Entertainment

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) ― Wrapping a week that included receiving three Oscar nominations, George Clooney traveled up the coast to collect the Modern Master Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

"It's a bad week to be me," Clooney joked with AP Television News at the Friday night ceremony. "Yeah, it's been a rough time," he continued, smirking. "But I'll struggle through it. What I'll be doing is a lot of therapy. And I'll be fine."

Clooney, 44, said he didn't think twice about accepting the fest's Modern Master honor. "This was the place that we brought Confessions ("Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," his 2002 directorial debut), so I have a soft spot in my heart for (this) festival. They really do embrace very different films here."

Clooney's Oscar nominations are for two edgy political dramas — "Syriana" for his supporting role, and "Good Night, and Good Luck" in the writing and directing categories.

For Clooney, each of the nominations carries special meaning. For example, he said he views the acting nod as a tribute to Robert Baer, the real-life CIA operative whose 2002 memoir "See No Evil" was the basis for "Syriana," and whose battle against the system inspired Clooney's character "Bob Barnes."

"(Baer) is a guy who I really like and really love spending time with," Clooney commented. "And, as an actor, it was really something to spend so much time with someone who has done that much for his country."

Clooney added that he views the directing nomination as confirmation he's got a future behind the camera long after audiences are tired of seeing him on the screen. "You know what it is? You want to kick the ball forward a little bit and, hopefully, that's what this nomination does: opens the doors for a few other films."

Clooney's plans for Oscar day?

"What day is it on? Is it a Sunday?" he asked. "If it's on a Sunday, I can play basketball, cause Sunday's basketball day. Yeah, then I can play basketball. What time does it start? It starts early. Five o'clock? So, you've got to get there earlier, you've got to leave at 3:30 cause there'll be a long line. Play ball at noon. I can make it. I can still make it there."

Set in this seaside resort some 95 miles up the Pacific shoreline from Hollywood, the annual 10-day film festival began Thursday with a screening of the Salma Hayek drama "Ask the Dust," written and directed by "Chinatown" scribe Robert Towne.

Attendees at Clooney's ceremony included actor Sharon Stone, "Good Night, and Good Luck" producer and co-writer Grant Heslov, and "Entertainment Tonight" film critic Leonard Maltin, who hosted the tribute.

"He's got it all," Maltin said of Clooney. "He's got charm, he's got looks, he's got brains, he's got a conscience. He has everything any movie star could want to have, any director or producer, and then some."

Upon accepting his award, Clooney said he was humbled by praise for his "bravery" for making such commercially risky, socially conscious fare as "Syriana" and "Good Night, and Good Luck."

"And when they talk about being brave, I don't think it's brave to make films like these," he noted. "I'm terrified of not making films like these, and that's the truth. I'm afraid of waking up at 70 years old and saying, I'm Batman again," referring to his much-maligned 1997 film "Batman & Robin."

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