Bradley Cooper, Paul Giamatti and Lily Gladstone win an award in New York
On a not-at-all red carpet at Cipriani 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, Da'Vine Joy Randolph beamed Thursday evening.
“The fact that these people have even seen my work is just amazing,” said the actress, a star of “The Holdovers,” who was honored with the National Board of Review's Best Supporting Actress award at the annual film awards gala . , just days after winning her first Golden Globe on Sunday for her role in the film.
A few feet away on the gray carpet was Celine Song, who accepted the award for best directorial debut for “Past Lives.” She wore a tuxedo jacket, a long skirt and a bow tie.
“Because the film is so personal, I always feel less alone every time someone connects to the film; I feel very seen, understood and embraced,” said Ms. Song, who based the romantic film partly on her own experience with a childhood friend.
At that moment, a commotion broke out: Paul Giamatti, another star of “The Holdovers,” who was also honored for his performance at the film awards gala, had stepped onto the carpet.
Mr. Giamatti had also won a Golden Globe for best actor in a dramatic film. But it was the In-N-Out burger he had consumed it, oh so casuallyduring a stop after the ceremony at a location in the Los Angeles area after his win last week that people wanted to say something about.
“Did you make a statement?” someone shouted.
“No, I was just hungry,” he said. “I just wanted a hamburger.”
Ms. Randolph, Ms. Song and Mr. Giamatti were three recipients of 17 awards given by the National Board of Review, a group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers and academics, at the gala, which honored the best films and performances from the past year. Anne Hathaway, Amy Sedaris, Daniel Day-Lewis, Elizabeth Olsen, Ethan Hawke and Jessica Chastain were all present as presenters.
A traditionally irreverent, non-televised gathering where winners are announced in advance, the gala has become an annual East Coast stop for stars on the Oscars campaign trail. This year's ceremony took on extra significance because voting for the Oscar nominations began on the same day.
Others honored by the National Board of Review were Mark Ruffalo, for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Poor Things”; Martin Scorsese's crime drama “Killers of the Flower Moon” for best picture and best director, and Lily Gladstone, a star of “Killers,” for best actress. (Ms. Gladstone also won a Globe for Best Actress in a Dramatic Motion Picture, becoming the first Indigenous person to do so.)
A handful of actors were also honored for collective performances, including Zac Efron (best ensemble for “The Iron Claw”) and Andrew Scott (the Board selected “All of Us Strangers” as one of the top 10 independent films).
As Mr. Ruffalo and Mr. Scott chatted at their table — each covered with dolls of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling — Ms. Hathaway, dressed in a glittering, strapless, black dress, posed next to Ms. Olsen, who wore a white ruffled dress. blazer. Ms. Chastain, wearing a magenta-purple Vivienne Westwood dress, put her arm around Justine Triet, the French director to whom she would later present the award for best international film, for the courtroom thriller “Anatomy of a Fall.”
After a dinner of seared ahi tuna with baby fennel and sliced Wagyu sirloin steak, “Morning Joe” co-host Willie Geist opened the awards portion of the evening. Freed from time constraints and national television censorship, remarks and speeches often lasted longer than ten minutes and were occasionally sprinkled with profanity.
There were also moving moments: Michael J. Fox received the first standing ovation of the evening when he took the stage with Davis Guggenheim, the director of “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” who was honored for best documentary. The film brings the experience of Mr. Fox maps learning to live with Parkinson's disease.
“Parkinson's disease has been a gift,” said Mr. Fox, who retired from acting in 2020 as his speech became increasingly unreliable. “It is a gift that continues to be received, but it has given me an audience to talk about what is possible.”
Later, as Ms. Hathaway presented the annual icon award to Bradley Cooper, the director and star of the Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro,” which was named one of the 10 best films of the year by the National Board of Review, she shared how their families had become friends during the pandemic while sharing the pizza Mr. Cooper made.
Mr. Cooper then shared his own highlight of the evening: meeting Ms. Randolph for the first time and getting the chance to “tell her how inspiring she is.” (“Did you just notice that Bradley Cooper now knows who I am?” Ms. Randolph joked as she accepted her own award a few minutes later.)
Ms Gladstone also received a standing ovation as she approached the stage in a long black dress with lattice sleeves studded with silver circles.
“It's strange, as an actor, to speak your character's language better than your own,” says Ms. Gladstone, who has Blackfeet and Nez Percé heritage. She then shared a word in the Blackfoot language she had recently learned, which she said meant, “I feel the good in what you have done.”
An unexpected twist came when Ms. Sedaris, after presenting Mr. Giamatti with the Best Actor award, tripped while walking to the back of the stage. She landed flat on her back. Although Mr. Giamatti rushed to help her up, it did not appear to be serious: She remained motionless on the floor during his acceptance speech as the audience erupted in laughter.
Would Mr. Giamatti celebrate with a late-night Shake Shack trip?
“Uhhhh, maybe,” he said. “I love In-N-Out. I'm not going to dismiss Shake Shack, but I mean, if they had an In-N-Out here, I'd probably go.