Kudos turn up quip quotient

Michelle Williams and Busy Phillips at the kudofest.Ben Affleck wrestles with d.p. Emmanuel Lubezki.Director Michel Hazanavicius, George Clooney, Wendy Treece and Beau Bridges.Christopher Plummer approves.Celebs at Monday's Hollywood Awards offered up better speeches than usual at the annual movie confab. Taking the stage at the Beverly Hilton, Ben Affleck joked about a case of mistaken identity at the valet stand. "I pulled up in my car -- this is a true story -- I open the door, the guy sees me over there, walks right up to me and says, 'Right this way, Mr. Bruckheimer.' I have to renegotiate my producing deal," Affleck quipped.Quentin Tarantino gave an enthusiastic welcome to honoree Diablo Cody. "I will let A.O. Scott, critic for the NY Times, give the final word on this. In his review for 'Jennifer's Body,' he said, 'Is Diablo Cody a great writer? Well, if you think Quentin Tarantino's a great writer, I guess Diablo Cody's a great writer.' Well, I do and I do," he said.Christopher Plummer didn't conceal his excitement at being an honoree. "Awfully nice to get an award this early in the proceedings, it's way past my bedtime," he said. "I'm so thrilled to have been allowed to stay up for it." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com