I need to hump it up to Santa Barbara’s Biltmore Hotel tonight for a special fundraiser honoring Quentin Tarantino and Inglourious Basterds. “Why are you going if you’re not a huge fan of Basterds?,” a guy asked me earlier today. Well, I said, because I’ve long enjoyed, savored and respected the Tarantino brand — sometimes less so, sometimes more so, depending. And gatherings like this are as much about honoring the life work of the honoree as the latest film.

The Weinstein Co. obviously wants Basterds to be one of the ten Best Picture nominees and Quentin to land a Best Picture nomination, and tonight’s event is intended to put that notion across. Fine, whatever. They might get there. Being the event whore that I am, I just want to be there and take pictures and bask in the glare.