Bill Murray Comes to Praise Sofia Coppola

Bill Murray made quite a stir on Tuesday at the National Board of Review Gala, but not because of any award he was receiving, but because of the speech he gave praising Sofia Coppola. Melena Ryzik of the New York Times Awards Blog “The Carpetbagger” was so taken with the speech that she re-printed it in full in her post. Murray was giving a prize for Special Filmmaking Achievement to Sofia Coppola for writing, directing, and producing Somewhere. (Both Somewhere and Greenberg had been chosen by the National Board of Review as Top Independent Films of the year.) I’ve included just a snatch to see why it caused such a stir:

I want the best for her because she’s a lady, she acts like a lady. The women in her movies are ladies, they have strength and they have power and they’re strong. Even the pole dancers in this movie had enough of themselves to call the lead actor a moron, as all you women should call your men this evening – pole or not.