Naomi and George, together in Santa Barbara

For all you die-hard Naomi Watts fans who are, like, totally bummed she didn't get an Oscar nod for her touching role in "King Kong," do not despair.

There's still a chance to see the new millennium's Ann Darrow in the flesh.

Watts will appear Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Marjorie Luke Theatre in Santa Barbara for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's special evening to honor the Aussie actress with its Montecito Award.

The event ($55 a ticket) will feature a live onstage interview with the Watts, conducted, or so the SBIFF folks threaten, by "an acclaimed film personality."

There will also be a film montage of her work: "Mulholland Drive," "The Ring," "21 Grams," "I Heart Huckabees," and of course, the mighty "Kong."

But if you're thinking of going, might as well spend the whole weekend up there. The night before, SBIFF will laud Oscar nominee George Clooney as the fest's 2006 Modern Master for his Hollywood achievements as an actor-writer-director-producer-jokester-all-around hunk.

His event ($65 a seat) takes place at the Arlington Theatre, at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. For ticket info on both events, go to the SBIFF website.

Clooney's already been one of People's Sexiest Men. But someone should give him the nice guy award.

"George is amazing, he's always nice to everyone," marveled a People scribe at the Directors Guild Awards. "He respects everyone around him, including photographers and reporters on the red carpets. He's always funny and self-deprecating and gives you what you need, even before you ask for it. And he never makes you feel stupid or less-than. He knows he's doing a job and you're doing a job and why not have fun while you both do it."

Photo: Naomi Watts at the Tokyo "King Kong" premiere will be honored at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this weekend.
(Nathan Shanahan / WireImage)

If you thought the Screen Actors Guild Awards was star-jammed on Sunday, you should have snuck behind the scenes to Karen Wood's Backstage Creations SAG Talent Retreat.

That's the lavishly decorated celeb-only room where the stars gather before, during and after the show to chat, have a glass of bubbly or just relax from the awards pressure. Of course, another major reason to do the retreat is to get lots of free stuff from merchants displaying star swag in the room.

"Matador" star Pierce Brosnan admired Amouage fragrance from an Irish perfumer. The handmade bottles are so cool they're the only perfume bottle in the Smithsonian. Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria (hanging on squeeze Tony Parker) loved Shu Uemura cosmetics, also used on the "Desperate Housewives" set. "Entourage" star Jeremy Piven picked up some Phyto hair product for his limping locks. "This is good stuff," he pronounced. Yeah, baby. Hug it out.

"Crash" star Terrence Howard, looking hot in his D&G duds, felt so at-home that he hung out in the retreat until his category was called. Then he ran out, helped picked up the award for best ensemble cast and returned with "Crash" costar Don Cheadle, who was limping from an unexplained foot injury. Cheadle took a seat on a cream colored sofa, holding the carved wooden cane he'd bought in Kenya.

After picking up a blue Le Vian watch to match his suit, Howard, nominated today for a best actor Oscar for his lead role in "Hustle & Flow," tried to buy the B&W photos by Wall Kandy for his new house. Then he got so excited about a free trip to the Starwood Resort — the St. Regis on Bora Bora — that he announced he was booking his trip the very next day. Better wait until after the Oscars on March 5, Terrence. Angela Bassett drooled over the Bora Bora beach trip too but Ed Harris and his wife Amy Madigan were the most enthusiastic. And impatient. Harris suggested, "Let's leave tonight!"

Take me with you. Please.

Photo: Terrence Howard synchronizes his free watch and Angela Bassett plans her next vacation at the Backstage Creations SAG Talent Retreat.
(Jesse Grant / WireImage)

Forget the Oscar nominees.

Today comes also the hot announcement that style seer Tom Julian will return for his 11th year on Oscar.com. So what, you say? Shows what little you know.

Fact is that Julian is the fashion world's secret weapon. His interactive Oscar fashion coverage is a hot spot for everyone in the fashion and entertainment worlds, and its also great for anyone who wants a broader knowledge of the hot new looks and the classic history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences annual fashion show. Sorry, awards show.

For fashion journalists, the site is invaluable because it's the only one to date with a star-by-star multi-image retrospective of actresses' changing looks in the Evolution of Style gallery.

Just think: Jane Fonda, Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman, Madonna, Barbra Streisand, Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Drew Barrymore, Gwyneth Paltrow, back then, then and now. It's better than a time machine.

Plus the main gallery also features three (!) views of all the actresses so you can check out the sexy side and slinky back views. How often have you wanted to do that? Like, a lot, right?

And there's more! Julian was in town last week shooting streaming video interviews with top designers, in-the-know design house experts and top stylists for an inside track on the hot Oscar looks. Just up, Escada's Brian Rennie. Soon to come, Wanda McDaniels, Giorgio Armani's right hand gal in Hollywood, Carmen Marc Valvo and Marc Bouwer.

"Tom Julian has brought his television programming expertise to Oscar.com and we can now fully tell the style story that we have been aspiring to tell for the last few years. We are incredibly happy to have him onboard again as fashion authority and web host for the 11th consecutive year," says Harry Lin, VP of ABC.com, which also produces Oscar.com.

And this isn't even his day job. Julian was recently named senior VP, strategic director of trends, for McCann Erickson. The Big Apple-based company is a leading U.S. advertising agency and part of the McCann Worldgroup, one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world.

Full confession time: I've known and worked with Julian for 20 years. I call him my fashion world "Deep Throat." Oops. Now his cover's totally blown.

Photo: Tom Julian takes the fashion helm again at Oscar.com.
(Oscar.com)

Talk about an great Ice Cream Sunday.

Even without whipped cream, sprinkles and nuts, the "Desperate Housewives" actresses' sherbet-colored gowns looked delish at the 12th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday evening.

No wonder they took home the "Best Ensemble Cast" award for their hit TV comedy.

Here's the gals' taste sensations:

Felicity Huffman's delicate violet strapless Nicole Miller sheath.

Nicollette Sheridan's pistachio Kevan Hall fishtail design.

Marcia Cross's slinky lavender-hued Vera Wang gown.

Eva Longoria's icy sheer plum off-the-shoulder Badgley Mischka.

Teri Hatcher's yummy raspberry ice Vera Wang  goddess frock.

Brenda Strong's scrumptious deep purple satin gown, designed by Project Runway LA-based designer Nick Verreos, an instructor at the Fashion Institute for Design and Merchandising.

Huffman also wore 18-karat gold chandelier earrings with colored diamonds and an amethyst ring, designed by her fashion friend Charlie Lapson.

A longtime collector of Lapson's handbags, Huffman also carried his lavender Italian leather clutch. But she's not alone. Her castmates also carry Lapson's handbags and often wear his jewelry. Even the Wisteria Lane dudes carry his Italian leather wallets.

Lapson's fame has spread way beyond the Housewives' hood.

In recent years, Lapson's also created clothing, handbags and jewelry for Jennifer Aniston, Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Debra Messing, Jennifer Garner, Paula Abdul,  Sharon Stone, and Jessica Alba.

Now that's a busy guy. When will Lapson stake his claim on an Oscar contender? Soon, soon.

Photo Credits: The "Desperate Housewives" - Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross and Nicollette Sheridan - make a strong sherbet style  statement at the SAG Awards
(Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Photo Credits: Desperate Housewive Brenda Strong,a.k.a Mary Alice, is wearing the blues at the SAG Awards.
(Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Some viewers were shocked at Heath Ledger's apparent gay spoof at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night.

At the podium with Jake Gyllenhaal to introduce a clip from "Brokeback Mountain," Ledger kept putting his hands on his cocked hip as he read the teleprompter, acting like he was auditioning for the role of Carmen Ghia, the flamboyantly gay choreographer in "The Producers."

"It was insulting," said one Hollywood insider after the show. "Heath lost a lot of support from the Hollywood gay community after that bizarre performance."

No one can figure out what Ledger could have been thinking or why he behaved so bizarrely onstage.

Which makes it a real shame that the Directors Guild Awards, held the night before, weren't televised. Then viewers would have seen Ledger's heartfelt and sincere expression of gratitude to  director Ang Lee, who won the DGA's top filmmaker award that night.

Paying tribute to Lee, Ledger thanked the director for "introducing us to these delicate characters. It took a delicate man to tell this story and that's you." To which, Lee then joked, "I don't know about you, but that feels a little gay to me."

Maybe Ledger's frankly fey SAG performance simply followed Lee's DGA gay joke lead? Maybe he thought he was being really funny?  Hey, it's a theory. What's yours?

Photo Credit: Onstage at the SAG awards with Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger's bizarre gay-mocking performance gets no awards or laughs.

(Michael Caulfield/WireImage)

Not every woman in Hollywood is lusting after George Clooney, who's back to his slim self after packing on 30-plus pounds to play an over-the-hill CIA agent in "Syriana."

Patricia Heaton, at the DGA Awards Saturday to present an award, spotted the handsome nominee in the audience and confessed her true feellings.

"George," she admitted, as she leaned over the podium. "I liked you better as a fat man. I just saw "Syriana" and you really had that belly thing going on. It was like .. Wow."

After the audience's laughter died down, she regained her composure and presented the DGA's coveted gold plaque to Chris Eyre (Showtime's "Edge of America") for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs.

Hear that, George? Stop dieting and working out. Play with the belly thing for a while. Chicks dig it.

Wonder how Teri Hatcher, seen flirting with Clooney at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night, feels about a manly gut?  The two incredibly attractive stars are so darn combustible, sparks fly when they get closer than two feet from each other, hence the well-maintained distance seen here. The hot duo is rumored to have been spotted all-cozy at some romantic LA restaurants.

But then again, Clooney is rumored to be dating just about every woman in Hollywood. And he probably is. Or could. When Clooney's spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, was recently asked by The Scoop on MSNBC to respond to reports that the hunky actor had gone on some dates with the "Desperate Housewives" star, he cagily replied, "What is your definition of a date?"

Wow. That sounds distinctly Clintonian.

Photo Credit: Relax, George. No need to to suck it in while talking to "Desperate Housewives" hottie Teri Hatcher at the SAG Awards. Chicks dig you, jelly roll or six-pack.
(Ron Wolfson/WireImage)

Finally, the Globes are getting animated.

A new category has been established for the next year's Golden Globe Awards: "Best Animated Feature Film."

According to the piping-hot-off-the-presses HFPA release, eligible films must, and we quote, be "feature-length (70 minutes or longer) with no more than 25% live action. But if less than eight animated films qualify, the award will not be given, in which case the films would be eligible for best picture. Otherwise they would not be eligible for the best picture category. The category will be limited to three nominations per year."

Huh?

In the past, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. recognized many animated feature films in the best picture (musical or comedy) category; "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," "The Lion King," "Toy Story," "Toy Story 2," "Chicken Run" and "Shrek."

Gosh, just think of the top notch voice talent this new category may bring in too! We're talking Tom Hanks, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Fanning, Kelsey Grammer, Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese, Julie Andrews, Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Jeremy Irons, Mel Gibson, Matthew Broderick and — Tom Hanks!

According to HFPA prez Philip Berk, "Animated features have become an important component of the studio lineup so there was an overwhelming consensus that this new category be created." This will enlarge the Globes categories to 25, not counting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for life achievement, a mega-biggie, if you ask me.

But how about some johnny-on-the-spot Golden Globes fashion awards straight off the red carpet that night? C'mon, why not? Why let Joan and Melissa or Ryan Seacrest or God forbid, that tawdry Isaac Mizrahi have all the fun that night? Lets extend the show by half an hour, drag the winners up there and make them accept their best-dressed Globe awards. Just call it cutting out the middle man.

All in favor, say "Woo-hoo!"

Drew Barrymore was in very fine form at the Hollywood premiere of the new animated kiddy flick, "Curious George," wearing a cap-sleeved, portrait neckline black dress and a tiny gold heart bracelet and necklace.

Uncharacteristically, she even talked about fashion and how silly she thought everyone was acting over Globe-winner Reese Witherspoon's Chanel frock that was previously worn by Kirsten Dunst at a Globes post party back in 2003.

"You gotta be able to laugh at yourself," said Barrymore.

The actress, who sent up the brouhaha about her being braless at the Globes by wearing fake droopy breasts on "Saturday Night Live" the weekend after the awards show, seemed happy that people at the "George" premiere at Hollywood's ArcLight Cinemas were more interested in her voice role. She's the perky voice of a schoolteacher romantically interested in the Man in the Yellow Hat (Will Ferrell) who owns George the monkey.

But for the record, "I'm wearing Celine," boasted Barrymore. "And a bra!" she added with a giggle, as she ran over to hug Ferrell at the after-party.

OK, you gotta love this girl.

Photo: Drew Barrymore's ratings get a serious boost at the "Curious George" premiere.
(Lester Cohen / WireImage)