Joel Coen couldn't be bothered to speak more than, oh, 40 seconds at tonight's USC Scripter Award ceremony before taking his seat at stage left and finishing his meal.  But I guess it makes sense that he'd keep things brief, sense he scooted on out of the Doheny Library in order to go accept another award -- the PGA's highest honor -- and the third major guild win for "No Country for Old Men."

Ethan Coen, by the way, was "on the tarmac," according to Coen's presenter.  Maybe that was just a joke, but perhaps Ethan may have been either en route or already at the PGA ceremony.  Whatever the case, Joel was there as sole representation for the film.

Cormac McCarthy wasn't in attendance, though that is no shock, seeing as the author's only public appearance in support of the film has been an interview on "Oprah" and a showcase in Time Magazine.  Christine Lahti graciously accepted on his behalf, struggling with the teleprompter all along.  But hey, she wasn't alone on that front.

Then again, by all accounts, the evening's festivities were a major step up from years past, with Jason Alexander taking over for Henry Winkler as the Master of Ceremonies.  Alexander was actually a hell of an emcee, full of more than a few guffaw-enducing zingers and keeping the mood light and breezy enough throughout.  And, God bless him, one solitary strike joke and that was it (though talk was lingering through the crowd, including a long-gestating rumor that the whole nightmare will be over within the week).  Depending on how much the Friends of the USC Libraries are willing to allow their host to poke fun at the organization, I could see Alexander being a staple.  We'll see.

Steven Zaillian later accepted the Literary Achievement Award, by the way, which he said he would like to please refrain from calling a "lifetime achievement award."  Zaillian is a three-time Scripter winner, for "Awakenings" in 1990, "Schindler's List" in 1993 and "A Civil Action" in 1998.  A true vet with the group.

Oh, and students from the university's school of music performed a lovely melody of scores from past Scripet winners.  I picked out "L.A. Confidential" and "Schindler's List" immediately.  The others kind of blurred together, but they sure sounded great.

I'll try to upload a mp3 of Coen's speech if I can, but in the meantime, you can actually check out the entire ceremony for yourself at the USC website.  They held a live webcast, and of course, it isn't the most professional of things, but they're on their way.  Biggest "doh!" moment of the night had to be the use of the logo for "The Zodiac," rather than the logo for the film that was actually nominated.  Two completely different films, folks.

Here's a couple of shots from the ceremony.  I'm no photo journalist, mind you, but I try: