In 'Boyhood', Linklater follows a boy from the age seven to eighteen as a study of his transition into adulthood. The film won its third trophy of the night with Patricia Arquette bagging the best supporting actress Globe.
"This is a very personal film for me, but it became very personal to everybody who worked on it," Linklater said, thanking the 450 cast members, who worked with him on the 12-year-long project.
The awards began on a sombre note with many celebrities like this year's Cecil B DeMille Award winner George Clooney, Diane Kruger, Helen Mirren, Kathy Bates, Jared Leto paying tribute to Charlie Hebdo victims in their speeches and wearing 'Je suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) badges.
Theo Kingma, president of Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Clooney paid touching tributes to the slain cartoonists.
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Newly married Eddie Readmyne beat fan favourite Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of World War II British code breaker Alan Turing, to win best actor - drama for playing famous physicist Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory of Everything'.
Julianne Moore's touching portrayal of a linguistics professor suffering with early onset of Alzheimer's disease won her the best actress - drama trophy for 'Still Alice'.
Amy Adams walked away with her second consecutive Globe for her role as painter Margaret Keane in Tim Burton's real-life inspired film 'Big Eyes' in best actress - comedy or musical category. She had won last year for 'American Hustle'.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returned as the host of the ceremony for the third and last time and true to their reputation they spared no one as they took pot shots at the high and mighty of Hollywood. The duo made fun of controversies like Sony hack attack by North Korea and comedian Bill Cosby, who is facing multiple rape allegation.