Argo

The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival drew boldfaced Hollywood names on Saturday night. Stars including Ben Affleck, Naomi Watts, and Bradley Cooper were honored for their onscreen work, while Tom Hanks, Eddie Redmayne, Diane Lane, and other celebs presented the evening's awards. We were on the red carpet and inside for the star-studded dinner, where several of the awardees shared moving, funny, and heartfelt speeches. Naomi, who accepted the evening's Desert Palm Achievement Award for an actress from her The Impossible costar Tom Holland, thanked her longtime partner, Liev Schreiber, for inspiring her. She also expressed gratitude for their two young sons, Sasha and Kai, for "breathing life into me."

Birthday boy Bradley Cooper — who turned 38 yesterday — gave a short and humble speech when accepting the corresponding award for actor for his work in Silver Linings Playbook. It was one of newly single Bradley Cooper's first nights out since splitting from Zoe Saldana. Bradley couldn't escape host Mary Hart, who led the audience in a round of "Happy Birthday" in his honor before he left the stage. As Ben Affleck and his Argo cast closed the show, taking home the ensemble performance award, Ben asked Mary if she'd prompt the crowd to sing "Happy Birthday" for him, as well. "When's your birthday?" Mary asked. Ben replied, "August."

Ben Affleck was up early in Rome this morning to do press for Argo at a promotional event. He's taking the CIA thriller around Europe, having done interviews in Paris over the weekend and debuting it in London Wednesday night. His wife, Jennifer Garner, was able to keep him company in France, but she's since returned to their home in LA. Yesterday, Jen and their middle child, Seraphina Affleck, ran errands together. They wrapped up the afternoon with friends at a pumpkin patch. Jen and Sera picked up pumpkins to being home to siblings Violet and Samuel, too. Sera had a solo ride on a pony, but joined Jen for a ride on a minitrain.

Ben Affleck premiered his Argo at the BFI London Film Festival this evening. He was joined at the Odeon Leicester Square theater by his leading men Bryan Cranston and John Goodman. Ben brought the thriller, which came in at the No. 2 spot at the US box office last weekend, to England after a stay in France with his wife, Jennifer Garner. Ben and Jen's romantic trip to Paris lasted only a few days, but they were able to fit in a shopping excursion to Chanel and even a romantic dinner date. The London Film Festival has also brought Marion Cotillard to England — Marion debuted Rust and Bone there over the weekend.

Ben Affleck hosted a special screening of his film Argo last night at the Writers' Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. He was joined by several of his cast members, including Bryan Cranston, Scoot McNairy, and Clea Duvall, and celebrity guests including Sam Trammell and new parents Curtis Stone and Lindsay Price. The event was a fundraiser for two causes close to Ben's heart: the Eastern Congo Initiative and Children Mending Hearts. Ben has been traveling to the Congo since 2007 in the hopes of helping the people of the war-torn African country.

After presenting the movie — Ben joked that the audience was extremely lucky for seeing it one day before it hits theaters as he introduced it — Jimmy Kimmel came on stage for a Q&A session with Ben, producer Grant Heslov, and the cast. Despite the film's sometimes heavy subject matter, Jimmy kept the tone of the panel relatively light, and even ribbed Ben for exaggerating some elements of the true-life story to bolster the movie's drama. Here are some of Ben's answers:

• On tweaking the true story to create drama: "We definitely embellished the third act stuff to give ourselves a third act . . . I thought this was a more interesting and more powerful way [to tell the story]. You have to serve two masters, and the core spine of this movie is 100 percent true."
• On capturing the look of the late 1970s: "These guys really, they don't look anything like the real people, but it speaks volumes for what bad hair and fake mustaches and eyeglasses can do."
• On people who consulted on the movie: "We had a few different technical advisers, you know . . . the actual Tony Mendez [who Ben plays] and we had some of the actual house guests . . . and we had a lot of Iranian folks. There wasn't one Iranian extra who didn't want to be a technical adviser. We enjoyed those contributions."