Brad Pitt stopped by the Lehmann Maupin Gallery to check out their Sandro Kopp exhibit in NYC last night. Sandro (seen below) is a German artist and the boyfriend of Tilda Swinton.
Mario Anzuoni/ReutersOn the same circuit: Brad Pitt and George Clooney, who ran into each other at the SAGs.
There is good news for fans of Gary Oldman,
who somehow span the generations from “Sid & Nancy” to “Harry
Potter.” Mr. Oldman, even more amazingly a first-time Oscar nominee
only this year, for his performance in “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,”
is the subject of a film retrospective in New York this week, organized
by WNYC and Focus Features. (Get tickets to one of the free screenings
of “Sid & Nancy,” “JFK” or “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” here.) Mr. Oldman himself will do a Q. and A. following a screening of “Tinker” on Wednesday.
2012 Oscar Ballot: Cast your votes, create your own Oscars pool and challenge your friends.
It’s
part of a sudden rash of appearances by the best-actor nominees,
highlighting not only their current roles but also their careers. Brad
Pitt turned up on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter, on “The Daily Show”
and taped an episode of “Inside the Actors Studio,” following in the
footsteps of his pal and leading-man competitor George Clooney. On Mr.
Clooney’s episode of “Inside the Actors Studio,” which covered his
screen roles from “ER” to Alexander Payne’s “Descendants,” he said he
had wanted to work with Mr. Payne since “Sideways” (he was passed over
in favor of Thomas Haden Church for the playboy sidekick), adding that
he agreed to do “The Descendants” without first reading the script. When
he did, he found that his character, Matt King, was unlike anyone he’d
ever played – it was, he said, a part he would not have been able to do
five years ago. (Are you listening, Academy voters? It was a real
stretch!)
Mr. Clooney and Mr. Payne will appear in a TimesTalk in Los Angeles this week, the same night the actor will be seen on the CBS show “Person to Person,”
showing viewers around his home. Tonight, Mr. Pitt and some of the cast
and crew behind “Moneyball” host their own Q. and A. alongside the real
Billy Beane, whom Mr. Pitt played in the movie.
The Bagger joked about the awards race this year being a diva-off between Meryl Streep and Glenn Close – a joke that Ms. Streep did not appreciate,
thankyouverymuch – but perhaps the real rivalry is between Mr. Clooney
and Mr. Pitt, pals and frequent co-stars who know how to make the most
of Academy (and other) attention.
Their competition has been busy too: Jean Dujardin has been on a never-ending talk show and Q. and A. cycle for “The Artist,” Mr. Oldman is doing a victory lap, and Demian Bichir is alternating between serious and silly reactions to his role in “A Better Life.” But if audiences want anyone to go mano a mano, it’s the People’s Sexiest Man Alive duo.
Though the critics circle dinner has seen everyone from George Clooney to Meryl Streep – sometimes at the same time
— Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie making the scene together made a
palpable difference on Monday night. They briefly did the red carpet,
Ms. Jolie in a leather skirt and white blouse, Mr. Pitt walking with a
cane, and then coolly decamped to the bar. Mr. Pitt was being honored as
best actor for his work in “The Tree of Life” and “Moneyball,” which
also won for best script, but Ms. Jolie reported that he wasn’t nervous.
“Not that he shows me,” she said, as he leaned on the bar nearby.
“There are other things in the world that should make you nervous. When
your children are healthy and – these kind of things, it’s lovely,” she
continued. “You know, we’re all artists, and we’re all in this business,
so it seems friendly.”
Ms.
Jolie was mostly right. The event proceeded genially, though there were
some boos and hissing at any mention of The Village Voice, which fired
its longtime film critic, J. Hoberman, last week. (Mr. Hoberman, a
member of the circle, was on hand to present an award, so John Anderson,
the group’s president, referred to The Voice only as “the publication
whose name should not be mentioned.”)
Mr. Pitt wound up giving one
of the best speeches of the night – funny, personal and poignant –
though he added that he was glad it wasn’t televised.
“This is a
really big honor for me, considering I’m a guy who had never ridden in
an airplane until I was 25,” he began. “That first trip was here in 1989
to New York. I had an audition for a soap opera. But I had to put
myself up, and I stayed at a friend’s apartment. That apartment was in
the Village on Christopher Street. My first impression of the city was:
my god, there’s a lot of guys around here. But they’re so nice.”
The
audience roared; Mr. Pitt, who seemed to speak without notes, grinned.
He thanked the critics for their work, deftly poking fun at the
difference in star wattage. “This is a real pleasure for me to see some
of the faces behind the formidable names that instill such fear and
reverence in the film industry,” he said, “although I thought you’d be
taller.”
Mr. Pitt also didn’t shy away from the flap over David
Denby’s embargo-breaking review of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” in
The New Yorker, which drew a withering response from the movie’s
producer, Mr. Rudin, at the time. “We are complex, we are mysteries to
ourselves, we are difficult to each other, we live in continual flux and
instability and conflict,” Mr. Pitt said. “Christians and Muslims,
Democrats and Republicans, Denby and Rudin.”
It turned into the
evening’s recurring joke. “By the way, let’s admit the real reason David
Denby couldn’t be here,” said Albert Brooks, the critics’ best
supporting actor. “He was picking up Scott Rudin’s dry cleaning.”
Other highlights:
–
“My acceptance will be 30 pages longer and include references to
Gilbert and Sullivan.” — Aaron Sorkin, following Steven Zaillian, his
co-writer and fellow winner of the screenplay award.
–
“’Moneyball,’ I think you all know by now, was not an easy movie to
make. There are easy movies, there are hard movies, there’s 50 feet of
crap, there’s ‘Heaven’s Gate,’ and then there’s us.” – Mr. Sorkin.
–
“I never had a very good idea, actually, before this. I didn’t know
that until now.” – J.C. Chandor, writer-director, accepting the best
first film award for “Margin Call.”
Carlo Allegri/ReutersMeryl Streep at the New York Film Critics’ Circle awards.
–
“I take courage from Margaret Thatcher. Because of the beautiful
transparency of the Internet, you can find out exactly how many people
in the New York Film Critics Circle voted for you and how many rounds of
voting there were, and so I’m happy to report that Margaret Thatcher
was the longest serving prime minister of the 20th century, and she
never got more than 30 percent of the votes, like me.” – Meryl Streep,
accepting her best actress award for playing Ms. Thatcher in “The Iron
Lady.”
– “I’m proud of our attempt to get at something human in someone that we all thought was very weird.” – Ms. Streep.
"The Help’s" Viola Davis and Jessica Chastain are among the
ladies who graced the carpet dressed in simple, elegant looks.
8:04 PM PST 1/10/2012 by Lindsay Flans
For the first critic awards of the season, the red carpet looks were
mellow compared to Hollywood standards. The 2011 New York Film Critics
Circle Awards, which named The Artist best picture of 2011,
welcomed a crop of casually, chic stars (although a few looks had some
glittery, metallic punch) to Crimson in Manhattan’s flatiron district
Jan. 9.
Angelina Jolie wore a Ferragamo blouse, pencil skirt and pumps while accompanying Brad Pitt—who took home the best actor title for Tree of Life and Moneyball.
Pitt, who spoke quietly at the podium, accepted the award humbly: “It
never crossed my mind that I’d be here,” he said, “I consider it a great
privilege, I thank you for this, it means so much to me.”
And they say critics don’t matter! An organization populated largely
by people whose clothes don’t quite fit them managed to bring out a
crowd of nattily dressed A-list talent for the 77th New York Film
Critics Circle Awards last night in New York. The fact that Brad Pitt
and Angelina Jolie pulled up to Crimson—a fairly seedy event space on
Manhattan’s lower Broadway—and made their way past a shouting throng of
cameras and autograph-seekers to arrive just after the advertised start
time, is a testament to the enduring power of the keyboard.
Meryl
Streep, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Albert Brooks, Robert De Niro,
Kevin Spacey, and Francis Ford Coppola were also on hand to receive or
present awards. (Pitt navigated the faux-wood-paneled room, with its
gaudy red-velvet curtains, while leaning on a cane, no less. Apparently
he had a damn good excuse to get out of the proceedings; he is suffering
from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which Twitter tells me is
quite painful.)
Your blogger spent most of the night worrying about Brad and
Angelina’s well-being. Would they actually tuck into the rubber chicken
(and sea bass) on offer from the black-clad waiters with ties that
matched the curtains? It seemed that they did, flanked at their table by
agent Bryan Lourd and a guy with Lords of Flatbush hair who turned out
to be one of the screenwriters of Moneyball and, with Aaron
Sorkin, an award recipient. I was less concerned about Meryl Streep, who
spent the interminable interval between the salad and the main course
out of her seat, working the immediate area around her table. (She
shared it with Harvey Weinstein, who for some reason had a follow spot
trained on him throughout the night—perhaps because his films The Artist and The Iron Lady, and their stars, were acknowledged frequently throughout the proceedings.)
But the biggest emphasis was on the critics in the room, as evidenced by
the standing ovation J. Hoberman received when he was introduced by
M.C. John Anderson of Variety. Hoberman’s recent dismissal from the Village Voice
(referenced throughout the evening as “the publication that will not be
named”), where he served as critic for nearly 25 years, has been the
talk of the film community over the past week. “I thought you’d be
taller,” Brad Pitt told the group at large, in a charming speech that
included a recollection of his first visit to the city. It was 1989 and
he found himself on Christopher Street. "My first impression was: There
are so many guys,” he remembered. “And they're so nice!"
Albert Brooks, who won an acting award for Drive, gave the
funniest speech of all, disparaging people who say they don’t read
reviews. “If you have a living relative, you know what the reviews are!”
he said. Meryl Streep herself admitted that she looked at the group’s
reviews. She noted that she’d checked the N.Y.F.C.C. Web site and found
that she got only 30 percent of the vote for the best-actress award.
“Margaret Thatcher was the longest serving prime minister in England’s
history and she never got more than 30 percent of the vote!” Streep
noted cheerily. (She won the award, naturally.)
10 JANUARY 2012
Having stolen the show the night before in a beautiful dusky pink Elie Saab jumpsuit, Angelina Jolie knew she had to pull out all the stops for her second red carpet appearance in as many days.
And she certainly didn't disappoint, setting flashbulbs blazing once
again as she stepped out in yet another super stylish ensemble at the
Critics Circle Awards in New York.
The brunette beauty embodied chic as she sashayed down the red carpet in
a silky ivory blouse and tight leather Ferragamo skirt that made the
most of her slender frame.
Brad Pitt scooped best actor at the New York Film
Critics Circle Awards (NYFCC) on Monday for his performance in Moneyball
and Tree of Life.
Silent film, The Artist, won best picture and best director.
The film's director Michel Hazanavicius said the award was "very
special" as the film had initially faced difficulties getting financed.
Uggie the dog from the Artist even got a mention on the red carpet from the film's lead actor Jean Dujardin.
Jessica Chastain was recognised as best supporting actress for her performances in Tree of Life, The Help and Take Shelter.
And Albert Brooks said he was happy to be listed in the
"classiest of groups " after he took best supporting actor for his role
in Drive.
Robert De Niro struggled mightily to pronounce the name of “The Artist” director Michel Hazanavicius
at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards Monday. The acting icon
presented Hazanavicius with the best director award. But after trying to
spit out the 12-letter name — with numerous valiant attempts of
“Huzzah, Hazzah” and “Hazzona” — from the stage, he finally,
exasperatingly exclaimed, “You’ve got to change your name. You’ve got to
shorten it.” The French director was a good sport, saying he had only
learned to spell his own name “two years ago.” (For the record, it’s
pronounced AR-ZAN-A-VISHUS.) The experience didn’t cause De Niro to
avoid other trickily named directors: He was also seen hugging Asghar Farhadi and introducing the Iranian helmer of “A Separation” to industry insiders. Brad Pitt, who won the best actor award for “Moneyball” and “The Tree of Life,” kept his arm around Angelina Jolie at
his table for most of the night, prompting one jealous female film exec
to say, “If a man kept his arm around me that much, I’d be in love with
him, too.” Meryl Streep was presented with a best actress award for “The Iron Lady” by her “Doubt” co-star and upcoming Golden Globes competition, Viola Davis of “The Help.” But despite the presence of Pitt, Jolie, Streep and Albert Brooks, the night felt like more of a family dinner. Emcee John Anderson led the room in singing “Happy Birthday” to Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were in the house. Meryl Streep was
there. And yet the annual awards dinner of the New York Film Critics'
Circle was stolen by one Albert Brooks last night at Crimson in
Manhattan. Brooks said he had hoped Debbie Reynolds (a friend of his
father and the woman who played the title role in "Mother," a Brooks
film which won him the NYFCC's screenwriting honors in 1996). Reynolds,
alas, couldn't make it. Peter Travers filled in, saying Reynolds had
sent a note saying, "Your father was great ad so funny you received all
of his talent and so much more." Travers, who added that "making a movie
was like a war and after the war a critic comes in and shoots the
wounded," yielded the stage to a very dapper-looking Brooks, who saluted
Aaron Sorkin (who earlier in the evening had praised Brooks'
screeenplays). "I feel so guilty for selling my Academy copy of 'The
Social Network,'" Brooks said. Then, continuing the night's theme of
mocking the David Denby-Scott Rudin feud (ably recounted by my senior
colleague here
), he said, "The real reason David Denby isn't here is he was picking up Scott Rudin's dry cleaning."
Referring to "Mother," Brooks said, "I felt that acceptance speech
was very funny, so I may recycle a line or two from it. If can people
can make all these remakes...." He said he was watching a TV show about
James Stewart that noted he had won the NYFCC honors for Best Actor
(1959, for "Anatomy of a Murder"), "and I'm thinking, 'I got something
from them! This is not the People's Choice! This is the real thing!"
Needless to say, this brought the house down (though the meta-laugh is
even funnier if you consider the Bolshie elitism of this group of
committed democrats who look down on the unwashed flyover-state masses).
Brooks went on to talk about how much critics meant to him--we were
the ones (just about the only ones, alas), who supported his movies like
"Modern Romance" and "Defending Your Life". "I've heard the expression,
'critic-proof,'" he said. "I would be the opposite of critic-proof. I'm
critic-prone." He said he'd get up at 5 in the morning to go down to
the newsstand to get all the periodicals the day one of his movies
opened and if the review was a rave, he'd buy up all the copies and send
them to industry friends and colleagues. "If they were bad,you bought
them all up and threw them away. I bought up 2000 Time magazines."
Brooks said he often hears showbiz types say they never read the reviews
but "You don't have to read the reviews. If you have a living relative,
you're going to know what the reviews say." A case in point was his
Meryl Streep movie "Defending Your Life," which was universally praised,
even by Gene Shalit. "I got a positive pun! [lapsing into Shalit's
gravely Groucho voice] 'This is the first movie where he doesn't have to
defend his life!'" Nevertheless, his mother called him up to tsk-tsk,
"That critic in LA Magazine doesn't get you at all." Said Brooks, "I got
the New York Times! I got Gene Shalit!" But he had to drag out of his
mother what the guy from LA Magazine ("it's free in the lobby of the
apartment building" and its critic "a year later he became a
food critic") had said.
Brooks struck a very funny and very true note when he said, "Every
man needs some woman to tell a good thing to or it didn't happen. It
doesn't matter if you're gay or straight. For many years there was no
one in my life so I kept knocking on my mother's door." Now he has his
wife Kimberly, though, and "as God is my witness she has never mentioned
anything from LA Magazine."
Brooks is priceless. Give him an Oscar please.
