View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Angelina Jolie Brad Pitt (@brangelina.fanclub) on Jan 9, 2020 at 6:16am PST

“[Tarantino] is the only guy who needs cocaine to stop talking." See what Brad Pitt had to say about Quentin Tarantino, who received the Best Screenplay prize at the #NYFCC Awards: https://t.co/4Gdpu6JAYM pic.twitter.com/aARBevdceO

— IndieWire (@IndieWire) January 8, 2020

The New York Film Critics Circle awarded Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” with its Best Picture prize, but it didn’t take much effort to realize “Parasite” was the true king of the ceremony. After being the hit of Golden Globes weekend in Los Angeles, Bong Joon Ho and his “Parasite” team (including actor Song Kang-ho) proved their overwhelming popularity is bicoastal by holding court at the NYFCC awards. Bong posed for photographs with Best Screenplay winner Quentin Tarantino, was name dropped by the Safdie brothers in their Best Director speech (Bong enthusiastically gave them a thumbs up from his dinner table), and received the first major standing ovation of the ceremony while accepting the Best Foreign Language Film prize for “Parasite” (Ben Stiller presented Bong the award and joked that “Parasite’s” awards season domination would extend to the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards).

“I like ‘Parasite’ winning Best Foreign Language Film because it has overcome language barriers,” Bong said, referring to the movie’s over-$100 million gross worldwide. Bong said it was surreal to be accepting an award in front of Martin Scorsese at the NYFCC since he still remembers Scorsese winning NYFCC prizes for Best Picture and Best Director in 1991 with “Goodfellas.” Bong was also gobsmacked by Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci and provided one of the ceremony’s comedic highs by quoting the famous “did you fuck my wife?” scene from “Raging Bull.” Bong even gave a shoutout to the venue, Tao Downtown, as it was the first night this long awards season that he got to eat Asian food. The more Bong gets in front of a microphone ahead of the Oscars, the more he’ll find himself gaining legions of fans.

Pesci’s attendance at the NYFCC awards was a rare appearance for the 76-year-old actor who came out of retirement to reunite with Scorsese for “The Irishman.” The actor got a massive standing ovation to rival Bong’s when he walked on stage to receive the Best Supporting Actor prize. Pesci brought Scorsese and De Niro up to the podium for support.

“I asked Martin and Bob to come up with me because I’m really terrible at this stuff,” Pesci said about accepting awards. “I don’t do it properly. Anyone who works on these films knows you can’t do it alone. You want to talk about real support? I had Bob. I had a beautiful script and cast. And to top it all off I have Marty telling me everything to do, so I told him to help me accept this award.”
Pesci passed the baton off to Scorsese and De Niro as he fumbled to find more words to express his gratitude. “That’s him saying thank you,” De Niro added with a laugh. Pesci is widely expected to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and he’s awards season royalty.

Tarantino bounced back after a polarizing Golden Globes speech left some moviegoers with a bad taste in their mouths (IndieWire’s Anne Thompson wrote that the only weakness facing “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” this awards season is Tarantino’s ‘I don’t have anyone to thank but me’ arrogance). It helped the NYFCC got Tarantino’s “Hollywood” star and recent Golden Globe winner Brad Pitt to present him with the Best Screenplay prize.

“[Tarantino] is the only guy who needs cocaine to stop talking,” Pitt said of his director, who he first worked with on “Inglourious Basterds.” “He writes by hand, single spaced on Manila pads. He calls his pen an antenna to god. You know when you’re out in public and you make an ass of yourself and you’re driving home wishing what you could’ve said better? Tarantino’s characters don’t suffer from that. There’s music to the way he writes. I call it Iambic Quent-ameter.”

Tarantino’s acceptance speech was devoted to his relationship with film critics, appropriate given the nature of the ceremony. The director revealed the one film review he’s ever cut out and saved is the headline to Andrew Sarris’ “Kill Bill” review (“Tarantino Minces Matrix, Says Andrew Sarris”), which remains on Tarantino’s refrigerator to this day. Tarantino said he does not read Rotten Tomatoes but does get a stack of paper reviews that he goes through for each film. The filmmaker earned big laughs for calling out one of his toughest critics, NYFCC member Peter Rainer.
“Peter Rainer, writer of the Christian Science Monitor, you have never given me a positive review in 30 years,” Tarantino said. “Not to make you feel guilty, but I read you every weekend when you used to write for the Herald Examiner in Los Angeles. From 15 years old! Not only did I read you, but I still have those Herald Examiner reviews in my fucking office. I still have your ‘Raging Bull’ review! I’m just saying.”

Tarantino also saluted Pauline Kael, who he calls “the woman who articulated my cinematic aesthetic in a way that nobody ever had before.” Kael was a member of the NYFCC and is Tarantino’s favorite film critic of all time alongside Sarris.

“It takes a great critic to align their aesthetic in a way that you can describe it. I remember the review [Pauline] wrote that did that to me was for Godard’s ‘Band of Outsiders,'” Tarantino said. “She wrote that movie was as if a couple of movie mad Frenchmen took an American crime novel and wrote it from the perspective of the poetry that they read between the lines. When I read that review I said, ‘Holy shit that’s what I want to do. That’s everything I want to do. That is my aesthetic broken down into a fortune cookie piece of paper. That is what I want to accomplish in this world.”

Tarantino wasn’t the only one to admit he pays attention to film critics. Best Supporting Actress winner Laura Dern (awarded for both “Marriage Story” and “Little Women”) and Best Director co-winner Josh Safdie said they always read their reviews, for better and for worse. Dern said positive reviews early in her career validated her choice to follow in her parents’ footsteps and become an actress. Safdie had a more traumatic experience with reviews early on after a critic said he would rather be run over by a train and killed than watch a Safdie movie.

Other highlights of the NYFCC awards included Best Actor winner Antonio Banderas, who remains a dark horse in the Oscar race despite earning universal acclaim and a Cannes award for his performance in “Pain and Glory.” Banderas has been performing in “A Chorus Line” in Spain, making it hard for him to campaign as aggressively as contenders like Adam Driver and Joaquin Phoenix. Banderas, off to Spain in the morning, won the crowd over by being honest: “I am tired of campaigning,” he said. “I am not a politician. I am an actor!”
Additional NYFCC winners included Best Actress Lupita Nyong’o for “Us,” Best First Feature recipient Mati Diop for “Atlantics,” and “Honeyland” duo Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov for Best Documentary. Click here to view all of the 2019 NYFCC winners.

Brad Pitt introducing Quentin Tarantino at the #NYFCC dinner: “Finally, after all that time, a film that celebrates Hollywood!” pic.twitter.com/frFmoeZXTw

— Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) January 8, 2020

Brad Pitt, introducing Quentin Tarantino for Best Screenplay, gave one of the best and funniest speeches I’ve ever heard at the @nyfcc dinner. His speech was better written than Tarantino’s!

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) January 8, 2020

jj

nyfcc

HollywoodElsewhere

Jeff Wells

How NYFCC Balloting Went Down

A guy who was right in the thick of today’s New York Film Critics Circle balloting (which took almost five hours to complete) shares the following: “For four ballots the Best Picture vote was essentially a tie between American Hustle and 12 Years A Slave, and then Hustle finally won in a run-off vote against Slave. So it basically took five ballots. Inside Llewyn Davis was a contender all day long but it didn’t have the votes. At least it did better than The Wolf of Wall Street, which didn’t compete strongly in any category.

“The Best Supporting Actress vote went on for three ballots, and was very close between Hustle‘s Jennifer Lawrence and 12 Years A Slave‘s Lupita N’yongo. Nebraska‘s June Squibb was in there but not very strongly.

“The Best Director voting was very strongly for Steve McQueen, David O’Russell, Alfonso Cuaron and the Coen brothers but McQueen and Russell were very close…and then McQueen took it on the fourth ballot.

“There was no strong challenge against Cate Blanchett for Best Actress although there was some support for Adele “whatsername” (i.e., Exarchopoulos) and Hustle‘s Amy Adams.

“Robert Redford‘s Best Actor trophy was decided on a second ballot. The bulk of the first-ballot votes went to Redford and Slave‘s Chiweitel Ejiofor. A certain level of support was also there for Oscar Isaac, Bruce Dern and Matthew McConaughey.

Jared Leto took Best Supporting Actor on the second ballot. His closest competitors were 12 Years A Slave‘s Michael Fassbender and Spring Breakers‘ James Franco. Jonah Hill got a couple of votes but nothing to speak of.

“After the Best Screenplay win for Eric Singer and David O. Russell’s American Hustle, the strongest runner-up was Before Midnight followed by Spike Jonze‘s Her screenplay and the Coen brothers’Inside Llewyn Davis.

“Sarah Polley‘s Stories We Tell was a third ballot win for Best Non-Fiction. The Act of Killing and 20 Feet From Stardom were the runners-up.

“There was no formidable competition for the Best Cinematography award won by Inside Llewyn Davis‘s Bruno Delbonnel. The strongest runners-up were for Gravity and Nebraska. The Wolf of Wall Street got one or two votes.

“The Wolf of Wall Street was not a contender for Best Picture or in any other category,” he says.
“There never any debate or discussion about anything — people just come in and vote. The first ballot and then if there’s no winner it goes to a weighted second ballot (3, 2, 1) and then the proxies drop out on the third ballot.”









showbiz411

NY Film Critics Awards: They Get it Mostly Right (and White) with Redford, Blanchett, Leto, Lawrence

by Roger Friedman - Dec 3, 2013

The New York Film Critics got it mostly right– and white– choosing their award winners today. They did pick Steve McQueen for Best Director of “12 Years a Slave,” but didn’t give that movie Best Picture or award any of its actors. They also sort of skipped right over “The Butler” and “Mandela.” They awarded “Fruitvale Station” Best First Feature, which is better than nothing.

The group’s choices for the best actors are, I think, three for four with the ultimate Oscar outcome: Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence. I love JL, but I do think Best Supporting Actress will go either to Oprah Winfrey or Lupita N’yongo.

David O. Russell’s “American Hustle,” a movie I loved, won Best Picture. Russell is going to benefit from “Silver Linings Playbook” not getting the big awards last year. He’s going to get a lot of love on the splash back.

Could the NYFCC have been edgier? Yes. But they want stars at their proceedings. And they may have cut the idiotic National Board of Review off at the pass with these choices. When the NBR’s supreme high commanders make their fandecisions tomorrow, I still say they will err toward “Gravity” and other Warner Bros. fare. George Clooney will be presented with a virgin at their ceremony in January.

Best Film
American Hustle

Best Actor
Robert Redford, All Is Lost

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Director
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Best Foreign Language Film
Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Supporting Actor
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Animated Film
The Wind Rises

Best Screenplay
American Hustle

Special Award
Frederick Wiseman

Best Cinematography
Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis

Best First Film
Fruitvale Station

Best Non-fiction Film (Documentary)
Stories We Tell

NYFCC

From The Reel Breakdown, Yahoo Movies

Behind the Scenes: The New York Film Critics Circle Awards

By Thelma Adams | The Reel Breakdown 

Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

I have been a member of the New York Film Critics Circle since I was pregnant with my first child, who accompanied me and the rest of the family to last night's awards dinner at Crimson on 21^st and Broadway in Manhattan. He's now a junior in high school and looks down on me from a height approaching six feet. That's just to say that I've seen a lot of these untelevised dinners, even hosted a couple, and what struck me last night at the intimate affair for something like 300 guests was two major distinct camps: that representing "Lincoln" and that representing "Zero Dark Thirty." An uneasy truce exists between the two -- the hip and controversial capturing history on the fly versus old-school Hollywood describing the well-documented past -- as the awards red-carpet season opened last night.


The NYFCC awarded "Lincoln" three prizes: Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis as the Great Emancipator, Best Supporting Actress for Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, and Best Screenplay to Tony Kushner. All attended, along with director Steven Spielberg, who presented, and Lincoln scholar Doris Kearns Goodwin, who gives the project the intellectual seal of approval. There's no critiquing the lengthy, extraordinarily well acted, gorgeously shot, sweepingly scored biopic on the grounds of accuracy. And this is going to be a bone of contention as the two camps sit at nearby tables at every awards event from now until the Oscars on February 24.

Moving to the "Zero Dark Thirty" table, we find the recipients of three awards, including what were clearly the top honors: Best Picture and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow, returning after her win for "The Hurt Locker." Greig Fraser also took a prize for Best Cinematography. Screenwriter/co-producer Mark Boal was also in attendance. In their corner, acting as a presenter, was the movie's star, Jessica Chastain, who lost out as best actress to Rachel Weisz, seated across the room with husband Daniel Craig. Team "Zero Dark Thirty" seemed a little more nervous than the "Lincoln"-ites, despite their top win. Why? The movie about the CIA's lengthy and ultimately successful hunt for Osama bin Laden has come under scrutiny for its authenticity by no less than the CIA. In my opinion, the movie stands as a work of art that examines the use of torture as part of a larger story -- but clearly the filmmakers and their studio, Sony Pictures, have concerns that this controversy could potentially taint their Best Picture chances.

In the 17 years I've been attending these dinners, it seems like their link to the Academy Awards has become closer, and not in an entirely positive way. This was the first year that NYFCC members were given VIP badges at the door; in the past, it was our dinner. Now, a little less so, as security guards patrol the Daniels -- Day-Lewis and Craig -- and tell critics who have given the awards that Mr. Day-Lewis is in the middle of talking, as if it were no longer a party where everyone can talk to everyone else. But this is just a change, not really a complaint, as who doesn't want to have dinner with A-list stars one night a year and then dine out on the stories for the remaining 364?

After NYFCC chair Joshua Rothkopf handed out the awards, and the immediate thanks shared around the tables, the beautiful Chastain bridged the gap between the "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Lincoln" camps. She threaded her way through the tight tables, intent on being introduced to Day-Lewis. The "Lincoln" portrayer held court beside the "Lincoln" table, talking over a railing with "Skyfall" star Craig. Chastain met Day-Lewis and exchanged charm pills. The takeaway from these introductions and meetings that will continue through Oscar season is that, for the talent, this is also the time to solidify industry relationships beyond their current circle and to line up future gigs. While winning an Oscar can raise the profile of a star, or director, or writer, playing the game along the way can ensure that the best projects land in your agent's inbox. It's that Game of Roles that your favorite actors are engaged in behind the scenes, and that is one reason that the stakes are so very high.

Short takes: Chris Rock gave an enthusiastic endorsement of "Central Park Five" in presenting Best Nonfiction Feature to that film. Later, the documentary filmmaker Michael Moore climbed on his soapbox during his presentation of the award for Best First Film to David France's "How to Survive a Plague," a history of AIDS activism, by attacking the Catholic Church. From the balcony, former NYFCC chair and noted contrarian Armond White, no stranger to controversy, gleefully tossed an F-bomb at Moore audible in my half of the room. When Weisz took the podium to accept her Best Actress award for "The Deep Blue Sea" from the actor David Strathairn, she noted that her mother was Catholic.

Matthew McConaughey took the stage to accept the Best Supporting Actor for "Magic Mike" and "Bernie." What should have been a moment of relative levity, given his roles as a stripper and a sleazy lawyer, was overshadowed by McConaughey's scary gaunt appearance. He lost 28 pounds to play an AIDS patient in "Dallas Buyers Club." Not since Christian Bale shed weight for "The Machinist" in 2004, has an otherwise handsome actor so thoroughly ruined his looks for a role. "Magic Mike" director Steven Soderbergh presented the honors to McConaughey but otherwise kept a low profile. It was, apparently, nearly indigestion-inducing for the prolific and talented director to break bread with so many critics who have laid into his films nearly as often as they have praised them.

NYFCC

From Film Society of Lincoln Center

NY Film Critics Pick Best of 2012

Posted by Eugene Hernandez on December 03, 2012
in Cinema News • The Season

A scene from How To Survive a Plague. Image via IFC Films
Members of the New York Film Critics Circle gathered today to vote on the best films and performances of 2012. The group, formed in 1935, is again meeting at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center to conduct their annual vote.
Just three years after winning the Best Director Award with New York Film Critics Circle for The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow took home the award for her upcoming film centering on the pursuit of Osama Bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty. 
Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, our surprise screening at this year's New York Film Festival, took home two acting awards for Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor) and Sally Field, respectively. While Day-Lewis is known to be a intensely devoted actor, Sally Field, who plays Lincoln's wife Mary Todd, has reported to have spent almost a decade preparing for this role.
Best Supporting Actor was handed to Matthew McConaughey for his work in Richard Linklater's Bernie and Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike. These two performances—along with stellar turns in William Friedkin's Killer Joe, Lee Daniels' The Paperboy, and Jeff Nichols' upcoming Mud—have allowed McConaughey long-awaited, much-deserved recognition.
Recently selected as the best film performance of the year by New York Magazine, Rachel Weisz's performance in Terrance Davies' The Deep Blue Sea won Best Actress.
Michael Haneke's acclaimed new film Amour won the prize for Best Foreign Language Film. Winner of the Palme d'Or in Cannes earlier this year, Haneke's latest swept the European Film Awards over the weekend. It stars Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant in the story of an aging French couple coming to terms with the changing nature of their longterm relationship.
How to Survive A Plague, the powerful documentary about Act-Up and the 1980s AIDS crisis was named the best first feature film of the year. The nod was a surprise in a category that usually awards a narrative film. The documentary, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, recently won the Gotham Award for Best Documentary and the IDA Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award. Last week it was nominated for the Spirit Award for Best Documentary.
The critics picked The Central Park Five, a doc that debuted in Cannes before hitting the fall festival circuit, as the best nonfiction movie of 2012. The film, by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon, looks at New York's late-80s Central Park jogger case.
Cinematographer Greig Fraser was honored for his work on Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty today. He's had a busy 2012 also serving as the D.P. on Snow White and the Huntsman, as well as Killing Them Softly. Fraser has also worked on The Boys Are Back and Bright Star.
The New York Film Critics Circle awards will be presented at a New York City ceremony on Monday, January 7, 2013.

The full list of winners

Best Picture
Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty 

Best Screenplay
Lincoln, written by Tony Kushner

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best Actress
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Best Supporting Actor
Matthew McConaughey, Bernie and Magic Mike

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Field, Lincoln

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour, directed by Michael Haneke

Best Animated Film
Frankenweenie, directed by Tim Burton

Best Cinematography
Greig Fraser, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Nonfiction Film
Central Park Five, directed by Ken Burns, David McMahon and Sarah Burns

Best First Feature
How To Survive a Plague, directed by David France

Showbiz Tonight + Q & A Recap + GG Preview

 

Credit: Amanda Schwab/Startraks

Updated: Friday Jan 13, 2012 | 06:00 PM EST By: Kiran Hefa

CHEER LEADER

A beaming Angelina Jolie looks on with pride in support of Pitt's achievement. "I know how hard he works," she said. "And I'm very proud of him."

Only In Hollywood

A Golden Globe scenario

By: Ruben V. Nepales
Philippine Daily Inquirer January 14, 2012 | 7:56 pm

BRAD Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Cannes this year. They are always seated at the prime table. AFP

LOS ANGELES—Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are expected to occupy the prime table inside the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills during the 69th Golden Globe Awards this evening, January 15 (Monday morning in Manila).
But The Weinstein Co. table may be equally interesting based on its nominees—imagine the conversation between Meryl Streep, Madonna and Michelle Williams.
George Clooney, who is nominated for Best Actor-Drama (“The Descendants”) and Best Director (“The Ides of March”), is expected to attend with his girlfriend, Stacy Keibler.
DreamWorks’ nominee slate should also make for a remarkable group—Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Mary J. Blige.
Viggo Mortensen, up for the Best Supporting Actor prize (“A Dangerous Method”), and Pedro Almodovar, whose “The Skin I Live In” is in the Best Foreign Language Film race, are part of the Sony Pictures Classics’ camp which has 10 nominations. The actor, who speaks fluent Spanish, will have plenty of opportunity to chat with Pedro. Who knows? The dinner conversation may result in a film collaboration between the two.
Morgan Freeman will also be one of the room’s main attractions since he is receiving the night’s big honor, the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.
In addition to Madonna and Mary J. Blige, the Globes party will feature other music stars such as Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Chris Cornell and Queen Latifah.
The ballroom will be full of established and emerging filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Michael Hazanavicius, Rodrigo Garcia (Glenn Close’s “Albert Nobbs”), Asghar Farhadi (the excellent Best Foreign Language Film nominee, “A Separation”) and Bennett Miller (“Moneyball”), just to mention a few.
Among the stars presenting awards honoring excellence in film and television are Johnny Depp, Nicole Kidman, Clive Owen, Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman, Helen Mirren, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Biel, Freida Pinto, Adam Levine, Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Ewan McGregor, Rob Lowe, Channing Tatum, Jane Lynch, Harrison Ford, Jane Fonda and Bradley Cooper. Even Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger is coming.
And with Ricky Gervais presiding over the festivities, count on him to inject a dose of unpredictability into the much-anticipated Hollywood party of the year.
E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com. Follow him at http://twitter.com/nepalesruben.

Vulture’s Got Your Golden Globes Coverage Right Here 

By Willa Paskin

The Golden Globes, hosted by the hilarious (and, fingers crossed, not insufferable) Ricky Gervais, are happening on Sunday night. And boy oh boy will Vulture be there! Starting at 6 p.m., the Fug Girls will be live-blogging the red carpet. Come showtime, we'll be live-blogging the spectacular as well as live-tweeting it. (You can follow us here, @vulture.) Stick around afterwards for a postshow analysis, as well as a slideshow of all the red-carpet looks, video of Mr. Gervais's most glorious insults, and more. We'll see you here!

NY Hi-Res

NYFCC 2

 

 

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Robert DeNiro Rock New York Film Critics Dinner

 

01/10/12 1:53am Roger Friedman

 

Brad Pitt was hilarious and touching last night accepting his Best Actor award from the New York Film Critics Circle. Joining other honorees Meryl Streep, Albert Brooks, Jessica Chastain and the folks from “The Artist,” Pitt was a little nervous and actually spoke softly from the podium at restaurant.

Angelina Jolie was with him, looking more gorgeous than ever, accepting kudos for her underrated film “In the Land of Blood and Honey.” Viola Davis, herself a nominee for “The Help” from many different groups, presented Best Actress to Streep. Davis joked: “I popped a lot of Stress Tabs when we made ‘Doubt’.” Streep was philosophical, having won the same award two years ago: “We do this for love, and for as long as we can.”

Surprise presenters were Robert DeNiro –who had trouble with “Artist” director Michel Hazanavicius‘s name–and Francis Ford Coppola, who came for “Artist” producer Thomas Langmann. The Coppolas, it turns out, have been long time friends of the Langmann family. Famed late French film director Claude Berri (“Jean de Florette”) was Langmann’s father–his real name was Claude Berel Langmann. And Thomas told me something stunning: when Claude Berri won an Oscar in 1966 for a short film, “Le Poulet” but he didn’t have the money to go to Hollywood and claim it. The Academy mailed it to him instead! Sacre bleu!

Anyway, back to Brad Pitt, who’s on track to win the Oscar for his work in “Moneyball.” He said the award was a big deal considering “I’d never been on ap plane til I was 25.” He talked about coming to New York to audition for a soap opera in 1989. “I had to put myself up in an apartment on Christopher Street,” Brad recalled. “My first impression of the city was There are a lot of guys around here. But they’re so nice!” That got big laughs.

He continued: “On set the clock’s ricking, the camera’ rolling. A lot of what we do comes out of instinct and intuition. I am continually surprised about how much I learn about storytelling and filmmaking from your reviews. We are complex, we are industries to ourselves, we are difficult to each other…we live in continual flux, Christians and Muslims, Democrat and Republican, Denby and Rudin…” — a reference to a recent feud between producer Scott Rudin and film critic David Denby. Again more laughs.

He said: “It never crossed my mind that I’d be here.” And then, almost as an afterthought as he was leaving the stage, Pitt said: “I love films, I absolutely  love them. I consider it a great privilege,  I thank you for this, it means so much to me, and I’m glad this wasn’t televised.”

 

Pitt, Streep, and the 77th annual NYFCC awards

 

Published: Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 12:33 AM     Updated: Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 1:03 AM

  By Stephen Whitty/The Star-Ledger

“I’m so glad,” Brad Pitt muttered, stepping away from the mike, “this isn’t televised.”
Well, he may be glad – or otherwise there’d be endless YouTube clips of him talking about once getting cruised on Christopher Street (or busybodies wondering why he forgot to thank Angelina Jolie in his best-actor acceptance speech).

But there are plenty of movie fans who are probably sad today that Monday night’s New York Film Critics Circle awards were presented without any network cameras around.

Because that means film buffs didn’t get to see Viola Davis present the best actress award to her very real Oscar rival Meryl Streep (“It’s a testament to her that she’d do this in this year, which is her year,” Streep graciously said, on taking the stage.)

It means they also didn’t get to see the sweetly overcome Jessica Chastain barely get through her acceptance speech for best supporting actress without breaking into tears. Or a wry Albert Brooks, a best supporting actor winner for “Drive,” nearly bringing the audience to tears of laughter with his.
But then that’s one of the things that makes the New York Film Critics Awards special. Thirty-odd – sometimes very odd -- critics, and their guests. A dozen or so honorees, and their guests. Three open bars. And no television cameras at all.

But the gala – now in its 77th year – isn’t just an excuse for people to let their hair down (or, in the case of some of the older honorees, let other people’s hair down). It’s also the unofficial start of the big-time awards season, the Iowa caucus to the Oscars’ national convention.

(WEINSTEIN)"The Artist," with Jean DuJardin and Berenice Bejo, danced its way into critics' hearts.

And for two groups who sometimes seem to be natural enemies – movie critics and movie makers – it marks a brief and glorious truce.

Not that a certain nervousness doesn’t prevail. “I know the pressure’s on,” Brooks said early in the evening, standing in a crush of people at the Manhattan club Crimson. “But I’m up for it.”

“I just hope I don’t embarrass myself,” Chastain said, already breathless and edgy about her speech.
But once Chairman John Anderson kicked things off, the evening rolled on with good humor and warm feelings. And, perhaps, with an idea of who Oscar’s big winners might be in 2012.

The neo-silent film “The Artist” won the top prizes, picking up awards for best picture and best director. And it got the biggest presenters, too, with the legendary Robert De Niro passing out the directing prize (even though he couldn’t pronounce filmmaker Michael Hazanavicius’ name) and Francis Ford Coppola awarding the one for best film.

But “Tree of Life” won the most nods, with certificates for its photography, and for Chastain’s and Pitt’s performances (although both were honored for other films, as well).
Taking the stage, a visibly trembling Chastain immediately opened the folder to check her citation. “Yeah, says my name,” she joked. “Can’t change your mind!”
But then she went on to thank the critics (who had also honored her for “Take Shelter” and “The Help,”) saying she had read them since she first moved to New York to study at Juilliard. “You guided me,” she said of the reviews she read then. “You opened my world.”

(WEINSTEIN)Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady" -- a vote-getter.

Pitt – who was also honored for “Moneyball” -- remembered his first trip to New York too, back in 1989 to audition for a soap opera. He didn’t get the part, but he did stay with a friend down in the Village, and he thought the city was very special.

“My God, there’s a lot of guys in New York,” he remembered thinking, walking down Christopher Street. “But they’re so nice!”

Streep, meanwhile – a Circle favorite for “The Iron Lady” – chortled that she’d won her election more handily than Margaret Thatcher ever had. And Brooks, who won for his part in “Drive,” joked that “I would be the opposite of critic-proof. I’m critic-prone.”

There were other prickly in-jokes during the night, several nursed grudges and probably some regrets, as people made snarky jokes about fights with producers, or mourned the loss of jobs.

Also subject for some complaints was the increase in security that came, inevitably, with Pitt and Jolie. In past, more relaxed years, guests like George Clooney or Matt Damon would happily mix and mingle; I have fond memories of casually chatting with Warren Beatty about “Reds,” and meeting Sean Penn at the bar.
This year, there seemed to be many more large men with thick necks blocking the aisles, and a lot of velvet ropes suddenly hemming in the hosts at their own party.

But it was still a fun party. A lovely celebration of great performances, strong writing and amazing films. And whether it’s any sort of prediction of what the rest of the year will bring, it really doesn’t matter. As Brooks said, happily clutching his prize, “This is not the People’s Choice. This is the real thing.”

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

Angeline Jolie Shows Us Who’s Boss In Leather

Oh look, it’ the sexy librarian! Only Angelina Jolie could wear a white blouse and leather skirt and still look so unbelievably hot. Full marks for the jade pendant and the killer pumps too. Angie and Brad Pitt were at the 77th Annual New York Film Critics Awards Gala in New York last night and rocked up looking like — that. BTW, that cane Brad’s toting around? That’s not a fashion statement, although we really wish it was. It’s due to an injury, as he revealed over the weekend, “I was carrying my daughter (Vivienne) down the hill and I slipped. It was either her or me.” Angelina also added that it hasn’t slowed him down, saying, “I like the cane. He’s not that kind of guy. He does everything still.” With his cane, and her leather, this may stray into kinky territory.

 

PICS: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sizzle at Critics' Circle Awards

By Eleanor Young  on Tuesday 10 January 2012

With awards season about to kick off in earnest, Hollywood royalty Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie set flashbulbs alight on the red carpet once again last night, at the prestigious Critics Circle Awards in New York.

Fresh from a dazzling appearance at the Palm Springs Film Festival – where Brad was awarded the Desert Palm Achievement Award - the pair struck a smouldering pose outside the event. And while Brad looked undeniably dapper in a sleek charcoal Versace suit - accessorised with a cooky cane, after he tore a ligament during a ski trip – it was Angelina who set tongues wagging.

Scoring yet another style hit to add to her collection, Ms Jolie was the epitome of chic as she sashayed down the red carpet, choosing a sizzling Ferragamo leather skirt, simple silk blouse and jaw-dropping jade jewels for the occasion.

Despite winning hands down in the fashion stakes, it was Brad who took home an award during the evening, garnering the prestigious Best Actor prize for his roles in Moneyball and The Tree of Life.
Meryl Streep was also present at the ceremony, taking home the Best Actress gone, while rising starlet Jessica Chastain was awarded the Best Supporting Actress prize for her role in The Help.
And with the Golden Globes just around the corner, we can't help feeling this is just a sign of things to come...

NYFCC Early

MaryPols Mary Pols

Terror is arriving someplace at the same time as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie #nyfccawards

Matt_Mazur Matt Mazur

#NYFCC awards dinner is madness! Albert Brooks, Angelina & Brad. Talent abounds!

@CristinaGibson Cristina Gibson

Angelina Jolie is stunning! So well spoken and gorgeous. Brad isn't bad either. Still using the cane pic.twitter.com/GFExRcxs

CristinaGibson Cristina Gibson

Waiting for Brad Pitt...hoping he brings Angelina along for the ride. Meryl Streep also attending #ActualAListers

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt with hair by Adam Campbell

 

NYFCC and Indie Spirit

Matt_Mazur Matt Mazur 

@AwardsDaily And Team Higher Ground. :p And Team Angelina. Even Team Pariah. haha.

1 hour ago

Matt_Mazur Matt Mazur

@carlysparkle @AwardsDaily Hopefully these edgier, more interesting teams get some luv at the Independent Spirits today. I can live w that!

FilmFatale_NYC Film Fatale NYC

RT @peterknegt: Margin Call's fine. But better than Martha Marcy, Pariah, Submarine, Tyrannosaur and Attack The Block? Absolutely not.

Matt_Mazur Matt Mazur 
@FilmFatale_NYC yeah, that choice is kind of suspect. Also, Higher Ground & Angelina Jolie's film In the Land of Blood & Honey are deserving

NYFCC2011 NYFCC2011
Best Actor: Brad Pitt for "Moneyball," and "Tree of Life"

LouLumenick #NYFCC snubs: Descendants, Hugo, War Horse, Dragon, Midnight, Marilyn, MMMM, Shame, J. Edgar, Young Adult, Melancolia, Tinker,Tin Tin

AwardsDaily I can't believe they forced the Dragon Tattoo to screen only to shut it out. It's like, "I shaved my legs for this?" This is but the beginning of awards season my friends. It's a long and exhausting slog towards the finish, with minor joys here and there.
For me, I only get through it when the impossible becomes possible. Otherwise, I die inside. Every year.

AwardsDaily Sasha Stone
The Artist poised to sweep the critics awards. Paging gravitas. Anyone have any gravitas?

***

Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Albert Brooks, Jessica Chastain Win NY Film Critics

The Critics organization had planned to vote yesterday but had to put it off so they could see David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” a late entry. One movie for this season, Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud,” was skipped entirely because it wasn’t ready. Even so, not all the critics in the group had a chance to see Angelina Jolie’s debut as a director, “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” set in Bosnia.

thelmadams Thelma Adams 

yes they did show Land of Blood & Honey. I saw it. Not all did I think

LouLumenick Lou Lumenick (Re Blood & Honey)

This was screened for NYFF and got less than a handful of votes in all categories, including first film

****

Ken Adams offers his take:

 
TaybackX Ken Adams
Bob Berney ain't no Harvey Weinstein.. it's a small studio, so what do you expect? and it's a tough movie to watch that won't appeal to many of the critics, AND it's in a foreign language.. 1 hour ago

*****

So my conclusion from all of the above is:

The first and most obvious is Brad is a lock for an Oscar nod.  It was never really in doubt as he has been among the frontrunners from the start. 

The bigger question and the one of greater interest is how it reflects upon B&H's Oscar chances. FilmDistrict's efficiency in managing the screenings and the effectiveness of their awards strategy has been called into question since apparently not all NYFCC members had a chance to see it.  Given Jeff Wells' and Sasha Stone's recent comments about how slowly the screening invites were being parceled out, that isn't a surprise.  It is notable that both Roger Friedman and Thelma Adams made a point of mentioning that it was not seen by all members -- suggesting that they believed that could have had an impact on the result.  Of course even if all the critics had seen it, it's possible B&H wouldn't have won any awards or nominations anyway.  But at least it would have competed in a level playing field instead of being handicapped right off the bat. 

I think it still has a shot at an Oscar nomination following in the shoes of Letters from Iwo Jima, but a Million $ Baby analogy is now obviously out of the question.  A strong chorus of critical acclaim would still give it a shot at getting in -- along the lines of a 90% on RT, 85% on Metacritic -- no different from what it was before.  The FilmDistrict insider who told Dave Karger that B&H wasn't really an Academy film may in part have been lowering expectations but there is undoubtedly also some truth to it given the subject matter and the level of brutality onscreen.  Academy voters may be inclined to give Angelina some recognition out of respect and appreciation for her efforts, her idealism and the film's inherent quality, but she is not the Academy darling that Clint was when he made Letters. 

Of course it's a bit deflating when expectation have been raised by the raves the film has received so far. I thought it would have been at least acknowledged by the Indie Spirit.  They gave Angelina an acting nod for A Mighty Heart and they've voted for edgier films and performances in the past.  Dave Karger said only a small group votes on the Indie Spirit nominations and it's not known if there were also some within that small group that failed to see the film. Matt Mazur obviously thought the film had a shot with both groups.  A NYFCC win or a Spirit nom would have catapulted the film into the collective consciousness of the Gurus of Gold and other Oscar oddsmakers.  The absence of either hasn't really hurt its chances but that is 2 less accolades that it could have received. 

Her best bet was and remains the Golden Globes.   Echoing what Scott Feinberg said, anything beyond that would depend on the reviews it receives and there is a strict embargo in place right now.  Given the problems they've encountered screening the film in a timely manner for everyone, it appears FilmDistrict may have erred in advising Angelina to totally skip the awards circuit and in choosing to start screening the film so late in the game.