Palm Springs Film Fest Gala Caps Wild Week Of Oscar Campaigning
| Sunday January 8, 2012 @ 6:39pm PST
Final nomination ballots are due Friday and the season is igniting with contenders rolling from one event to the next, no voter left unturned.
Capping a furious week of Oscar campaigning and leading into another one, The Palm Springs International
Film Festival staged their annual awards gala Saturday night at the
cavernous Palm Springs Convention Center and drew a starry group of
contenders who tried out their speeches on a ritzy PS crowd who
obviously lives for this show each year. That it falls right in the
middle of Oscar voting is totally by design and the reason the fest can
draw an ‘A’ list of talent that included photog magnets George Clooney,
Brad Pitt, Michelle Williams and Charlize Theron among others. When Pitt
and supportive significant other, Angelina Jolie came to the Sony table
in the middle of the room there was a tidal wave of locals with iphones
who descended on them snapping away and pushing me, among others aside. (I actually ran smack into Jolie who told me “this is wild. I’m not
sure what to make of it. I think I need a glass of wine just to soak it
all in”.) I guess the crowd figured they were entitled to become
paparazzi for a night since many of them paid $1500.00 to be there (the
event raised $1.6 million for the Fest according to Chair Harold Matzner
who claims it is second in glamour only to the Golden Globes). Pitt
managed to brave the facelifted PS throng while walking with a cane (he
tripped a few days earlier on a ski trip with one of his kids).
All the stars and Hollywood contingent seemed to be a great mood and
that also included studio execs like 20th Century Fox’s Jim Gianopulos
who, with wife Ann had hosted his own annual Fox awards season party
the night before at his home that drew Clooney among others. The
tables at the PS Gala seemed to go on for miles but all the Hollywood
types were bunched in the 800s in the center of the room . I got to sit
with presenter Kenneth Branagh and his My Week With Marilyn
co-star Michelle Williams (lucky me) who received the Actress of the
Year statue from him. She was quite touching , not only in acknowledging
the debt she owes to never Oscar-nominated Marilyn Monroe but also to
her own publicist Mara Buxbaum who has handled her since she was 18
“through all the ups and downs and now back to an ‘up’” Michelle said in
her speech. Buxbaum told me she had no idea the speech was going to be
about her. She was in tears. Of Monroe Williams said “my only
wish is Marilyn could have experienced what I am lucky enough to have
experienced tonight. She had a beautiful soul and valiant heart and I
accept this on both of our behalf”.Among the best speeches were Clooney’s upon receiving the Chairman’s Award at Gala’s end and speaking for other superstars in saying “you don’t have to do this for us. We love what we do.” However according to Oscar season rules you do have to do this for them because it keeps the all-important buzz going right when it counts and Oscar consultants live for this stuff. Predictably Clooney and the Jolie-Pitts were front page news in the local paper Sunday morning and that can make an impression on the many , mostly older Academy members who live in the desert cities.
Pitt, receiving the Desert Palm Actor Achievement Award, was actually quite funny when he lauded his The Tree of Life co-star Jessica Chastain by noting she had been in “seven pictures in 2011 and five in 2012. Usually an actor has to work in the porn industry to have that kind of success”. Glenn Close got laughs too by channeling her characters of Alex in Fatal Attraction and Cruella DeVil from 100 Dalmatians as she received her latest Career Achievement Award this year on the path to a hoped-for Best Actress Oscar nod for Albert Nobbs.Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ‘s Gary Oldman said after seeing his highlight reel of past crazies he has played that he might just have to “smoke” his trophy for International Star. Comedian Patton Oswalt was in his element as he got to accept the creative ensemble Vanguard award for co-star Theron, director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody who he said were all the “drunkest” recipients of the evening.
But it was The Help’s Octavia Spencer, first winner of the
night for Breakthrough Performance who also got the biggest laugh when
she listed all her fellow Palm Springs honorees including Clooney and
Pitt. “I would be remiss in not recognizing them and reminding you I am
single,” she said. Later Sonny Bono Visionary Award winner The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius said in his speech, “Octavia I am married. But I am also French.” In presenting that award with her Artist co-star Jean Dujardin , Berenice Bejo, wife of the director, jokingly reminded Spencer “he is my man”.If we are adding up Oscar points here Spencer may have scored the most in terms of likeability and skill in acceptance speeches. Of course there are many more of those to come in the next week and members of the Palm Springs group of awardees and others will be in an accepting or presenting mode all week long at events including the New York Film Critics, National Board of Review and LA Film Critics banquets, the annual AFI lunch, the Critics Choice Movie Awards and finally , the Golden Globes. Whew.
But if you think that’s exhausting just look at the schedules some of these Oscar contenders are put through. No sooner did they get back to their hotels with their PS trophy than the Weinstein Company has the cast and crew of The Artist and My Week With Marilyn back on the post-holiday period Q&A circuit they started last week, with one or two nearly every night. Last week Clooney was also back on the circuit participating in Q&As for The Descendants Tuesday , Thursday and Saturday afternoon. He should be a politician. He knows how to charm a crowd and afterwards he stays and takes photos with just about anyone who sticks a camera in his face. Pitt has done a couple of Q&As as well but instead got to gladhand lots of invited Academy members at a Beverly Hills Hotel party Sony threw to celebrate Moneyball Thursday night.
Jolie was there for a while too but had to leave to do her own Q&A (which I moderated) for Academy members after a screening of her writing and directing debut , In The Land of Blood and Honey. She drew a standing ovation with some questioners in the audience getting highly emotional. She stayed for over an hour afterwards talking with crowd members. And Oldman seems to be doing a different Q&A each night too in order to boost his best actor chances. Friday he did one deep in Malibu to reach those seaside voters, another Sunday in Palm Springs and has more lined up next week including one for his own career film festival at the Arclight.
And it wasn’t just stars hitting the Q&A circuit during the week. There were several Below the Line events for cinematographers, production designers, editors , composers etc including a Tuesday War Horse session at the DGA, a Wednesday night panel for The Help and a Thursday reception and pre-screening Q&A for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close with director Stephen Daldry (who also was in Palm Springs this weekend accepting the Director award) , composer Alexander Desplat and others who worked on the film.
Not everyone is taking the Q&A route. SAG nominee and A Better Life star Demian Bichir was feted at a private lunch Wednesday at Spago that drew veteran academy members like Sidney Poitier, Dyan Cannon, Eva Marie Saint, Mitzi Gaynor, Diane Ladd and Susan Kohner, a 1959 Supporting Actress nominee for Imitation of Life. She also happens to be the director Chris Weitz’s mother. Bichir made a charming speech that focused on how he learned to make guacamole.
Viola Davis is taking another path too. She was one of The Help cast members who signed a thank you letter (that also included their photos) that was sent to all 90.000 plus members of SAG along with the DVD. For the Broadcast Critics Association she sent out personal letters, each hand signed waxing rhapsodic about moments she has spent with members of the group at junkets and on red carpets. “I am so happy to have a chance to say thank you, thank you, and thank you!” she wrote.
Another tact has been live musical performances. Before she had to
run off and do a - you guessed it – Q&A Friday night, Glenn Close
attended a packed Pallihouse party thrown by Roadside Attractions where
she introduced Irish singing legend Sinead O’Connor to sing the theme
from Albert Nobbs, Lay Your Head Down
which the actress wrote with composer Brian Byrne. It’s been nominated
for a Golden Globe and many members of the Academy’s music branch were
spotted in the room. Certainly doesn’t hurt its chances. Not to be
outdone Saturday night director J.J. Abrams introduced his Super 8 composer
Michael Giachhino and orchestra to perform the film’s score under the
stars at his Bad Robot offices in front of 150 guests. Then J.J. ran off
to do a, yes, Q&A with cast members.With parties planned this week for Dreamworks Animation’s Puss In Boots, The Weinstein Company and Paramount to name three, this period leading to the CCMAs and Golden Globes is now officially the busiest of the whole season, especially since new Academy rules that allow all this stuff pre-noms also put the kibosh on most of it post-noms. The town is gonna have to dry out anyway. How much can you take, Hollywood?
