Quvenzhané Wallis gives her director Behn Zeitlin a big hug.

The red carpet was aglow with the incandescent twinkle of Hollywood’s stars on Monday night at the 22nd annual Independent Film Project Gotham Awards. With Oscar winners Matt Damon and Marion Cotillard amongst the evening’s honorees and the likes of Jack Black, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, John Krasinski and so many more blazing a trail through the double doors of Wall St.’s Cipriani’s, it was no wonder that the less glamorous side of the velvet rope was a veritable press feeding frenzy. Lucky for us, then, that we had sharpened our claws.

As the guests took their seats for the ceremony, The Observer was whisked upstairs to a private viewing room, lest we cavort too rambunctiously with the delicate A-List crowd. There we watched over the evening’s events like demi-gods looking down from the heavens upon the cherubs pecking away at their meals, with eight year old nominee Quvenzhané Williams and 13 year old Jared Gilman leading the underage coterie.

The awards soon got underway, much to the delight of the recipients. Honoring their intentions as champions of independent cinema, the jury not only rewarded the biggest Hollywood names but the industry’s up-and-comers for their contribution to film. Beasts of the Southern Wild writer and director Benh Zeitlin was undoubtedly the big winner of the night, scooping statuettes – well, glass cuboids - for Breakthrough Director alongside the Bingham Ray Award, dedicated to the late film executive.

Mr. Zeitlin was so swept up with his first victory, however, that he scarcely noticed he had procured a second, pausing in his role as the obliging interviewee only to dash back downstairs to claim his newest prize.

“The fact that the film has gotten out into the world has been overwhelming,” he told The Observer, “And I never imagined this many people would not only see it but champion it, and make it their business to help the film get out there. It has completely changed my life.” A spate of critical successes at Cannes, Sundance, the LA Film Festival and the International Film Festival has seen Louisiana-based Mr. Zeitlin’s awards cabinet go from empty to engorged in a matter of months.

Another director honored for his work during the event was David O. Russell, whose work on the likes of The Fighter and new release Silver Linings Playbook secured his status as a deserving IFP Gotham Award recipient. "With an independent film you are with your little family and you work together all day every day, and that’s the real difference," he explained. "You’re all there for the passion, and I prefer that because projects have to come from the heart. You have to dig deep."

Academy Award-winners and Gotham honorees Mr. Damon and Ms. Cotillard are certainly no strangers to widespread acclaim, but both seemed similarly touched by their newest prestigious accolade. Ms. Cotillard was every inch the elegant belle of the ball, dazzling in an array of Chopard jewelry and a stunning Christian Dior couture gown.

Clearly her nationality influences not only her wardrobe but her passion for various projects, telling The Observer: “I really cherish the fact that I’m able to share my French movies worldwide, because we have amazing creativity in France.” The softly spoken actress, who stars in the recently released Rust and Bone, seemed quite overcome with emotion, before continuing: “With this film I had one of the greatest journeys ever, and to share this very unconventional love story outside of my country is something that I enjoy more than anything. I never choose a movie because of whether it’s independent or not, it’s just a story that’s got to take me. But independent movies have the freedom of telling stories that nobody except a special director would tell.”

Mr. Damon echoed the Parisian sweetheart’s sentiments, divulging, “I’ve never set goals for my career. Each movie is just story-telling, and I never wanted to not do a bunch of good movies because I was waiting to make a great one.”

The evening was particularly poignant for the actor, who recalled his first attendance at the Gotham Awards some 15 years earlier in the year Good Will Hunting was released. The best-buddy-Ben-Affleck spot was filled not by his usual partner in crime, but by Mr. Krasinski, who became fast friends with the honoree after meeting on the set of The Adjustment Bureau, in which Mr. Damon and Mr. Krasinski’s wife Ms. Blunt, starred. The Observer did contemplate asking whether Mr. Damon’s onscreen dalliance with his friend’s spouse ever induced some awkward glances around the dinner table, but we opted to forgo stirring the salacious pot on this occasion.

Back to the matter at hand, Mr. Damon said he enjoyed the ubiquitous montage of his roles over the years, but revealed, “It’s always a little cringe inducing – if you have a bad or mediocre day at work, it’s alive forever, so that part [of working in film] is always a little weird.”

But Mr. Damon, who plays the lead in upcoming indie flick Promised Land, needn’t worry about bad days at the office, given that his most recent prize was for Lifetime Achievement – at the grand old age of 42. “I hope this is like a buoy marker – a half time thing,” he laughed. “I want to do this for another 50 years!”

And with that, our time with Mr. Damon was up, and he was briskly shepherded to the after party with the rest of his showbiz pals. Alas, we did not get the opportunity to put on our dancing shoes and join in the film festivities, but the evening was quite the show itself.

Thirlby in Nobody Walks.

The last film by novice indie director Ry Russo-Young was an empty bottle called You Won’t Miss Me, about an alienated 23-year-old misfit just released from a psychiatric hospital. Her new film, Nobody Walks, is an empty bottle about an alienated 23-year-old misfit from New York who is making a video about insects for her art thesis. She seems to have a thing for 23-year-old misfits. Too bad she can’t find a way to make a movie about them that will keep anyone awake. Co-written by Lena Dunham, whose TV sitcom Girls is another guaranteed cure for insomnia, Nobody Walks is 82 minutes long—and I was snoozing 30 minutes in. This is not good for anyone anxious to build a reputation or entertain an audience. 

In this meandering take on the wasted lives of dull people on the fringe of the movie industry, set in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake, a shrink named Julie (Rosemarie DeWitt) lives with her two children by a former marriage and her current husband Peter (John Krasinski, from the TV sitcom The Office), an audio editor who synchs sound effects to silent films. Peter’s career must be a flop, because, for some reason that is never made clear, he takes on a boyish art student named Martine (Olivia Thirlby), agreeing to provide the soundtrack for her short experimental video, and in the bargain (to his wife’s amazement) invites the cute East Coast visitor to be a houseguest. (She’s the only person in Los Angeles who can’t drive, which explains the title of the film.) Peter’s assistant is a young hunk named David (Rhys Wakefield). Julie’s daughter Kolt (India Ennenga) is in love with David, but he falls fast for Martine. So does Peter. While searching for the right noises ants make when they’re moving bread crumbs and making love, Martine seduces Peter. Watching the bugs in Martine’s film fornicate, Peter gets hot (duh!) and starts humping Martine on his editing board. Frustrated, Julie turns to one of her screwy patients (Justin Kirk) for sex. Sixteen-year-old Kolt starts experimenting too, with her Italian tutor and a doofus schoolmate. In no time, a gamine interloper throws a boring family out of whack, but there’s no mourning their loss, because they’re such one-dimensional cardboard clichés to start with, and their sell-by dates have already passed. By the time they throw Martine out and she heads back to Brooklyn, everyone is miserable. Their house, by the way, is terrific—a lot of glass looking down on the lights of L.A., which presents a Windex nightmare.

With her boyish Buster Brown haircut and eyes big and dark as black olives, Olivia Thirlby looks like a cross between Anne Hathaway and the young, wide-eyed and innocent Liza Minnelli when she was first starting out in The Sterile Cuckoo. But, although men find her irresistible, she’s about as naive as a scorpion and sexy as a 10-year-old grocery bagger at Grand Union. The actors are all completely wasted in this dumb travesty of fumbling, unfocused, oversexed numbskulls who work in the movie business. Everyone connected with Nobody Walks should have done just that—early and quickly.

rreed@observer.com

NOBODY WALKS

Running Time 82 minutes

Written by Lena Dunham and Ry Russo-Young

Directed by Ry Russo-Young

Starring Olivia Thirlby, John Krasinski and Jane Levy

1/4

Downsized (NBC)

In the second major piece of NBC news today,  America's version of Ricky Gervais's mockumentary The Office is ending after a final, ninth season.

This is where the expression "to put something out of its misery" comes from, right?

The Office has been limping along for seasons now ... even before the departure of the show's star, Steve Carell. (One could argue that the show lost its way once the tension of Jim and Pam's "Will they or won't they" relationship was resolved, which is probably why the British version ended after Tim and Dawn shared their first kiss.)

The last season made it clear that The Office didn't have that long to live: the ratings had dropped to those of its first, limping season, and many of Dunder Mifflin's staples already one foot out the door: writers/EPs/actors Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak  announced they were on their way out to work on The Mindy Kaling Project; head writer Daniel Chun made a deal with ABC; former show runner Paul Lieberstein (who played beleaguered HR rep Toby Flenderson) was leaving with Rainn Wilson to work on a spin-off about Dwight; series stars John Krasinski, Ed Helms and Jenna Fischer hadn't renewed their contracts, and newcomer James Spader ended his contract early.

But at least The Office might go out with a bang. According to show runner Greg Daniels:

This year feels like the last chance to really go out together and make an artistic ending for the show that pays off a lot of the stuff that matters most to fans,” Daniels said. “This will be the last season of The Office. And we’re planning a very big exciting last season. We’re going to have a lot of faces coming back … There are a lot of things that I’ve personally been wanting to do since season two … All questions will be answered this year. We’re going to see who’s behind the documentary … Now that we know we have an end date we can blow things up and take some chances and it will be very freeing, creatively."

That being said, Mr. Daniels himself only announced his return as The Office's show runner in July, after spending four years splitting his time as an executive producer of the cubicle comedy and it's time-slot follow-up, Parks and Recreation.

With the exception of Goldie Hawn's daughter, Ms. Hudson, everyone concerned is from  television, and it shows. Ms. Hudson may be the first featured name above the title, but it is Ms. Goodwin who steals the picture right out from under her. She steals just about every movie she's in (she's the only one I remember in He's Just Not That Into You) with an emotional range camouflaged by charm-capped by a winning combination of querulous vitality, fresh radiance and subtle feelings simmering beneath a sunny surface. On a Hamptons weekend of beer, bonfires and pot, it is clear that the sexual tension is building between her and cover boy Dex, and it's Ethan who provides the proverbial shoulder to lean on. Of course we all know how dangerous shoulders can be. (Don't we?) By this time, only a cad would root for anyone but Ms. Goodwin. We want her to have everybody.

It's hard to know how these people plan to solve their problems and have a better life when all they do is eat at Shake Shack and go to the beach every weekend, but the four larky, good-looking actors who keep Something Borrowed on its feet are the kind of rarefied company you'd like to know better. The director is Luke Greenfield; and the mostly hack-free script by Jennie Snyder Urman contains some funny lines that made me chuckle, and one in particular ("The Hamptons are like a zombie movie directed by Ralph Lauren" ) that made me laugh out loud.

rreed@observer.com

Something Borrowed

Running time 112 minutes

Written by Jennie Snyder

Directed by Luke Greenfield

Starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield, John Krasinski

2/4

Ricky Gervais

While some people might assume that replacing Carell with Gervais would be like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic because of how similar their Office characters are, consider: Not only would the return of Gervais' David Brent allow for even more closure of his character, it would create a maelstrom of culture shock. Plus Gervais is inherently "meaner" as a comic actor than Carell, something the staid Office could use to create a major jolt. Also: Gervais is hilarious.

Zach Woods/Ed Helms

Brought on last season as a liaison for Dunder-Mifflin's parent company, Sabre, Zach Woods' persnickety Gabe is—at the very least—organizationally inline for Michael's job. But there is no way NBC and The Office will leave the reigns to a very funny bit player who is most famous for the criminally underseen In the Loop. So, workaround! Make Gabe the boss and then shift the focus of the series onto Ed Helms' Andy Bernard. The Hangover made Helms a big star, and it's about time The Office cashed in on that completely.

Maya Rudolph

30 Rock has Tina Fey. Parks and Recreation has Amy Poehler. So why shouldn't The Office have Maya Rudolph? Putting aside Grown Ups for a second, she's shown herself to have not only impeccably wacky comedy chops (Saturday Night Live), but also the capacity for dramatic pathos as well (Away We Go). And as any fan of The Office knows, both are necessary in bushels to make the series work.

There is some wear on these treads—specifically with regards to Blair, who has been spinning her wheels in a swampy mess of weekly plotting and scheming for no real reason other than the script telling her to do so—but those breathlessly wailing about the demise of Gossip Girl couldn't have it more wrong. This is a teen show that sidestepped the pitfalls of sending its teens off to college by excising the one major problem with that situation: actually going to college! More adult than ever—must we direct you to Chuck Bass, who, as played by Ed Westwick, seems as weathered and worn as Don Draper after a two-day bender with hippie drifters—the "kids" on Gossip Girl have left high school behind to face some real world problems... like the ramifications of having a threesome! We won't spoil whom the three lovers in tonight's controversial ménage a trios are, but the episode title, "They Shoot Humphrey's, Don't They?," might give you a little hint at the identity of at least one participant. [The CW, 9 p.m.]

Tuesday: V
Say hello to Sean Hannity's favorite new show! We doubt the producers of V intended their silly science-fiction remake of the overly praised 1983 mini-series to be some bastion of right-wing ideology—at its heart, V is likely supposed to be play on post-9/11 fears and terrorism—but that's just what happened after the unintentionally hilarious pilot featured a charismatic alien leader talking about universal health care and preaching a message of hope. (No truth to the rumor that the V's, as they're called, come to earth by way of Kenya.) Politics aside, V is already much more entertaining than ABC's other "we wish this was actually Lost" series (that would be FlashForward which gets dumber by the week), simply because of Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell. As the F.B.I. agent trying to stop the alien takeover, Ms. Mitchell displays the same combination of chilled intelligence and beguiling warmth that she did as Juliet Burke. She's such a strong presence, that we actually worry what Lost will be like without her. [ABC, 8 p.m.]

Wednesday: Frost/Nixon
The 2008 Best Picture nominee you probably forgot existed, Frost/Nixon is perfectly adequate mainstream Oscar bait, until the denouement—a last meeting between disgraced former president Richard Nixon (Frank Langella, chewing scenery like a goat) and foppish television talking head David Frost (the sneaky amazing Michael Sheen) at Mr. Nixon's clandestine California home. It's in that quiet moment that Frost/Nixon transforms from a rote history lesson on the power of the media to full-fledged Greek tragedy. Say what you will about director Ron Howard, but sometimes he gets things exactly right. [Cinemax, 10 p.m.]

Thursday: Che
Cinemaphiles, take note! Che, Steven Soderbergh's four-hour biopic on the life of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, hits Sundance channel this week, meaning you can see the movie that nearly ended the acclaimed director's career; Mr. Soderbergh called it a "mistake from day one." As a film, Che isn't the home run you would hope for—the first half, entitled, The Argentine is infinitely stronger than the second, Guerilla-but as with all Soderbergh films, it is a work that becomes impossible to ignore. Benicio Del Toro does what you'd expect him to do as Che, but it's the wildly charismatic Demian Bichir (Weeds) who steals the show as Fidel Castro. The revolution never looked so good. [Sundance, 8 p.m.]

Friday: Smiley Face
A film starring Anna Faris and featuring appearances by John Krasinski (Jim Halpert!), Adam Brody (Seth Cohen!), John Cho (Harold!) and Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester!) should be hilarious. Too bad Smiley Face, Greg Araki's stoner comedy misadventure, falls short for long stretches, especially if you aren't stoned yourself. Still, give Smiley Face credit for one thing: you rarely (if ever) see a movie like this lead by a woman. Ms. Faris, however, appears in almost every scene and is all kinds of funny. If she's actually the female version of Ryan Reynolds, here's hoping there's a Reynolds-like breakout in her future. [Showtime, 4:15 a.m.]

Despite having the most appropriate title of the fall—indeed the interviews are brief, the men hideous—Brief Interviews with Hideous Men will not be remembered all that fondly. Even at 80 minutes, the film feels too long by twenty, and never actually reaches a conclusive point beyond that all men are created equally awful.  Even during its best moments—most of which occur in the early going—Hideous Men is ugly and disjointed. Still, to dismiss it out of hand would be an error in judgment, if only because it allows John Krasinski to take the next step.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is obviously a passion project for The Office star. He wrote and directed this adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s seminal book and it seems clear that as a filmmaker, he learned much from George Clooney on the set of Leatherheads. With its occasional wall breaking and creative editing, certain scenes (especially one with an outstanding Christopher Meloni and the always-reliable Denis O’Hare) play like outtakes from Mr. Clooney’s directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. That Mr. Krasinski takes what is, in essence, a stage play and livens up the proceedings as best he can is to be commended. That being said, it’s his work in front of the camera that is most impressive.

As Ryan—or Subject #20, the ex-boyfriend of the female grad student conducting the titular interviews (Julianne Nicholson, in the one truly bad performance in the film)—Mr. Krasinski goes completely outside his comfort zone. His character has all the trappings of his Office alter ego, resident good guy Jim Halpert—charm, good looks and a sense of humor—and turns them sideways to reveal a cowardly and mean-spirited soul who is much more lost than he seems at first glance. The climatic monologue that Krasinski-as-Ryan delivers towards the end of the film wherein he explains why he broke up with his girlfriend is pathetic, sad and totally engrossing.

Too many times, television stars rely on their well-worn personas whenever they jump into film. Michael Cera is facing that problem right now, continually playing an endless loop of George-Michael’s to his own detriment. And to this point, Mr. Krasinski has followed a similar path. We have always thought he had the tools to become the next George Clooney, but thus far, his movie roles haven’t born that theory out—Away We Go might be his best work to date, but it’s still just Jim with facial hair. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men won’t vault him onto the A-list, but it’s a good start. There is a movie career for John Krasinski to have, if he’s only willing to stretch.

Land of the Lost

What’s the story: Based on the cult ‘70s kid series from Sid and Marty Krofft, Land of the Lost finds Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and former Pushing Daisies star Anna Friel traveling back through time and space for an adventure involving giant spiders, slow-footed monsters called Sleestak’s, and, the worst CGI T-Rex this side of the year 2000. If Land of the Lost isn’t the most publicized movie of the summer, then it’s darn close; at this point, we wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Mr. Ferrell handing out fliers to promote this thing in Union Square. Call us conspiracy theorists, but that is never a good sign: The movie doth protest too much.

Who should see it: H.R. Pufnstuf.

My Life in Ruins

What’s the story: Now seven years removed from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nia Vardalos finally gets to Greece in My Life in Ruins, a romantic comedy from director Donald Petrie (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days). Everything about this film looks poisonous, from the premise (Ms. Vardalos is an unlucky-in-love tour guide who finds Mr. Right we’re she least expects him) to the title (we’re not sure if you noticed, but it has a double meaning!) Do yourself a favor: Skip it.

Who should see it: Only those with an incredibly high threshold for pain.

Away We Go

What’s the story: Fresh off the martial discord of Revolutionary Road, Sam Mendes returns with Away We Go, a twee comedy about an unmarried-but-pregnant couple (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) traveling the country and looking for that ethereal feeling of “home.” The reviews have hedged to the good side of mixed, but as long as Mr. Mendes delivers something better than Garden State, everything should be okay. McSweeney’s fans take note: Away We Go is co-written by Dave Eggers and his wife, Vendela Vida.

Who should see it: Zach Braff.

The Hangover

What’s the story: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zack Galifianakis star as three mismatched buddies tasked with finding the lost groom after a bachelor party gone awry in Las Vegas. We don’t want to put too much pressure on director Todd Phillips (Old School), but if The Hangover is anything less than the funniest movie of the year, we’re going to be disappointed. Thankfully, according to The Observer’s Sara Vilkomerson, it sounds like we don’t have too much to worry about.

Who should see it: Frank the Tank.

Tuesday: Life After People
Because we haven’t seen the apocalypse played out on the big screen enough over the past five years, The History Channel brings us Life After People. Based on the successful movie event of the same name, the 10-episode series—which premieres the day before Earth Day—will track what would happen to the planet after our extinction. By the end of the first episode, expect to have an answer to the following question: Where do all those dead bodies go? [The History Channel, 10 p.m.]

Wednesday: Leatherheads
Stasis, thy name is John Krasinski. By all rights, the handsome Guy Next Door should be a huge movie star by now. Instead, he’s been left to look increasingly bored on The Office—as a friend recently said, Jim has become the least interesting character on the entire show—and stumble around in relatively lame studio pictures. Leatherheads is certainly better than his previous attempt at movie stardom, License to Wed, but that isn’t saying a whole lot. Despite many charms, the film ends up feeling too easy for Mr. Krasinski. Perhaps he needs to get out of his comfort zone before he can hit the big time. Growing a beard for Sam Mendes’ summer indie, Away We Go, is a start. [HBO, 7:30 p.m.]

Thursday: Trouble the Water
During his mostly unfunny one-man show, You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush, Will Ferrell–as–Dubya framed the president’s handling of Hurricane Katrina around the American public’s lack of attention span: “It’s great because you can half-ass shit and it doesn’t matter.” We’re coming up on five years since Katrina ravaged New Orleans and at this point the story seems about as newsworthy as bird flu. Trouble the Water, however, puts the disaster back front and center. The outstanding 2008 Academy Award–nominated documentary about the hurricane and its aftermath makes its broadcast television debut here, and we would highly suggest giving it your full support. You can watch that new episode of Grey’s Anatomy over the weekend. [HBO, 8:30 p.m.]

Friday: Never Been Kissed
Why doesn’t Drew Barrymore get more credit? The question needs to be asked after seeing her riveting tragicomic performance in HBO’s Grey Gardens. Ms. Barrymore has been Hollywood royalty since she was a kid, has weathered storms of personal crisis and is still young at 34 … yet it seems like she’s an afterthought when people discuss superstar actresses. Never Been Kissed is vintage Drew, of course, but we love it for the supporting males: Michael Vartan, when he was still famous, as her bland crush; David Arquette, when he was still famous, as her wacky brother; and John C. Reilly, when it was still a novelty to see him slumming in a comedy, as her curmudgeonly boss. [@Max, 12:15 p.m.]

Of course with the limited June release date (it hits theaters on June 5th, up against The Hangover) and indie rock music cue (Alexi Murdoch’s "All My Days", for collectors), Away We Go is being positioned as more like a sequel to Garden State than Kicking and Screaming. We guess that's fine for marketing purposes, but considering Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida wrote this new film, we assume the script has a little more meat on its bones than something written by Zach Braff—in a race for which movie has aged worse during the last ten years, Garden State narrowly beats out American Beauty. Speaking of which, there is also the matter of Mr. Mendes. We'd venture to guess the director has never even seen Garden State, but what he's obviously studied endlessly are Mike Nichols' The Graduate, Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers, Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-drunk Love and the aforementioned Noah Baumbach oeuvre—the two-minute trailer features homage's and outright lifts from all of those movies and directors. Hey, if you’re going to steal, you might as well steal from the best.