Boyhood stars make merry at New York film awards

Clockwise from left: Richard Linklater, Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Marion Cotillard, Jake Gyllenhaal and Timothy Spall at the 80th New York Film Critics Circle awards

Boyhood stars Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette made merry in Manhattan on Monday as Richard Linklater's coming-of-age drama received three prizes from the New York Film Critics Circle.

Hawke read out a cutting review of his performance, while Arquette took a drink up on stage with her as she collected her supporting actress award.

"I brought scotch with me because I'm a fourth-generation actor," she joked.

Comedian Jon Stewart joined in the fun as he gave Boyhood its best film prize.

Referencing the Sony hacking affair, he purported to read "hacked" studio emails about Boyhood that labelled Linklater an egomaniac.

Before giving Linklater the best director prize, Hawke quoted a New York Times review of Boyhood that said he had "achieve[d] the impossible with Ethan Hawke [by making] him seem bearable."

Arquette received her award from the film's lead actor Ellar Coltrane, who was six when Linklater cast him and 18 when he finished it.

The 46-year-old actress, who plays Coltrane's mother in the drama, thanked her co-star for letting her share his childhood with her.

The recipients of the awards were announced on 1 December, though the ceremony itself was held this week.

Hawke (right) has been nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in Boyhood

Linklater's film has won multiple critics' awards and is up for five awards at this Sunday's Golden Globes.

Yet it was not the only winner at the New York Film Critics Circle event, which also saw Britain's Timothy Spall named best actor for his role as painter JMW Turner in Mr Turner.

John Lithgow led the tributes to Spall, calling him "an actor who bravely, almost blindly, puts his own singular qualities to work in service of a character."

"We all pretend that awards are not important," said Spall as he accepted his accolade. "But man, when you get one it's really, really lovely.

"In a career you get a massive amount of kicks in the ass, and sometimes you don't work," he went on to remark. "At least if you're a painter you can paint."

Accepting the best animated film award for The Lego Movie, co-director Phil Lord offered light-hearted thanks to animation powerhouse Pixar "for not releasing a film this year".

The evening also saw Jake Gyllenhaal present the best actress award to Marion Cotillard for her performances in The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night.