Richmond area lauded at Golden Globe awards

This glimpse of the Golden Globes was reprinted from the Pop! Culture blog on inRich.com. For more posts from pop watcher Melissa Ruggieri, go to http://www.inRich.com (keyword: pop culture blog).

Sunday's Golden Globes were the usual mixture of fascinating star-watching (is gum-chewing a new fad, since the jaws on twitchy Colin Farrell, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise never stopped grinding all night?) and irrelevancy (everyone knows the awards are just an excuse to get a bunch of stars plastered in public).

But let's start with the biggest non-surprise of the night that wasn't Heath Ledger winning for his unforgettable Joker portrayal: HBO's lauded miniseries, "John Adams," which filmed largely around Richmond, Hanover County, Powhatan County and Colonial Williamsburg, won all its major awards: Best TV Miniseries or Movie, Best Actor (the wonderfully weird Paul Giamatti), Best Actress (Laura Linney) and Best Supporting Actor (Tom Wilkinson -- has this guy ever been less than terrific in a role?).

But this was a surprise: Tom Hanks, who produced "John Adams," was kind enough to thank the "good people of Richmond, Virginia," while accepting the Best Miniseries award. Giamatti went a little broader, thanking "the great state of Virginia" in his speech.

Indeed, nice publicity for the Virginia Film Office.