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awards season's "celebrity mule train" at the year's first glitzy Hollywood gala.
• Matthew McConaughey, Julia Roberts, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper were among the stars who cracked jokes and praised one another Saturday night at the opening of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, a desert warmup of sorts for more closely-watched industry events in coming months.
• Honors were announced well in advance and the ceremony wasn't televised, lessening pressure on winners and allowing for self-effacing, sometimes lengthy acceptance speeches. The festival is celebrating its 25th year but it's only relatively become a star-studded stop on the awards circuit.
• U2's Bono spoke passionately about artist activism and the fight against AIDS. Bruce Dern reveled in industry praise for his "Nebraska" after a half-century career, saying: "A bunch of you seem to have gotten together and to have said, 'Bruce Dern can play.'" Presenters included Gary Oldman, Ewan McGregor, Idris Elba and Jane Fonda.
• Bullock, also nominated for Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards for her performance as an astronaut in "Gravity," delighted the crowd of over 2,000 by reading online comments about herself.
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Graham's 32-yard FG on final play lifts Saints to first road playoff win, 26-24 over Eagles
• PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- After erasing nearly a half-century of road playoff frustration, a trip to Seattle shouldn't be intimidating for Drew Brees, Shayne Graham and the New Orleans Saints.
• Graham's 32-yard field goal, the fourth of the game for the recent addition to the team, won the wild-card game on the final play, 26-24 over the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night. Brees, who threw for a touchdown and guided the 34-yard drive to the winning kick, didn't need to be a big star because the Saints' running game and defense -- along with Graham's leg -- provided the heroics.
• "It's just, man, believing in each other, ignoring what everyone else has to say," Brees said.
• New Orleans had been 0-5 in postseason games outside of the Big Easy since entering the league in 1967. The Saints (12-5) will play at NFC top-seed Seattle next Saturday; they lost there 34-7 in the regular season.
• "It's loud, it's crazy, they've got a good thing going there," Brees said of the next challenge. "Obviously, they've only lost one game there in the last two years. But (Continued on page 27)
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