Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesIf the Oscars are just a little over two weeks away, it must mean it's lunchtime.
The Beverly Hilton hotel was packed earlier today for the Academy's annual nominees luncheon.
What went down and what was everyone talking about?
Things got off to a nice start when George Clooney announced to reporters during the pre-lunch press conferences, "I thought I'd get here early—free booze!"
Rooney Mara was in Indianapolis yesterday for the Super Bowl. If for some reason you don't know by now, the Mara family owns the New York Giants. "It was really fun," she said. "It was very exciting. It was great."
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo star said she hasn't found an Oscar dress yet. She also told me that she's "signed up for the other two" Dragon Tattoo flicks, "but I'm not sure when we're going to start doing them."
Jonah Hill said he has been the victim of Moneyball costar Brad Pitt's pranks. "I call him the Bobby Fischer of pranks because you try to prank him and he's immediately three moves ahead of you," Hill explained.
Pitt revealed that fellow Best Actor nominee Demián Bichir gave him a bottle of tequila from his native Mexico.
Bichir said he hoped his nomination for his work as an immigrant worker in Los Angeles in A Better Life would bring more attention to immigration issues. "This could make a big difference if the right people see the film, if the guys in Congress take a look at it and get touched by it," he said.
The one awkward moment during the press conference? When a reporter from French newspaper Le Monde asked The Artist star Jean Dujardin if he thought his recent naughty movie poster controversy would hurt his chances of winning the Oscar.
Said reporter was immediately shut down when the press conference moderator cut her off and moved on to the next question.
Once inside the ballroom, nominees were called onto the wooden riser for the annual portrait. They were then given certificates and a commemorative sweatshirt. Yup, a sweatshirt!
Oscar coproducer Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced that the home of the Oscars, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, would be transformed to have the look of a "timeless" movie house for the big night.
A short film narrated by Tom Hanks about the do's and don'ts of an Oscar acceptance speech followed.
The take away? Make it memorable, but no more than the allotted 45 seconds.
Because no one likes being cut off by the orchestra.