Gotham Awards
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Quips comparing the Gotham Awards with the Oscars ran rampant last night, so Academy Awards hovered in the cavernous Cipriani Wall Street air. Mostly, speakers agreed, the Gothams, honoring indie films, are like a younger, cooler brother: acting out, presenters feel free to speak their minds in whatever non-prime time terms. Focusing on Willem Dafoe seated ringside, who would later pay tribute to Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow, Rosie Perez wanted to know whether that was his real ample-"you know"-in the ample sex scenes in Antichrist. After he nodded affirmative with his great Cheshire cat grin, she purred as only Rosie can, "Well hello Willem Dafoe."

Here's a category you are not going to see on Oscar night: Best Movie Not Playing in a Theater Near You. Presented by Sam Rockwell and Patricia Clarkson, that award went to You Won't Miss Me directed by Ry Russo-Young, starring Stella Schnabel. Breakthrough Actor went to the Chilean Catalina Saavedra, for The Maid. Food, Inc. won the documentary award, Robert Siegel for Breakthrough Director (Big Fan).

Jim Sheridan, director of her most recent film, Brothers, paid tribute to the be-sequined Natalie Portman, who thanked him for making her, at 26, believable as the mother of an 8 year old by giving her the tits.

The meticulously non-glamourized Meryl Streep led the tribute to her Devil Wore Prada/ Julie & Julia co-star, Stanley Tucci. Noting that if you're not a supporting actor, you are not an actor, she glowed, he more than supported; "I felt buttressed by him," and further praised his expertise at mixing martinis.

The Coen brothers, thanking Working Title's Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, recounted their various pitch lines, each funnier and less likely to be made than the one before: The Man Who Wasn't There, in black and white about an unhappily married barber who wants to be a dry cleaner, O Brother, a riff on The Odyssey, and Fargo, about an unhappily married . . . You get the picture. The rest is movie history. But for the current A Serious Man, the Coens made the green light sound iffy. Accepting their award, Bevan and Fellner protested, "We knew it was a hit."

Not surprising, given the award buzz it has already received, The Hurt Locker was the big winner of the evening, for Best Ensemble and for Best Feature. True, wisdom dictates you don't want to be the front-runner too soon. So, when asked about anticipating Oscars, Kathryn Bigelow demurred, "It's too soon to think about that."
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