Inside the Critics' Choice Awards

On a hot summer night last June at the L.A. Film Festival's opening night party, I ran into Picturehouse President Bob Berney, an independent film whiz and great awards campaigner. We talked about the imminent demise of his company (merged into Warner Bros. and then dumped), but he mentioned the possibility of releasing one more film, an oddball title he really liked that the defunct Warner Independent had produced but now those at (big) Warners admitted they didn't know what to do with. It was the cinematic equivalent of leftovers and problematic because it was small and partially in the Hindi language.

When I asked him if the movie, which I had never even heard of, "Slumdog Millionaire", had any awards potential, he said probably not, proving once again that nobody knows nothing, even as savvy a guy as Berney, who brilliantly guided Charlize Theron and Marion Cotillard to Oscars.

Thursday night, this improbable Cinderella movie, which Warners basically gifted to Fox Searchlight, continued a remarkable week in which it won key guild nominations from the WGA, PGA and DGA by pulling off an astounding sweep at the Broadcast Critics Assn.'s 14th annual Critics' Choice Awards (airing on VH1).

"Slumdog" took best picture, director for Danny Boyle, screenplay, young actor for Dev Patel and music score awards, meaning one thing as it goes to the Golden Globes on Sunday: It's no longer an under-slumdog and now has to be considered the odds-on favorite to go all the way at the Oscars.

At the packed, tented after-party, Boyle was thrilled with the victories. He said winning one was awesome but as they began racking them all up, he was truly overwhelmed, especially as all these awards came on top of his DGA nomination earlier in the day.

"That one really means something to me because it comes from my peers. You can't beat that -- or this," he said.

The Critics' Choice Awards have a strong track record of foretelling the eventual Academy Award winners, but not always. Still, there was a good feeling in the room as this was the first of the "Hollywood" movie award shows this year and it's early enough that everyone still feels like they can win.  However, losing at a few of these events can really beat you down. It gets old fast.

The awards were once again held at the Santa Moncia Civic Auditorium, a hallowed place in Oscar history where "West Side Story", "Lawrence Of Arabia", "Tom Jones", "My Fair Lady", "The Sound Of Music", "A Man For All Seasons" and "In The Heat Of The Night" all won their best picture Academy Awards. It's kind of retro cool to see another movie awards show use this site by the sea, although the historical aspects of the "critics' choice" of venue probably was lost on this crowd.

The star and industry turnout, though, was almost as impressive as one of those Santa Monica Oscar shindigs of the '60s. Everywhere you looked was a heavyweight. I sat at Table 10 with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Taraji P. Henson, David Fincher, producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall and Paramount President John Lesher. I was the only one at the table I had never heard of. Although "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" came in with a leading eight nominations, it left empty-handed. This group took it in stride. You win some, you lose some.

Marshall, a nice guy who has been to a few award shows in his time, was beaming when he talked about how his hit flick, "Button," moved into the top spot at the box office for the first time on Wednesday night. Who needs awards when you've got a smash on your hands? He's a realist. He figured out the way it was going after "Slumdog" took the screenplay award early in the evening, its third victory in a row. He pulled out his acceptance speech and tore it up. Hopefully Frank pieces it back together before the Globes. It might come in handy. Life can be fickle. And unpredictable.

After she lost to Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep (who tied for best actress) , I told Jolie to look on the bright side. There are just 22 more award shows to go! Hey, she's already got an Oscar anyway. 

The "Milk" table in front of us was happy winning best ensemble early in the show. Josh Brolin and Emile Hirsch accepted for the cast . Star Sean Penn was late and missed the entire category, but later accepted when his name was called as best actor. When he mentioned that he thinks he won basically because he was the best looking guy nominated in the group, Pitt laughed.

Penn, who won a Critics' Choice Award in 2004 for "Mystic River,"  was in New York on Monday picking up a best actor award from the N.Y. Film Critics Circle, and then in Palm Springs on Tuesday getting the same thing from the Palm Springs Film Festival. Can his streak continue Sunday at the Globes, where he represents their sole nomination for "Milk"?

All five of the directors nominated for the DGA award Thursday morning were in the room. Unflappable  "Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan told us he was happy with all the recognition his little "Batman" movie was getting this week. Pretty remarkable for a summer comic book film. His acceptance for best supporting actor Heath Ledger won the most heartfelt applause of the night. Word from inside the Academy is that officials there are quietly rooting for a "Dark Knight" best picture nomination in order to boost ratings for the show. After this week, it seems more inevitable than ever.

At every commercial break the awards banquet game of table hopping and deal making began, and this was a particularly antsy bunch. The schmoozers we spotted included Ben Stiller (who won best comedy for "Tropic Thunder"), Mickey Rourke (Lesher mentioned he is definitely cast as one of the villains in "Iron Man 2"), Ron Howard, Peter Morgan, Dakota Fanning, Kate Beckinsale, Warner Bros. Chairman Alan Horn, Jason Segel, Richard Jenkins, Frieda Pinto, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sony Picture Classics guys Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, Stephen Daldry, Frank Langella, Clint Eastwood and, of course, Harvey Weinstein, who is probably already plotting his campaign for "Nine" next year.

Harvey was among those making his way to the after-party across the street. Penn, Hathaway, Joel Siegel Award honoree Richard Gere, Brolin, Diane Lane, Jason Segel and a whole bunch of happy VH1 execs were just some of the many luminaries spotted in the room filled with those dreaded critics who during the rest of the year don't always have kind words to say about the very same people they were partying with into the wee hours

The season of "giving" can make strange bedfellows.

--Pete Hammond

(Photo: Freida Pinto, Simon Beaufoy, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and A.R. Rahman backstage with the best picture award for "Slumdog Millionaire," courtesy Dan Steinberg / AP)

Comments

[Joe]

I hope the dark knight gets a best picture nomination it deserves it.