

But it's a stellar movie, a standout in a year that's seen far too few. Here are a few fun facts from the postfilm Q&A:

–Bruce Springsteen, a friend of Rourke's, wrote and performed the film's closing-credits song for free.

–The screenplay is by former Onion editor-in-chief Robert D. Siegel.

–Aronofsky says he chose Rourke because he's "kind of into actors that are a surprise."

–Rourke, gruff, burly, and with his peroxide-blond locks in a hair net, served actual customers in scenes that show Randy working at a supermarket deli counter (which accounts for the shoppers' mostly befuddled and somewhat amused expressions).

–Aronofsky chose to frequently shoot Rourke from behind because his mentor, The Pope of Greenwich Village director Stuart Rosenberg, told him that "Mickey is so expressive with his back."

–Tomei was instructed to text the director when she decided whether she wanted the role of Randy's love interest, a stripper named Cassidy: "rock 'n' roll" meant yes, "easy listening" meant no.

–"Rowdy" Roddy Piper gave the film his blessing, after standing up at a screening and scaring the crap out of Aronofsky and Tomei with a brusquely stammered, "What you guys did...I don't know where you did your research..."

–When one audience member said that he's never touched drugs because he saw Requiem for a Dream when he was 14, Aronofsky replied, "I'm really, really sorry about that. You don't know what you're missing."

Photos courtesy of Nell "Movie Mom" Minow.

Aronofsky and WAFCA's Kevin McCarthy

Tomei with WAFCA's Nell Minow