Photo by Carlo Allegri / ReutersThe New York Film Critics Circle laid down the red carpet last night at Manhattan's Crimson, and Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, Robert De Niro, Albert Brooks, and Jessica Chastain all stepped up. If you couldn't make the dinner, which remains stubbornly untelevised, here are three things you missed:
1. A big question was whether Angelina Jolie would join Brad Pitt, who was honored as best actor for "Moneyball" and "The Tree of Life," even though "In the Land of Blood and Honey" was not named Best First Feature. The answer: She was definitely there supporting Pitt. The pair mingled with critics and guests, relaxed and chatty despite being ringed by security guards capable of protecting Barack Obama.
Jolie said she and Pitt had taken the red eye to New York so that they wouldn't miss any part of their daughter Zahara's seventh birthday. The multi-hyphenate Jolie shared one thing she can't do: "Sing!"
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Onstage, Pitt accepted his award and waxed nostalgic about his first move to New York to audition for the soaps. Of his Greenwich Village neighborhood, he said, "My first impression of the city was there are so many guys around here but my god they're so nice."
2. It was a "Godfather" reunion. Both Robert De Niro and director Francis Ford Coppola took the stage to honor "The Artist." De Niro gave the best director award to Michel Hazanavicius, who joked about the trouble Americans have pronouncing his name -- "I only learned how to spell it two years ago."
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3. Viola Davis ("The Help") presented her "Doubt" co-star Meryl Streep with the best actress award for "The Iron Lady." It's unusual for an Oscar front-runner who hasn't won the NYFCC award to attend the dinner, much less give the coveted award to a rival in the race. The actresses made their awards strategy clear: They weren't competing, and they were going to enjoy their time in the spotlight together, regardless of who wins. That's taking the high ground. Davis joked as she began her presentation for Streep: "I have to get this right or she'll kick my ass. And she can kick ass!"
Expect to see Davis, Streep, and Brangelina in the frame Sunday night when they are nominated for Golden Globes. See Yahoo!'s coverage of the 69th Annual Golden Globes Awards on January 15, starting at 4 p.m. PT. Discover the stars and films that made the final cut at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
See the trailer for Angelina Jolie's 'In the Land of Blood and Honey':