Palm Springs, California: The Award Season Express made its first stop of the new year in the middle of the desert a couple of hours east of Hollywood at the annual Palm Springs International Film Festival gala.
A blast of Golden Globe nominees and Oscar hopefuls walked the press gauntlet on Saturday night, including Naomi Watts (‘The Impossible’), Helen Hunt and John Hawkes (‘The Sessions’), Ben Affleck (‘Argo’) and ‘Arbitrage’ star Richard Gere, who received the night’s so-called Chairman’s Award.
“Great,” Gere noted with more than a touch of sarcasm. “That’s better than the Governors Award?” he inquired, with a chuckle. “What’s the pecking order of these awards? I want to know. Am I getting the best award? I’m not going in unless I’m getting the best award!”
Though Gere, 63, has never received an Oscar nomination, there were previous Academy Award winners aplenty at the Palm Springs gala. Among them was Sally Field, the night’s honoree for career achievement, including her hard-won role of Mary Todd in director Steven Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’.
“I still can’t believe I got the role,” Field replied, cracking a smile. “Did I get it?”
Turning serious, she told the black-tie audience she was proud to be part of the film and happy to still be working. “I’m very lucky... Next year it’ll be 50 years that I’ve been in the business as a professional. It’s been a wild ride,” she said.
Events this week
This upcoming week, the Awards Season Express has a bit of a wild ride itself, with the People’s Choice show, two critics awards ceremonies and Thursday morning’s Oscar nominations.
So, how does the phrase ‘Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper’ sound to the ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ actor?
“That would be incredible,” Cooper answered, explaining that he just may sleep through the pre-dawn nomination announcements. “Yeah, I’m sure I’ll get up, but maybe I’ll be asleep. I don’t know.”
And just three days after the Oscar nominations, it’s the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards — a “much, much friendlier” show, exclaimed ‘Hitchcock’ nominee Helen Mirren.
“And it has to do with those tables in still quite a small room,” she explained. “They haven’t allowed it to get enormous. ...Everybody table jumps and chats. It’s always slightly naughty. The hosts are always naughty. I can’t wait to have Tina Fey and Amy Poehler doing it. That’s going to be such fun.”
