If you want to meet some movie stars, it’s easy. Just pop a sign in your window that says “Awards handed out here!”
Because from now until the Oscars on March 2, actors will attend pretty much anything to secure some elusive buzz in the lead-up to Hollywood’s biggest night.
The season’s first A-List fete was held here in New York this week — the Gotham Independent Film Awards downtown at Cipriani Wall Street on Monday.
Celebs came out in droves. Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore, Kieran Culkin, Pamela Anderson, Adrien Brody and Saoirse Ronan were there, dressed to the nines.
I, meanwhile, stood back at the bar, dressed like a liberal arts college TA.
But what myself and the aforementioned nominees did have in common is that none of us won a damn thing.
The Gothams are decided by small juries of industry insiders, who tend to favor their perception of artistry over star power.
So, Colman Domingo, Academy Award-nominated last year for his title turn in “Rustin,” won Best Performance for playing a prisoner who joins a theater troupe in “Sing Sing.”
Smooshed categories are the Gothams’ other uphill battle. In 2020, the ceremony made them genderless, providing half as many opportunities for victory. The other acting honor, Supporting Performance, was given to Clarence Maclin, also of “Sing Sing.”
VIPs walked in knowing their chances were small. But still they came. For a bit anyway.
I watched Anderson, wonderful in “The Last Showgirl,” scurry out of the banquet hall with her team shortly after she lost. Wearing a cream frock in a sea of dark clothes, you couldn’t miss her. No dessert and coffee for Pam.
And I spoke to “Babygirl” director Halina Reijn about how scintillating Kidman and Harris Dickinson are in her steamy office affair film. Kidman went home empty-handed, but will build momentum once the film hits theaters Dec. 25.
While most attendees hunkered down in their seats for the usual awards pablum, “Anora” stars Mikey Madison (a Best Performance nominee) and Mark Eydelshteyn kept hurriedly buzzing back to the bar area.
For the leads of a (superb) film that starts in a Manhattan strip club, that just felt right.
Dead ringers Eydelshteyn and Timothée Chalamet took a picture together, providing another, albeit smaller, Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest.
Chalamet was not on hand because of his passion for the nebulous saucer of molten cheese that’s served to everybody, like it or not. He was there because he was one of three actors to receive Tribute awards — the Gothams’ ploy to ensure marquee names on the red carpet. The other top honorees were Zendaya and Angelina Jolie.
The night gave Chalamet, who plays Bob Dylan in the upcoming biopic “A Complete Unknown,” and Jolie, opera singer Maria Callas in “Maria,” some podium practice. Both have strong shots of being nominated for and winning Oscars this year.
But it’s too early (and presumptuous) for anybody to turn on the waterworks onstage and crank up the volume. The duo stayed even-keeled and kept their speeches to capital-A Art.
“Part of what drew me to Maria is how hard she worked to master her craft,” said Jolie before adding an amusing line for the star of “Girl Interrupted.”
“She called it straitjacketing herself.”
And humble-pie Chalamet bowed to the “Like A Rolling Stone” genius.
“Getting to study and immerse myself in the world of Bob Dylan has been the greatest education a young artist could receive,” the 28-year-old politely said.
In the final moments of the night, the dark comedy “A Different Man,” starring Sebastian Stan, shocked attendees when it won Best Feature.
Come March, I guarantee you that the Oscar for Best Picture will be won by … a different movie.