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Los Angeles couples and singles break up and make up from the pressures and expectations in the not-to-be-missed Valentine’s Day with its all-star ensemble cast.  Directed by Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman), the romantic comedy was written and storied by Katherine Fugate, a former child star and grandniece of Barbara Eden.  The film opens  during the Valentine’s Day weekend.

In alphabetical order, the actors include Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah.

Also, Taylor Lautner, whose paycheck will be $7.5 million for Northern Lights directed by John Moore about “extreme flying” (at 17, he’s the highest paid teenager, big-bucks beyond Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus), George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift, and others.

Slushy as the night was with the torrential downpour that Tina Fey believed was “God crying for NBC,” the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s 67th Golden Globes drew 50 celebrity presenters and more than one hundred nominees, seated cheek-by-jowl in the Beverly Hilton ballroom with castmates, spouses, directors, producers and studio titans.  Out-of-town nominees are flown in, top class, lodged at top hotels with limousines on hand, and both presenters and nominees are coddled with borrowed designer gowns and tuxedos, million dollar bijoux from Tiffany, Van Cleef & Arpels, etc., Judith Leiber and Roger Vivier clutches.  Picking up the heavy tab are the studios and distributors, who buy their tables. NBC licenses the broadcasting rights from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for millions.  Tickets are $600, and lucky you are to snag one, since they’re mostly taken over by the entertainment industry.

This year’s ratings bounced upward for NBC, and the show comfortably clocked in on time, at three hours, watched by 80 million people from 130 countries.  Ricky Gervais emceed, sipping beer throughout the show, announcing that beer is safe and doesn’t get you drunk, also shamelessly plugging his Ricky Gervais comedy series that launches in February.  On NBC, where else?  Any wonder why NBC invited Ricky to host the Golden Globes?

While the stars asked the TV audiences to contribute funds for the devastation of Haiti, they also reminded that George Clooney hosts a Hope for Haiti telethon on all the networks with performers Bono, Justin Timberlake, Sting, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder and dozens more.  Moet & Chandon Champagne hosted a Toast for a Cause on the red carpet, where bubbly was poured as attendees strolled by and were invited to choose a favorite charity that Moet would contribute $1,000 to.  Ricky Gervais and John Lithgow chose the American Red Cross.  Glenn Close selected Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.  Joan Allen chose First Book. Julianne Moore picked Save the Children in Haiti, as did Hugh Laurie. While David Duchovny and Tea Leoni chose UNICEF. 

Moet was poured around the clock, and at after-parties hosted by the studios in the hotel.  Lounges were available for hanging out with the Golden Globes guests before the event, where bars accommodated those so inclined.   “To calm our nerves,” offered one insider, “especially we Nervous Nellies.”

Honored with the Cecil B. DeMille award for an illustrious body of work, director-producer Marty Scorsese thanked the HFPA for its contributions to film preservation, informing he’s proud that more than 70 films have been restored.  Among them are Stanley Kubrick’s breakthrough film, Paths of Glory, Elia Kazan’s Face in the Crowd, Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes.  “Movies fill us with memories, they add to our culture, and we need to keep them alive,” enthused Marty.    He then quoted author William Faulkner: “The past is never dead, it’s not even past.”

HBO won four awards.  Kevin Bacon for his stand-out role in Taking Chance.  Drew Barrymore for Grey Gardens, as did Grey Gardens for best movie.   Chloe Sevigny for Big Love, and whoever posted the names on the TV screens kept spelling her name Chloi.   Go figure. 

The HBO after-party at the downstairs Circa 55 and around the adjoining pool area attracted a crowd of more than 2,000 invitees coming and going.  Chloe had her silver lilac silk Valentino gown with its many ruffled panels ripped as she squeezed between the tight aisles to accept her award, with one guest quipping, “It should have been circumsized.”  For the HBO soiree, she changed into Christian Lacroix’s elegant black tulle dress.

Amid the HBO revelry, we dined with the iconic Grace Jones, stunning in a cartwheel chapeau.  Now living in London, Grace is here to celebrate her mother’s 80th birthday.  We reminisced about those midnight hours when we partied with Andy Warhol and pals at boites around New York.  Grace’s latest album is Hurricane, which will be released shortly.

HBO’s favorite event designer, Billy Butchkavitz, did it again with an eco-friendly party plan.  “Our theme was Sparkle, Shimmer, Shine, inspired by the early space age years,” he said.  “We created sputnik-influenced chandeliers and ice sculptures, and incorporated futuristic design ideas from James Bond movies.  Our color palette was copper with accents of gold.”  As always, Billy’s designing genius was everywhere, with Grace Jones admiring the copper-colored sequined tablecloths and wishing they were for sale.

How many know that Sandra Bullock, Golden Globe winner for The Blind Side, resides in Texas, described by Travel + Leisure as “the biggest, baddest, brashest state in the Union.”   Austin is Sandra and husband Jesse James’ home base, and T+L states “she’s taken over Willie Nelson’s mantle as the town’s most name-dropped celebrity.”  She owns two hot restaurants thereabouts -- Bess Bistro on Pecan famous for its “killer steak frites” and grilled quail, and Walton’s Fancy & Staple, a deli, bakery and flower shop where “the motto is Perishable, Cherishable, Fetishable.”

Photographers braved the pouring rain, soaked as they were to the skin, with mumblings from the red carpet arrivals that NBC or the HFPA should have had the decency to erect a tent to protect the photographers and the designer gowns from the polka-dot splashes from the raindrops.   One photographer asked his wife to drive 50 miles from Covina to bring a change of clothing to his agency’s office.   “We handwrung my tuxedo in the sink, even my underwear,” he said, “but, what the hell, it was a great night with the best crowd the Golden Globes ever had.”  

Isn’t it time now for the bitchy carping about the Globes from those naysayers to stop.  The Globes aren’t going away, especially with NBC’s ratings besting the night.  Hollywood glamour’s embraced around the world, and, hey, the Globes produces jobs around the weekend clock. It’s a grand party with dinner and booze, fun tablehopping, and here and there someone’s smashed.  So what – limousines are there to take them home.  The question asked again and again all evening:  why did Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt decline?  Nods one producer, “Makes you wonder if there’s truth to tabloid stories that all’s not well at home, now that Angelina’s asked for an open relationship.”  Angelina wants to adopt another child.