Oscar luncheon notes: Clooney's Roman greeting, Schnabel's PJs, Page told to 'Go home!'

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Notes from the Oscar Nominees Luncheon:

I love this event," whispered "The Savages" nominee Laura Linney. "It's like the relaxing respite during the storm."

The impact of the "O nods" on "Savages? "Hopefully it will make more people go see it. These smaller films really benefit from all the attention," said Linney, who was keeping an eye out for Sarah Polley (nominated for best adapted screenplay for "Away From Her.")

Linney just finished shooting "John Adams," an HBO series in which she plays the second first lady/wife, Abigail Adams, and Polley plays her daughter.

Speaking of past presidents, best actor nominee Viggo Mortensen looked a bit like Abe Lincoln in a full beard and red vest.

"La Vie en Rose" best actress nominee Marion Cotillard looked fresh as a proverbial daisy in a floral print sundress by Elie Saab, although she conceded that it looked a bit Pradaesque.

Diablo Cody was one of the first to arrive (wearing a fairly conservative tattoo-covering black silk knee-length frock) at the luncheon. Cody immediately disappeared in the ballroom to secure her seat as if she thought someone might come up and ask her to leave.

George Clooney greeted Leonard Maltin with a hug and an "Et tu, Brutus?" We plan to get the explanation for that insider exchange one day soon.

Did it have anything to do with the fact that Maltin's favorite film is "Juno" because it made him feel "optimistic?" Hey, Leonard, "Michael Clayton" is  optimistic, too.

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" director Julian Schnabel -- wearing purple pajamas (made, he said, by his wife) and bedroom slippers -- palled around with his old "Before Night Falls" friend Javier Bardem before lunch began.

Clearly working without the help of play-it-safe stylists, nominees Sarah Polley and her "Away From Her" star Julie Christie wore, respectively, a Chinese-inspired dress with bright red ankle boots and a leopard print vest over a black dress.

Ellen Page - wearing a cute black leather jacket, a striped dress with cool black heels, looked a bit nervous while chatting with hunky Bardem. Who wouldn't be?

Oscar honcho Gil Cates told me that he took Page aside and talked to her for quite a while.

"I told her, "You have to get out of here. I mean it. Go back home as fast as you can. This place and all this stuff will ---- you up."

Photos: WireImage