Bradley Cooper, Teyana Taylor, Lily Gladstone, and More Were Honored at This Year s National Board Review Gala

"The laughs and smiles on your faces can only mean one thing—you already know you ve won," host Willie Geist quipped to the crowd in his opening remarks at Thursday night s National Board Review Awards Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street.

Indeed, the NBR Gala differs from some of the other flashier awards shows in that the honorees are announced in advance. It s not televised either, meaning speeches are generally longer. And so, the flock of stars flew in from the Los Angeles awards circuit this week to give their thanks.

The organization, which was founded in 1909, recognizes a mix of outstanding studio, independent, foreign-language, animated, and documentary films. Among its unique honors are the Directorial Debut and Breakthrough Actor awards, which were bestowed to Celine Song and Teyana Taylor last night, respectively. Taylor, resplendent in a cerulean Christopher John Rogers gown, accepted the award for her performance as a single mother, Inez de la Paz, in the A.V. Rockwell-directed film A Thousand and One.

The eclectic mix of film genres and categories being honored was reflected in the piles of memorabilia stacked on each dinner table. There were boxed Barbie and Ken dolls, hand-knitted Spider-Man winter hats, classroom pencils from The Holdovers engraved with the words "Hormonal Vulgarian," Poor Things postcards, and even DVD sets of John Wick: Chapter 4. The action film was honored with Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry, a new award category this year.

The biggest standing ovation of the night went to Michael J. Fox, who went on stage with director Davis Guggenheim to accept the Best Documentary award for Still, A Michael J. Fox Movie, which chronicles the actor s life and battle with Parkinson s Disease.

Other boldfaced names in the room were Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Patti Smith, Ethan Hawke, Elizabeth Olsen, and Daniel-Day Lewis, all of whom presented awards last night. Bradley Cooper, the recipient of this year s Icon Award, used his speech to praise every other honoree.

"Thank you National Board of Review for inviting me here tonight so I could meet for the first time so that I could meet Da Vine Joy Randolph, that was a big thing for me," he said of the Best Supporting Actress winner. He also recounted some personal stories of when he first met Michael J. Fox and Daniel Day-Lewis.

More comedic relief came in the form of Zac Efron, who accepted the Best Ensemble award for The Iron Claw, even though the cast was largely absent, save for Efron and his co-star Maura Tierney. "Well, where the hell are you guys? Jesus Christ! Where d you guys go?" he joked onstage. "We honestly thought they were coming up until 30 minutes ago when Zac had to write his speech on his phone under the table," chimed in Tierney. "Anyway, thanks so much, ensemble cast, " Efron said mockingly, to cheers from the crowd.

Lily Gladstone, winner of the Best Actress award (and Oscar frontrunner), thanked director Martin Scorcese for allowing indigenous stories to be told in such a profound way. "It s revolutionary to be speaking these languages and words on film," she said. "I hope that this role opens doors for even more significant boundary-breaking in our industry; it s just time."