By Mike Cidoni Lennox, Entertainment Reporter
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) --The first star-studded film-award ceremony of the new year was literally something to sing about.
While not an honoree himself, actor-producer Brad Pitt stole the spotlight with a sing-along for a few moments Saturday night at the annual black-tie gala for the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Pitt traveled some 100 miles east of Los Angeles to the desert town of Palm Springs, California, to introduce actor David Oyelowo, an honoree at the gala whose profile is only now on the rise stateside.
Pitt is a producer of director Ava DuVernay's historical epic "Selma," in which British actor Oyelowo portrays civil-rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The festival honored Oyelowo with its Breakthrough Performance Award for an actor.
In his introduction, Pitt professed his admiration for Oyelowo — both as colleague and friend — and, at one point, Pitt led the audience in a sing-along with lyrics spinning around Oyelowo's often-mispronounced last name. (It sounds like "oh-yellow-oh," by the way).
The gala, which attracts numerous locally based Academy voters who now have ballots in hand, traditionally is the first of each calendar year's award-season ceremonies, which include approximately two-dozen events significant enough to attract major movie stars between now and the Oscars, set for Feb. 22 in Hollywood.
"This is the first time I am a part of (the two-month award season)," said Morton Tyldum, director of the Golden Globe-nominated drama "The Imitation Game" earlier in the evening while doing red carpet interviews. "When I saw the schedule," Tyldum continued, "I was in shock."
Not so award-season veteran and Palm Springs honoree Reese Witherspoon ("Wild"), who said, "It's a great opportunity for all of us to get together and celebrate this wonderful year of film."
The actress, an Oscar winner for "Walk the Line" (2005), said, "Wonderful performances, wonderful direction and producing. And I feel like it has been a real great, strong year."
At points, love was in the air on the red carpet, as festival honoree Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything") posed for photographers with his new wife, public-relations executive Hannah Bagshawe, and "Imitation" star Benedict Cumberbatch, briefly stopped for a few snaps with his fiancee, theater director Sophie Hunter.
Oyelowo actually did two photo sessions: one with wife, actress Jessica Oyelowo, and three of their four children. The actor returned to pose for photos with DuVernay.
Both Oyelowo and DuVernay are nominated for Golden Globe awards, to be handed out next weekend in Beverly Hills.
"The last time I was at the Golden Globes, I was a publicist for (the movie) 'Dreamgirls,'" DuVernay recalled. "I was in a black suit (standing) on the side of the room. This time, I have an actual seat. I'm very happy about that. So I get to sit down. No matter what I wear, I won't be on my feet. So I'm very happy about that."
A complete list of 2015 Palm Spring Film International Festival Award Gala honorees:
Breakthrough Performance Award, Actress – Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl")
Breakthrough Performance Award, Actor – David Oyelowo ("Selma")
Chairman's Award – Reese Witherspoon ("Wild")
Desert Palm Achievement Award – Actor – Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything")
Desert Palm Achievement Award – Actress – Julianne Moore ("Still Alice")
Director of the Year Award – Alejandro G. Inarritu ("Birdman")
Ensemble Performance Award – "The Imitation Game"
Spotlight Award – J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash")
Sonny Bono Visionary Award – Richard Linklater ("Boyhood")
Icon Award – Robert Duvall ("The Judge")
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More