If Sandra Bullock had it her way, she’d be taking the 200-liter bottle of Chopin Potato Vodka at the door of Arlington Theatre last Friday night back home with her.

Bullock, this year’s American Riviera Award recipient, walked the State Street red carpet with poise, grace and smiles last week, taking the time to answer questions and pose for some pictures. But when it came time to look back on her body of work, the smiles slowly turned into agonizing embarrassment.

“That’s some good acting up there,” Bullock said with more than a hint of sarcasm. “I feel like you should be dead before you see something like that.”

But this year’s award — previously given to such actors as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Diane Lane and Forest Whitaker, to name a few — only stands to highlight Bullock’s great achievements, and 2009 exposed the vivacious actress to a lot of recognition.

Her most recent blockbuster, “The Blind Side,” earned her a Golden Globe award as well as her first Academy Award nomination. The summer hit, “The Proposal,” garnered a landmark achievement of the only female-led movie in history to reach $200 million in domestic sales.

But we can’t forget the negative attention she’s received, as well. Her flop feature, “All About Steve,” was so bad that Bullock received her third Golden Raspberry Award nomination for it. The achievement has made her the only actress in history to be recognized for best and worst acting honors in the same year. Still, the actress had nothing but smiles.

“How awesome is that?” Bullock told Artsweek exclusively. “Balance. I think it’s fantastic, I think it’s genius, and I’m showing up to both.”

Unlike past Razzie nominees who chose not to accept their more notorious honors, Bullock doesn’t take herself so seriously, and thinks the opportunity is one for some fun, if nothing else.

“I think everyone should have a Razzie, and my guess is that the party is probably better than everyone else’s,” she said. “The wine might not be of a higher quality — it might be out of a box — but that’s OK. We’re going to have a really great time.”

The evening’s moderator, Pete Hammond, had no problem poking fun, showing several video tributes of Bullock’s flubs and gags in addition to her high achievements.

“This is so painful,” Bullock said.

What made the evening truly special, though, was the sincere humor and candidness that the star brought to the stage.

“I’m not good with accolades or praise,” she said. “None of this was on the calendar for 2010 … so this is very uncomfortable for me.”

Forest Whitaker, to whom Bullock presented this same prize two years ago, had nothing but beautiful things to say about her before handing over the award.

“She transforms us. She elevates us. She takes us on a mysterious journey,” he said.

With a tear in her eye and a modest smile on her face, Bullock accepted the festival honor and reminded us all why we love her so much.

“Thank you, guys, for coming out tonight. I just hope I was entertaining.”