I didn't make it to last night's Miramax festivities in West hollywood, though there is plenty of coverage of the event out there on the Oscarweb this morning.  I did, however, waltz down the beach following last night's Spirit ceremony to Shutters for the awards' after party shindig.

It was good times all around, though considerably packed and difficult to move.  I did, however, finally come face to face with Diablo Cody.  We've missed each other all season and finally had the opportunity to chat a bit.

Media distaste be damned, this girl has the charm.  She's beautiful and more gracious than you might expect.  In that stunning red dress, she really lit the room up, as far as I'm concerned.  Let's face it, I was in the process of falling head over heels in love with her until Pete Hammond came along and stole my thunder (he hasn't managed to meet her all eason either, it turned out).

Cody said she didn't exactly expect to win the Best First Screenplay award because she wasn't sure the Indie Spirits would want to give it to the film that's raked in $100 million at the box office so far.  She also pointed out how taken aback she was by the fact that her hairstylst would be kicking things off at noon the next day (that'd be about now) for Oscar preparations.  All of this before running over to Ron Jeremy to get a snapshot with the ubiquitous pornstar.

Anyway, she doesn't have a whiff of presumption or entitlement about her, which, for a person in her shoes (Best Original Screenplay is probably tonight's easiest pick), is certainly refreshing.  I dig her, end of story.  Here's hoping her career opens up beyond the snarkiness of the media and even the film industry at large.  She's a talented young lady.

Later on I finally met up with some old friends (and nominees for the John Cassavettes award for "Quiet City), filmmaker Aaron Katz and producer Brendan McFadden.  Despite having lost to Chris Eska's "August Evening," the two were in good spirits and having a blast surrounded by a who's who of Hollywood talent.  Cinematographer Andrew Reed told me the crew was sitting right across from "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" table, and that he was more than enthused when Janusz Kaminki won Best Cinematography for the film.  "He absolutely deserves it," Reed said.

Also milling about were the usual journo suspects (David Poland, Mark Olsen, Jeff Wells, Anne Thompson, Mike Jones).  I never did run into th Bagger this year, however, which makes my cold heart weep.  Oh well, there's always next season!

I did, however, notice one lively individual closing the party down like no other (since yours truly, in any case).  That was John Carney, director of "Once" and recipient of the evening's Best Foreign Film award.  Carney said it was a definite surprise, given the competition in the category, but that he honestly thought "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" probably deserved it more.  "It's a better movie, I think," he said.  He also told me that, at the drop of a dime, he would work with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova again.  He agreed that there is just something about their music that injects a sort of sublime enjoyment into the process, so maybe we'll see them together again in the near future.  "Once 2: Twice," maybe?

Anyway, it was a grand evening all around.  By the time 8:00 p.m. rolled around, it seemed like midnight to everyone in attendance (the Spirits start uber early on the west coast).  Some went to The Night Before party, others headed out to the Miramax gathering, but I went out with my friends to enjoy their moment of film awards glory.  It seemed a better fit the day before diving into the maelstrom that is Oscar night.

And now...here we are.