Saturday before the Golden Globes meant hitting a circuit that involved marathon eating, drinking and schmoozing…

At W Magazine and Lynn Hirschberg’s second annual “It Girl” lunch at the very snazzy AOC Restaurant, about three dozen stunning women were gathered to toast themselves and their growing place in the film industry. Some were better known than others, like Jo Froggatt from Downton Abbey, and Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones.

Others were a little less so but they’re going to be stars — and should be. I was seated with four amazing women– Emayatzy Corinealdi, Aisha Hinds, Devika Bhise, and Stephanie Sigman. Check them out on imdb and YouTube– they are the future of the business. Emayatzy starred in Ava DuVernay’s first film, “Middle of Nowhere” (which you must watch). Now she’s on a cool Amazon series with Dana Delany and Ron Perlman called “Hand of God.”

Aisha Hinds already has tons of credits. But I think she’s going to have a breakthrough role any minute now. Then everyone’s going to say, Where was she all this time? Attention: Shonda Rhimes.
— Roger Friedman

Over at the Film Independent nominees lunch Uzo Aduba from “Orange is the New Black” and Rami Malek from “Mr. Robot” were the co-hosts. Cate Blanchett made an early appearance, as her “Carol” costar, Rooney Mara made a later one. Directors Catherine Hardwicke, Kimberly Peirce and Marisa Tomei were chatting, as were Warner’s Sue Kroll and LA Film Fest’s Stephanie Allain, as well as a multitude of industry heavyweights.

Globe nominee for “99 Homes,” Michael Shannon caught up with Spirit nominee Jason Segel for his terrific work in “The End Of The Tour,” and the talented actor who plays the pimp in “Tangerine,” James Ransone.

I asked Michael about how long it took him to get this nomination. He said: “I’ve been knocking around for awhile. Hollywood is really about what have you done lately. But I’m lucky so it’s all good.” What is he doing next? “I’m playing a romantic lead in a comedy called “Pottersville,” I play opposite Christina Hendricks, Judy Greer, and Ian McShane. I’ve wanted to play this kind of role for awhile, so I’m looking forward to it. I seem to scare people from “99” and some of the other work I’ve done, so this is a good change.”

I wondered if Bernie Sanders had seen “99 Homes,” yet, as it would seem to align with Sander’s sensibilities. “I don’t know,” Michael answered. “But he should. I don’t know how I’d get to him. I might have to go to one of his rallies.”
–Leah Sydney

Wasn’t it nice to see Mel Gibson up there on the stage at the Golden Globes? It kind of made you nostalgic, didn’t it?

According to just posted Form 990 for Mel’s AP Reilly Foundation, he now has $70 million worth of assets parked in this tax free account. In 2014, he crossed the $70 million line by adding $210,400 in donations.

The AP Reilly Foundation exists to fund and operate Holy Family Church in Agoura Hills (Malibu), California. He built the church for his Pope-hating, Holocaust denying fathers. Mel was inspired by his dad, Hutton Gibson, who is still alive despite all odds. Hutton has his own followers of zealot Catholics who don’t acknowledge the Pope and don’t think the Holocaust happened. They don’t agree with modern Catholic doctrine of any kind. Their church is independent and not part of the Catholic Archdiocese.

And Mel’s dad? He’s 96 years old. A decade ago, he was quoted thusly in the New York Times Magazine by Christopher Noxon:

“Go and ask an undertaker or the guy who operates the crematorium what it takes to get rid of a dead body,” he said. “It takes one liter of petrol and 20 minutes. Now, six million?”

Across the table, Joye [Gibson’s wife] suddenly looked up from her plate. […] She had kept quiet most of the day, so it was a surprise when she cheerfully piped in. “There weren’t even that many Jews in all of Europe,” she said.

“Anyway, there were more after the war than before,” Hutton added.

The entire catastrophe was manufactured, said Hutton, as part of an arrangement between Hitler and “financiers” to move Jews out of Germany. Hitler “had this deal where he was supposed to make it rough on them so they would all get out and migrate to Israel because they needed people there to fight the Arabs,” he said.