BAFTA/LA honors Sean Penn

'Milk' star given Kubrick Award

By BILL HIGGINS

Honoree Sean Penn gets a laugh out of Patricia Clarkson at the BAFTA/LA awards.

Eddie Izzard cheers on the winners.

Honorees Tilda Swinton and Annette Benings

Ben Affleck, Paul Thomas Anderson and Don Cheadle at the BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards dinner Thursday in Century City.

HOLLYWOOD -- While Madonna was performing across town at Dodger Stadium Thursday, ex-husband Sean Penn used the occasion of accepting BAFTA/LA's Stanley Kubrick Award at the Century Plaza to send a gentle dig.

"What's my British thing to say?" asked Penn as he held the award. "Guy Ritchie is back!"

Penn's award was presented by Paul Thomas Anderson, who made a witty speech in which he listed the ways Penn compared to Kubrick.

"Stanley Kubrick made 'Spartacus.' Sean Penn spent 32 days in an L.A. jail," said Anderson. "Stanley Kubrick was a photographer in the beginning of his career. Sean did considerable damage to photographers' cameras in the beginning of his career."

Also honored were Don Cheadle, Stephen Frears (whom presenter Jack Black referred to as "a life surfer with the eyes of a warlock") and Tilda Swinton, whose award was given by Hugh Laurie. "I haven't seen any of Tilda's films and that was a help," said Laurie after watching the clips from her films.