Los Angeles, Jan. 9, 2006 – As we mentioned back on…oh, let’s see…uh, yesterday, awards season is here. And the whole gang we met on Sunday in New York was in Santa Monica on Monday, bright and cheery at the Critics' Choice Awards. And no one was cheerier than the critics' choice for best actress, Reese Witherspoon, who famously avoids the media, except when she’s suing a paparazzo. “It’s nice to see you out…in the daylight. It’s very brave of you, for us to all see your faces”, she ominously chirped to the critics, while smiling. Reese closed her speech with a quote from Al Capone.

Despite living practically next door in Venice, Julia Roberts couldn’t make it to the red carpet, but she got there in time to present George Clooney with the “Freedom Award”. Best actress nominee Felicity Huffman just slipped into the Santa Monica Civic Center in time for her category, and then had to rush off.

Newcomer Q’Orianka Kilcher, the teenaged actress who had to play sex scenes with Colin Farrell in The New World, marched to her own fashion drummer, wearing some kind of legging wrapped around her ankle, underneath her silky evening gown.