Awards Wkend Roundup

2009 Film Independent Spirit Awards

1. I was there.
2. Mickey Rourke brought the crazy. and the moment of the night. (fyi it's uncensored)



3. press room. I heart them. No other place I could speak so easily with people like Penelope Cruz, Dustin Lance Black, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the others...

(the rest of these are standout moments from my red carpet experience)

4. Jon Hamm is hot. Hotter when he stands against the wall because he is there to show his support to his lady Jennifer Westfeldt and not take any of the focus for himself.
5. Rachel Weisz did the same thing for Darren Aronofsky.

6. gladiator sandals with ankle cuffs. no thank you. as a matter of fact there were a lot of weird ankle high shoes that I wasn't a fan of. Sorry Rachel Weisz. I know they were fancy because they had the red soles. I learned on Oprah that means they're Christian Louboutin or something...

7. The British reporter who used "ridiculous decolletage" to describe Mariah Carey's busty red carpet look. And the rest of the people asking what the heck she was doing there.

8. I know my Olsen twins! It was so Mary Kate and so not Ashley.

(it should be mentioned that other reporters would come up to us and ask who people are and what movie they were here for. too bad we won't be there next year (or next week!) to help them.)

9. Haaz from the Visitor. Not only did he recognize me but we had a good convo about playing drums in your underwear vs in the buff...(thanks A2.)

(I'm currently super distracted by the sound of a very newborn baby crying outside my apartment. I'm wondering if someone has left one on my doorstep.)

10. Jenny Lumet, writer of Rachel Getting Married, also remembered me and came up and gave me a hug.

11. Anne Hathaway responding graciously and with eye contact when I told her I liked her dress. I wasn't lying.

12. Andie MacDowell's laugh. I think I wrote this note down because I found it annoying, but maybe I liked it. I can't remember now.

13. Alec Baldwin avoiding the red carpet, walking behind the crews and chatting up the homeless and other fans who had gathered along the boardwalk. I was glad to witness the exchange because for a second it made me like him.

And the Oscar goes to...

(I was not there.)

1. Ok with show open but not with Anne's dress change. Preferred the red carpet look.
2. Penelope Cruz! I talked to her yesterday!
3. Old winners giving prizes to new winners is gonna take forever. (see #15)
4. Dustin Lance Black! I talked to him too! LOVED his speech.
5. Aniston presenting off to side so as not to be face to face with Brangelina. Cut away of Ang anyway. Then shot of Brangelina once Aniston moved to centerstage. Subtle. REAL subtle.
6. Stiller as Joaquin.
7. James Franco in comedy skit. The guy's got range tho. He's not just a great comedian.
8. This musical number is time consuming. We get it. Hugh can sing. and dance. AT THE SAME TIME! Beyonce could learn a few things.
9. I wonder if it's the same drummers from the Grammy Radiohead moment. If so this is like their best month ever.
10. Was I the only one that enjoyed the preview for The Proposal? (It was a commercial.) I mean, Betty White! People, get excited.
11. So many produced packages this year. How do you get those jobs?
12. When accepting on a group's behalf, thank everyone's wives and kids, not just your own.
13. How excited Danny Boyle got for the sound editors win.
14. The way Liam Neeson held on to Frida Pinto.
15. I know I didn't like it early on but seeing the best actresses make such great eye contact with the nominees warmed my heart. I loved the exchange between Shirley and Anne.
16. Sophia Loren, meanwhile, looked scary. Goldie Hawn kinda did too.
17. I literally hugged myself when Kate won. Loved her movie. Loved her speech. Loved her dad and his hat and his whistling for his baby girl.
18. The DeNiro and Sean Penn exchanged.
19. How excited Robin Wright Penn got when Sean won. I was not very happy that he forgot to thank her after that reaction.
20. Seeing everyone take the stage when Slumdog won. I LOVE THOSE KIDS!! Jai HO!

In other news, I finally finished reading Julie and Julia. I look forward to the movie. I just enrolled in a travel writing seminar, so that should be fun. Oh and I LOVED Sunshine Cleaning. It was a little more drama than comedy, but it was exactly like the trailer. I laughed. I cried. You get the picture.