We’ve just made it through Hollywood’s second-biggest party weekend of the year, trailing only Oscar weekend. Mikey Glazer has covered the mob scene that transpired after the show inside the Beverly Hilton, where Weinstein and NBC Universal and Summit and In Style and HBO threw parties and the fire marshals fretted, while Sharon Waxman dealt with the non-movie topic that was the talk of the night.
But those reports are only the tip of the iceberg. Even before Globes night, the weekend was studded with events, courtesy of Brits and Australians and indies and critics and studios.
I didn’t make it to every one of them, but here are a few glimpses from the eight parties and two awards shows I did manage to attend over the weekend:
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At the Independent Spirit Awards Nominees Brunch, Saturday morning at the BOA Steakhouse on Sunset Blvd., the assembled nominees took the stage in groups and approached a pair of microphones to give their names and the films on which they worked. Big applause went to the likes of “A Serious Man” actor Michael Stuhlbarg, “Food, Inc.” director Robert Kenner, “An Education” screenwriter Nick Hornby … and Sacha Gervasi, director of the documentary “Anvil! The Story of Anvil.”
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt gave one of the most succinct intros: “I’m Joe. I acted in ‘(500) Days of Summer.’” Later, Gordon-Levitt, very young and preppy looking in a v-neck sweater and tie, said he was enjoying his first awards-season experience since his teenage days on the TV series “Third Rock from the Sun.”
“This is actually more fun than I thought it would be,” he said, nodding toward the stage where the nominees had all gathered for a group photo. “That was a really cool group of people up there.”
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“Hurt Locker” screenwriter and producer Mark Boal wasn’t at the Spirit Awards brunch – his film had received two nominations last year, and so wasn’t eligible this time around, much to the dismay of many Spirit Awards officials.
Still, it was a crowded weekend for Boal. I caught up with him at the annual tea party thrown by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles (BAFTA/LA), which took place in a ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel on Saturday afternoon.
The previous night, Boal had made an eloquent speech after his film won the Best Picture honor at the Broadcast Film Critics Awards. His agenda for the day after BAFTA, he said, included the awards ceremony of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which had already named “Hurt Locker” the year’s best film; Paramount’s Golden Globes party, which he planned to attend because he’s now writing a film for Paramount; and the Lionsgate soiree later in the evening, because he had a friend at that company.
“I was a little worried when the show started with that bit from ‘Inglourious Basterds,’” admitted Boal of the Critics Choice Awards’ opening film, in which host Kristin Chenoweth and director Quentin Tarantino recreated a scene from Tarantino’s film.
