The Critics Choice Award, which were aired on AMC and Lifetime, were as much about the schmoozing in the commercial breaks as the show itself.
Most of the biggest stars came right at the beginning of the show, after quickly whisking along the red carpet. Amy Schumer came in and went straight to the “Trainwreck” table, Judd Apatow and his wife Leslie Mann had just arrived, 0 Amy yelled loudly to them, “shove over,” which immediately cracked Apatow up. Amy was lovely to all who came up to her, maybe because her new beau Ben was by her side the whole night.
Holland Taylor and girlfriend Sarah Paulson were working the room. While Holland sat on a male friend’s lap at the “Transparent” table, Sarah had a chat with Rooney Mara, nominated for “Carol.” Sarah and Rooney were both leaning in, quietly chatting while the show was going on. Truth be told, pretty much the whole room talked right through the show. It’s hard to say whether it was louder than the Golden Globes, which set a record for audience misbehavior.
Jennifer Aniston– who came with husband Justin Theroux, nominated for “The Leftovers,” brought two burly security guards, just in case one of the celebrities got in her face. They stopped anyone from getting near her or taking a picture. Will Forte provided the overt comic relief with his half-shaven head, went over to Jen and posed for a picture, to which Jen quipped to the photographer, “Please fix his hair, while you’re at it, fix mine.”
The bodyguards did serve an unwitting purpose however. The blocked the view between Paulson-Taylor and Paulson’s ex, the great theater actress Cherry Jones, known to TV audiences from “24.” Ouch.
The other celebs had a much more low-key attitude about it all. A pregnant Liv Tyler was a late arrival to Aniston’s table, along with actor, writer Tracy Letts. “Carol” director Todd Haynes, sitting with Rooney Mara and his “Carol” crew, told me he¹s hard at work trying to find young deaf actors, and hearing actors, to cast in his upcoming film, “Wonderstruck,” which follows the intertwined narrative of two deaf children, Julianne Moore is starring. He also hopes to shoot that in New York.
Haynes made sure to go over to the next table to greet the lovely Jennifer Jason Leigh, who was hanging with
her “Hateful Eight” co-star Walton Goggins. Adam McKay chatting with Matt Damon, telling him how much he loved the movie, “The Martian,” which Christian Bale then joined in. Two-time nominee Alicia Vikander, told me that she was surprised to finally get there because of the traffic that everyone was complaining about.
“Room” star Jacob Tremblay had the room entranced on stage and off by his sheer cuteness. Melissa McCarthy and Helen Mirren became fast friends. Christian Slater was genuinely shocked of his second win of the season for “Mr. Robot,” he just won the Globe. Lily Tomlin was the object of adoration of most of the actresses in the room, including “Jane The Virgin” star Gina Rodriguez, “Spotlight” nominee Rachel McAdams, “Fargo” winner Kirsten Dunst and Sharon Stone, who’s more spectacularly Sharon Stone than ever before.
In the end the Broadcast Critics did the right thing– “Spotlight” was their choice for Best Picture, which means Tom McCarthy’s is the likely winner of the Academy Award. The acting winners– Leonardo DiCaprio, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, and Sylvester Stallone– are likely to follow suit. The BFCA remains the best indicator of Oscar winners.
Rooney and Sara c2016 Showbiz411 by James Mandell
