Robert De Niro is joining some pretty select company by receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

Credit: AP Photo

Robert De Niro is the latest recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's life time achievement award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award. The actor, filmmaker and film festival pioneer will be saluted during the 68th Golden Globes Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011.  For the second year in a row, the Globes will be broadcast live at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST on NBC.

The two-time Oscar winner has surprisingly only won a single Globe, for "Raging Bull" in 1981.  He has, however, been nominated eight times, most recently for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for "Meet the Parents" (and he's certainly eligible for the same award this year for "Little Fockers"). De Niro has also received the Kennedy Center Honor for distinguished acting (arguably the most prestigious individual artistic honor in the United States outside of a Peabody or Pulitzer) and the Stanley Kubrick Award last year from BAFTA LA (which featured an amazing intro from Ben Stiller). 

The HFPA has been on something of a roll with DeMille winners lately. The last eleven include, in this order, Barbra Streisand, Al Pacino, Harrison Ford, Gene Hackman, Michael Douglas, Robin Williams, Anthony Hopkins, Warren Beatty, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.  Clearly, many of De Niro's generational peers.  Now, if they can only get Stiller to present it should be a fun part of the show.

In other awards news…

- In case you missed it, "Tron Legacy" is closing the Dubai Film Festival on Dec. 18, 2011.  Just in case you're in the Middle East next month…

- Uh, oh.  Tom Hooper doesn't like "The King's Speech" poster either.  Yikes.

- A new contender countdown will be posted later this week after I catch "The Fighter" at the secret AFI screening tonight, but in the meantime, here are my votes as part of MovieCityNews' Gurus of Gold.  "King's Speech," Colin Firth and Annette Bening lead the way in their respective categories.