Greg's Photo Gallery: Oscar nominees luncheon...

Here with supporting actor front-runner Javier Bardem. I had just seen "No Country for Old Men" a few nights earlier with his performance still etched in my mind. But seeing him so relaxed, happy and friendly, I pretty much figured he wasn't gonna kill me!

George Clooney may not be expected to win his second Oscar (he's up for "Michael Clayton"), he was still pretty much the biggest star in the room - the guy everyone wanted to talk to. How I ended up sitting next to him at lunch was just one of those lucky things. What wasn't lucky was me not being ready when this photo with George was taken. Being in a picture with Clooney, you gotta figure you're gonna look average at best. But as you can see, I'm one of those people who looks pretty ghastly when I'm taken off guard. I wasn't gonna post this sucker but my people in my newsroom said: "But George looks so good in that picture!" So, I posted it, but very small.

Best actress nominee Ellen Page was seated in the front row of a big group shot of nominees, between Hal Holbrook and Casey Affleck and two seats away from Julie Christie.