The 14th Governors Awards, was untelevised but the crowd was as starry as they come with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Penelope Cruz, Natalie Portman, Bradley Cooper and Jon Batiste in the audience.
Mel Brooks received his second Oscar Tuesday night at a private dinner in the heart of Hollywood.”I promise not to sell this one,” Brooks said.
Hollywood’s awards season can start to feel a little gratuitously self-congratulatory, but the Governors Awards is a bit of a respite from the horse race and a chance to celebrate some of the industry’s living legends, including Brooks, Angela Bassett and film editor Carol Littleton, who all collected honorary Oscars at the Ray Dolby Auditorium, just steps from where the Academy Awards will be broadcast in March.
Michelle Satter, a founding director of the Sundance Institute, also received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
The evening produced both laughs and tears, with heartfelt tributes to the honorees and acknowledgement of recent, tragic losses. Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane serenaded Brooks with a medley, urging the crowd to join in for Springtime for Hitler. Regina King toasted her Boyz N the Hood co-star for being “excellence in human form.” John Mulaney hosted the proceedings and got things off to a lively start. “It’s such an honour for me to be hosting this,” Mulaney said. “Growing up, as a boy, I would always watch the non-televised Governors Awards even though they only started 14 years ago. We would all gather in front of the turned off TV. It was the only time I ever saw my dad smile.”
The annual event is put on by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognise contributions to the industry and a life’s achievement. It used to be part of the Oscars telecast but shifted to a separate occasion in 2009, where there would be no time constraints on the speeches.
Mulaney offered gentle ribs about Rami Malek’s screentime in Oppenheimer and Bradley Cooper’s preparation for Maestro as well as his own status in the industry.
Speaking about Bassett, he said “she got an Oscar nomination for a Marvel movie. That’s like getting a Pulitzer Prize for a Reddit comment.”
The event, which was delayed from its original November date because of the actors strike, is also a de facto campaign stop for the current season’s awards hopefuls.
Voting for the 96th Oscars begins on Thursday and nominations will be announced on Jan. 23 for the March 10 ceremony.
Brooks was up first and kept it light and brief, joking about having to sell his first Oscar for writing The Producers because times were tough.
Bassett gave an impassioned speech, talking about acting as not just a career but a calling. She said the honorary Oscar is not just another award but “a testament to my legacy.” In the audience, Barrino stood while Bassett spoke, cheering her on at key moments. After the event, The Color Purple director Blitz Bazawule said it was “like church.” (PTI)
