01:02 AM EDT 10/08/2008

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National Board of Review of Motion Picture Awards

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George Clooney Plays Director at Awards Show | George Clooney

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George Clooney Plays Director at Awards Show

Originally posted 01/16/2008 01:25PM

George Clooney may have taken direction from the filmmaking Coen Brothers in the past – for 2000's O Brother, Where Art Thou? and 2003's Intentional Cruelty – but at Monday night's National Board of Review awards dinner in New York, it was clearly a case of role reversal.

On hand to pick up his best actor award from the group for Michael Clayton, PEOPLE's former Sexiest Man Alive – with girlfriend Sara Larson – also presented Joel and Ethan Coen the top prize, for the board's best picture of the year, No Country for Old Men.

"They can do anything," Clooney, 46, said of director Joel, 53, and writer, Ethan, 50. Summarizing their filmography and the audience to whom their movies appeal, Clooney said, "For stoners, there's The Big Lebowski ... for funny, there's Raising Arizona."

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