Starriest Night

(NEW YORK) "I just love your show," Heather Graham gushed to a man bag-toting Alec Baldwin as she intercepted the 30 Rock star en route to his seat at last night's National Board of Review awards. This sort of inter-celeb mingling was typical, as the tables at Cipriani 42nd Street were so stocked with A-listers that it's tough to imagine an event that could top it. Bulgari sponsored the gala for the third consecutive year, and it showed--the celebration was super-sized, given that 2009 marks the brand's 125th anniversary. (Conveniently, the National Board of Review is turning 100 as well). Oversized baloons floated overhead while the likes of Anne Hathaway, Salma Hayek, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Dev Patel--even Clint Eastwood!--exited the teeming red carpet and settled in for a tasty dinner of filet mignon. (Eva Amurri sat down with Tim Robbins even as the cocktail hour soldiered on--all the better to enjoy the first course artichoke salad.)

The actual Bulgaris like Ilaria, Nicola and Beatrice spent most of the night table-hopping. Turns out that the Bulgari Award for NBR Freedom of Expression (awarded to Trumbo) was the most coveted of the evening, thanks to the elaborate box given in place of the usual glass statuette. "Hey, I want the Bulgari award," Baldwin joked, imagining the presumably jeweled contents.

Best Actress winner Hathaway was a bit more serious--at least when it came to her work in Rachel Getting Married. "When you're making a film it's hard to know what the confines of the story are, if it's more exaggerated or if you need to do things that are a little more quiet," she said. "It's hard to know exactly where and how to pitch it. But in this case, all you had to do was find truth. And as complicated and difficult as that sounds, when you have Jonathan Demme steering you, it was actually the least anxious time I ever had on a film. I was working with such an exquisite cast, I couldn't have been better protected or had a better part, so I actually loved every second."

Like you didn't already know, the Hollywood types are hopelessly fixated on Danny Boyle. As Baldwin presented the award for Breakthrough Performance to Patel, he summed up the Globes-induced fervor surrounding the film. "I saw my agent at a party and I said, 'Wasn't this the most fabulous evening?' He said, 'Yeah, we signed Freida Pinto." Other podium-goers followed suit. "I love Danny Boyle," confirmed Patel, Hathaway and Brolin. The Slumdog Millionaire director finally took to the stage to accept the award for Best Film. Hilariously, Meredith Viera presented the honor.

Julian Schnabel appeared during Naomi Watts' speech, settling down into a table anchored by Josh Brolin and Diane Lane. He looked longingly at the chocolate-covered strawberries. Emcee Whoppi Goldberg called Brolin to the stage to present--mispronouncing his name in the process. "Josh Browlin?" he said upon taking the podium. "That's how f*cking famous I am."

Clint Eastwood presented the Best Original Screenplay statue to Nich Shenck for Gran Torino; the director and actor took the stage later in the evening to accept the Best Actor award for the same film. Eastwood recalled his "embarrassing" entree into the acting world as a college student who was compelled to attend an acting class due to the attractive company. "There were about 30 great-looking girls and about 5 guys," he deadpanned, "And I said, 'You know, this class needs me.'"
ASHLEY BAKER