Before the 17th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala - honoring Charlize Theron, Felicity Huffman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Shirley MacLaine, David Cronenberg, Terrance Howard, Thomas Newman and Michael London -  got cranking Saturday night, the 1200-strong formally attired audience was inexplicably treated to …  trailers for a slate of upcoming 2006 tent pole studio films.

The evening's emcee Mary Hart, that ever-so effervescent “Entertainment Tonight” hostess, introduced “films that may just be contenders for next year's Oscars!"

Then the trailers started rolling for Johnny Depp’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible III,” and Tom Hanks’ “The Da Vinci Code.”

“Bet that (“Code”) will give Tom Cruise a real run for his money!,” quipped Hart.

Up next, Brad Pitt's “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “X-Men 3,” Jennifer Aniston’s new romantic comedy, “The Breakup,” Julia Roberts and Dakota Fanning in “Charlotte’s Web,” Superman Returns,” “Miami Vice” with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, Daniel Craig as the new James Bond in “Casino Royale,” “Dreamgirls,” with Beyonce Knowles and finally, Oliver Stone’s untitled project about the World Trade Center bombing, breathlessly billed by Hart as “the first film about 9/11!”

What, no popcorn?