The bash: Warners/In Style Party, filling several rooms inside the Beverly Hilton.
The venue: The theme was vaguely Space Age. Perhaps in keeping with the sci-fi movie that embassy workers were pretending to make in Argo, the room had a purple glow and the ceiling hung with glittery silver decorations dubbed “trippy icicles” by Argo scribe Chris Terio. For a sugar fix during the night, Godiva chocolate was featured at the celebration.
The stars: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Robert De Niro, Kathy Griffin, George Clooney, Sophia Vergara, Ewan McGregor Jodie Foster, Orlando Bloom, Miranda Kerr, John Goodman, Kristen Bell, James Marsden, Jessica Alba, Casey Affleck, Lea Michele, Bryan Cranston, Freida Pinto Joe Manganiello, Malin Ackerman, Dev Patel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kristen Bell, Aaron Paul, Nathan Fillion, Emile Hirsch, Jack McBrayer, hip hop artist Kid Cudi and celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Giada Di Laurentiis.
Scene and heard: Freida Pinto and Dev Patel and Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr danced to the strains of Taio Cruz’s Dynamite and Jessica Alba busted a move with a gal pal as they wended their way through the crowded party. But at least one A-list couple hunkered down in a corner to receive well-wishers. Golden Globes best-director winner Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner held court in a tucked-away booth
Then there were members of couples — or at least TV duos — such as James Marsden who couldn’t wait to sing the praises of his on-screen better half. Marsden enjoyed the party atmosphere of the Globes, but was especially proud of co-host Tina Fey — since the pair recently tied the knot on 30 Rock.. “It was nice to see my bride up on stage killing it,” Marsden said.
Stars of the show: Party guests were frequently heard extolling the hosting skills of TIna Fey and Amy Poehler. “They kind of re-invented it,” said Marsden. He predicted they would be asked to host again.
Said Kathy Griffin: “It was a great mix of improv and well-crafted material. A lot of dudes are wrong: Chicks are funny.” Griffin also lauded Jodie Foster’s speech after receiving the Lifetime Achievement award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. She praised Foster’s eloquence in addressing her sexual orientation in public for the first time, and said her speech spoke to the country’s progress in the area of gay rights.
Marsden also admired Foster’s speech. But he couldn’t quite get over a case of mistaken identity. He said that Foster came up to him during a break in the show and remarked about seeing him often at her gym. But Marsden insisted it must have been a body double. “I’d know it if I saw her. It wasn’t me.”
Argo-nuts: A crowd of people gathered near Affleck and Garner and waited as if in line to congratulate the actor/director on his win and also Argo‘s Golden Globe for best dramatic film. Argo screenwriter Chris Terio said the film, based on an event during 1979’s Iran hostage crisis originally classified by the government, and also infused with offbeat humor, was challenging on several levels. “I was terrified we were going to mess it up,” Terio said. He lamented that Affleck was not nominated for best director by the Academy, an oft-mentioned slight offset somewhat by his win at the Globes. Terio was nominated for an Oscar for the Argo screenplay. But the nod was bittersweet, he said. “I felt like Robin being nominated without Batman.”
