The National Board of Review, a nonprofit organization comprised of filmmakers, academics, media professionals, students and film enthusiasts, dished out its 105 annual awards on Tuesday night in frigid New York.
The massive restaurant Cipriani 42nd Street was filled with big-name presenters and winners -- the latter of whom were selected and announced back on Dec. 4 -- many hoping to make a strong impression on any Academy members in the room as the Oscar nomination voting periods nears its finish at 5pm PT on Wednesday.
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One of the funniest portions of the evening came with the presentation of the Spotlight Award to DiCaprio and Scorsese in honor of their collaboration on five standout films over the past 11 years, the most recent of which is The Wolf of Wall Street. That film features three noted directors in acting roles -- Jon Favreau, Spike Jonze and Rob Reiner -- who joked about their involvement with the film ("I gained 30 pounds for the role -- it worked for De Niro," said Favreau), each other (Jonze was happy to cede the microphone to the other two, so Reiner said of him, in reference to Jonze's latest film Her, "He can't talk to people too well -- it's autobiographical") and the honorees. As Scorsese stood beside the much taller DiCaprio on stage he kept popping up onto his tiptoes and smiling widely, to great laughter. He said of DiCaprio, "Leo has all the qualities I look for in a great actor," to which DiCaprio responded, "You mean, like an Italian last name?"
No presentation was more moving, though, than that of best actor by veteran studio exec David Picker to his longtime friend Bruce Dern, whose career was stagnant before Nebraska and who had never really received much applause for his work since his best supporting actor Oscar nomination for Coming Home 35 years ago. "I'm more than thrilled," Dern said. "It's been a long journey." Choking up, the septuagenarian thanked Nebraska director Alexander Payne for offering him a chance and asking him to just be himself, as opposed to doing "all the kind of crap I've had to do all these years to be the most interesting third cowboy from the right." He closed by thanking the NBR for their confidence in him: "All of you got together in a room and said, 'Bruce Dern can play.' "
Dern was a tough act to follow, but if anyone is up to the challenge it is Streep, who came onstage wearing one of the "Prize Winner" trucker hats that littered each table in homage to Nebraska. "I'm not the prize winner?" the three-time Oscar recipient asked as the audience laughed. "That is so weird!" She then gave a heartfelt and funny toast to best actress winner Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks), a longtime friend, calling her "practically a saint" and noting that she "considers carefully what the **** she is putting out into the culture." Streep described Thompson as "a rabid man-eating feminist like I am" and then, a little bizarrely, lit into Walt Disney, who is portrayed in Thompson's film Saving Mr. Banks, for being a racist and a sexist, and also dismissed the awards season as "really ridiculous." Thompson ultimately pranced onto the stage and declared herself "nauseated with gratitude," adding, to howls of laughter, "It's such a cold night -- it's the only time I've been actively grateful for the menopause." Noting what a strong year it has been for actresses, she mused, "I can't think what must have given me the edge. It must have been the perm -- which meant no sex for months, of course."
Things then came to a close with the presentation of the two awards to Her. Jonze accepted the best director prize, and then Jonze and one of Her's producers, Megan Ellison, were invited back to the stage by Mike Myers to collect the best film honor. (Myers noted, in all seriousness, that he had named his son Spike in honor of Jonze.) Jonze and Ellison noted the absence of the film's other producer, Vincent Landay, and called Reiner back to the stage to step in for him, noting, "He's never seen the movie, he doesn't know anything about the movie, and he doesn't know Vincent Landay." Of course, Reiner brought down the house.
Source:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rac...tear-at-669134
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Do u agree with Meryl? Is she being ungrateful? She does campaign for the Oscars nearly every year. What do you think
