More Solidarity Prattle: Actors Join Critics' Circle Jerk, But Thumb Their Noses at Oscar

The actors that turned up for the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, held at Spotlight on Sunday, Jan. 6, were eager to point out that they wouldn’t be crossing any picket lines to get to any other award shows.

“The important thing is to support the right guys for the right thing, no?” said Javier Bardem, a winner for No Country for Old Men, when asked his feelings about the possibility of the Oscars being canceled.

“I think there’s a certain beauty about the Academy Awards,” said Patricia Clarkson, there to present a prize to Amy Ryan for her performance in Gone Baby Gone. The ceremony “is a chance for our community to come together in a beautiful way. And there’s great talent to celebrate. But no actor’s crossin’ a picket line. Maybe they’ll settle by then and maybe all the writers will get what they want and they’ll all be happy and we can all have a drink.” At which point Ms. Clarkson craned her neck to order a bourbon and ginger ale from the bartender.

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Park Slope parents Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal all said they would pass over the Oscars if the strike had not been resolved.

Writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who won an Academy Award last year for his opus The Lives of Others, said he would be very sad if the show didn’t happen. “I’ve been watching the Oscars as long as I can think,” said the towering German. “In Europe it was a big thing to watch them because you have to get up in the middle of the night. I’m a pretty sound sleeper and so is my brother, so whoever woke up first would pour water over each other’s face.” Mein Gott!