Variety On the Town

Lansing Gets the Last Laugh

Luckily, Sherry Lansing can laugh at herself or Tuesday’s Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards would have been a bit awkward. When “The Devil Wears Prada” producer Karen Rosenfelt took the stage to present Lansing with the Paltrow Mentorship Award, she admitted that when first asked to hand over the kudo her response was, “not happening.” It wasn’t until she learned that one of the night’s sponsors, Maxmara, would provide her with a dress for the evening, that she changed her mind. Then, instead of gushing to the crowd about how wonderful Lansing was to work with, Rosenfelt said, “as I tell you about working with and for Sherry Lansing for 15 years, just remember that only three letters T.O.R. separate the word mentor from tormentor.” She then recalled how Lansing called her after seeing “The Devil Wears Prada” for the first time. “She told me how Meryl Streep’s superior acting and David Frankel’s astute direction prevented the character of Miranda from being too farcical because no one has a boss like Miranda Priestly. I then reminded Sherry of the staff meetings she would routinely call on Friday afternoons of three day weekends and of the Christmas Eve staff meeting.”  But later, Rosenfelt followed award presenting protocol by praising the woman she calls “her mentor” saying, “do you think it was easy to work for someone who returned every phone call promptly? Handled intensely difficult meetings with utmost poise and who could be laser specific with creative solutions for troubled screenplays and cuts of films? During the course of every day I find myself asking how would Sherry handle this situation?” For this particular situation, a laughing Lansing took the stage graciously. “I was going to say thank you Karen for your kind words. But now I think I am just going to say thank you for your incredible insightful and funny introduction.”

Hayek Thanks Tough Times

If it wasn’t for adversity, Salma Hayek may have been at Promises in Malibu instead of the Beverly Hilton Tuesday night where she was honored by the Women in Film. When accepting the evening's Lucy Award, the actor-producer spoke about how extremely difficult it was for her to find work as a thesp when she first moved to the U.S. but says she is now grateful for the many obstacles she encountered.

“I want to thank adversity among everything because if I had been white and beautiful and funny and smart, but not too smart, and talented, I would have just been an actress getting one role after another and I would have made a lot of money and probably gotten into drugs and been very, very miserable. Instead, I couldn’t get a job to save my life. I had to learn how to write, produce and look outside the box for a way to express my creativity.”

Choice Words for Warren

Warren Beatty's close friends spilled secrets about the star when he was honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award. Words such as legend, teacher, hypochondriac and ghetto superstar were used to describe him at the four hour, yes four hour, awards ceremony that took place Thursday at the Kodak Theater. Below are some highlights.

Jane Fonda recalled doing their first screen test together saying, "It was a love scene and we kissed and I don't remember anything about it because I was so nervous. I mean, it was Shirley MacLaine's brother. We became friends and nothing more. I thought he was gay. He was so cute and all his men friends were gay. He had a way of collecting really brilliant gay men friends and he liked to play piano in a piano bar, what were the odds that he was straight."

Quentin Tarantino on "Bonnie and Clyde" - "It was Warren who read that script and realized what he had. As much as he loved what it was I think he adored what it wasn't. It was a gangster movie without the cliches. It was the Hollywood movie with out the cliches."

Dustin Hoffman on "Ishtar" - "It is ironic that they asked me to speak at the film that bombed part of the evening. 'Ishtar' shall rise again." On Warren getting the AFI Life Achievement Award: "When a friend of over 40 years gets a one foot in the grave awar, otherwise known as the lifetime achievement award, we as actors understand the subtext of the award."

Bill Clinton: "I saw 'Bonnie and Clyde' and it made me feel grateful  that I had found a less lethal way to escape rural poverty and obscurity. I later learned it was only slightly less lethal."

Diane Keaton on "Reds" - "Seeing it again brings a flood of very intense feelings for me. I guess because it dealt with a subject that I have always been compelled yet  terrified of and that is love. Love with all its risk taking enchantment. Love with its ultimate promise of loss."

Elaine May on "Heaven Can Wait" -  "When he tells you about a project he is going to do, he manages to make it sound as crazy as possible. So when I first met him and he wanted me to do 'Heaven Can Wait' he said it is a remake and I am not going to be in it but I am putting this together as a staring vehicle for Muhammad Ali and it is about a boxer who dies and goes to heaven but its a mistake so they bring him back but they put him in the body of a CEO...  it's a love story."

Barry Levinson on "Bugsy" - "I told Warren he had to meet Annette saying she was really smart, great sense of humor, really understands the role of Virginia Hill, I think you should meet her right away. He called me the next day and he said, 'she is really terrific, I am going to marry her.' That is really what he said. People always ask me over the years didn't you know the two were in love while you were making the movie and to be honest I just thought it was good screen chemistry. I had no idea. When I heard they were in the trailer, I thought they were rehearsing and were just really dedicated."

Halle Berry on "Bulworth" - "Watching Warren rap was one of the moments in my career that I will never forget."

Jack Nicholson, who arrived after the Lakers game at the Staples Center to honor his friend, said "He has received eight times as many awards as he has made pictures."

Photo: Annette Benning and Warren Beatty/ FilmMagic

The Talk at the TV Land Awards

An eclectic mix of stars gathered at the TV Land Awards on Sunday as everyone from Justin Timberlake to The Golden Girls arrived at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica.  Below, a few show sound-bites:

“Forget about surviving 40 years of the music business, just surviving 27 years of Nicole Richie is enough.  I stand here as a survivor,” Lionel Richie said as he accepted the 2008 TV Land Icon Award.

“Nobody questioned Batman and Robin’s relationship just like no one questions Ben Silverman and Ryan Seacrest,” said presenter Kathy Griffin.

“I just found out I’m on the short list for Vice President of the United States," said presenter Steve Carell.

“Thank you for giving me a chance and not making me change my accent and thank you for giving me a life,” Penny Marshall as she presented Gary Marshall with the Legend Award.

The sixth annual TV Land Awards are scheduled to air June 15 on the cable network.

Photos credit: WireImage

Ellen's Missed Photo Op

Ellen DeGeneres presented Janet Jackson with the Vanguard Award during Saturday's GLAAD Media Awards at the Kodak in L.A. Before handing over the kudo to Jackson, DeGeneres joked;  “I looked up the Vanguard Award and the people who have won before are Liza Minnelli and Elizabeth Taylor, both have their picture taken with Michael Jackson. Coincidence, I don’t know, I’m just saying, I’ve never had my picture taken with Michael Jackson, and I’ve never won this award.”  photos: WireImage

Alba's Tech Support

The Scientific and Technical Academy Awards are usually a lighthearted affair, and this year Saturday's ceremony at the BevWilshire was no exception. By tradition, the evening always kicks off with entertainment. Wags wondered beforehand what it might be: A magician? A mime? Awards administration director Rich Miller surprised by choosing Danny Cole, who is a magician and a mime. Cole's slight of hand impressed even this tech-savvy crowd.

Host Jessica Alba, very pregnant but game nonetheless, dove into the technical jargon of fluid simulation software with determination, winning applause from the crowd. Two winners used their time to appreciate their lovely host. Duncan Brinsmead, one of three honored for the Maya Fluid Effects system, said "For a computer geek like me it's really sexy to hear Jessica talk about semi-Lagrangian fluid dynamics." While Stanford professor Ron Fedkiw, who moonlights at Industrial Light & Magic working on their fluid simulation system, finished his thank-you's in less than the allotted minute, so he added "I'm going to spend the last 15 seconds noting that I'm ten feet away from the most beautiful woman on the planet. And no restraining order this time!" (D. Cohen)

Schnabel and Shriver's Salute

The 10th annual amfAR Gotham gala attracted the film, fashion and music crowd to Cipriani, 42nd Street on Thursday. Product(RED) co-founder, Bobby Shriver, French Vogue editor-in-chief, Carine Roitfeld and Julian Schnabel were honored at the event.

Upon receiving his kudo, Shriver joked about being recognized: "My father established the Peace Corps, so I was known as Sargent Shriver's son. Then my mother started The Special Olympics so then I became Eunice Kennedy Shriver's son. Then my sister Maria got a big reporting job at CBS so I became Maria Shriver's brother, which is when my brothers and I got together and said, 'It's not that bad - it can't get any worse.' Then Maria got married. Now I will forever be known as Arnold Schwarzenegger's brother-in-law." (A. Morfoot)

Clooney's Idea of Fun

The events: The National Board of Review Awards

The details: Tuesday at Cipriani 42nd St. in Gotham

The guest list: George Clooney, Michael Douglas, Denzel Washington, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck

The menu: lamb and ratatouille

The talk: When Clooney presented Joel and Ethan Coen with the adapted screenplay prize for “No Country For Old Men,” he said: “This is gonna be the most fun for all of us tonight because these guys hate this. They are the worst I have ever seen at (accepting awards) so enjoy yourselves folks.” 

                                   (A. Morfoot)

Star Power Hits Critical Mass

The event: The 13th annual Critics' Choice Awards

The details: Monday night at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The show was hosted by comedian D.L. Hughley and broadcast live on VH1.

The guest list: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Katie Holmes, Sean Penn, Daniel Day-Lewis, Don Cheadle, Julian Schnabel, Brad Bird, Daniel Battsek

The menu: Skimpy chicken skewers, salmon and caprese salad.

The talk: Daniel Day-Lewis: “I’ve been thinking about the work of my wonderful fellow nominees and others who gave supreme performances this year that weren’t nominated... and it’s the mystery of the work of all these people that I admire so much, the work they’ve done this year is like food and drink to me. I don’t know if I would’ve done what they've done, I don’t want to know how they did it. I’m just glad they did. And I feel more or less like a spokesman here saying we did the best that we could do this year. I owe everything to Paul Thomas Anderson, my evil twin brother.” (B.Perry)

Brooklyn Bound Gotham Awards

The event: The Gotham Awards

The details: Tuesday in Brooklyn

The guest list : Laura Linney, Uma Thurman, Ellen Page, Jeffrey Wright, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emile Hirsch

The talk: Page, who won breakthrough actor for "Juno," admitted that she was obsessive about getting the part. "It was probably one of the only situations where (I was willing) to sleep my way to the top or break some legs," she joked.