Sunday’s 88th annual Oscarcast rates as the lowest in eight seasons, an 8% drop from last year. One producer complained facetiously about it being ”six hours long.” Plus, he added, that what with the plethora of award shows preceding the “sacred night,” we tire of seeing the same faces of actors and creatives. In other words, we in the audience suffer from déjà vu fatigue.
New York Times’ film critic A.O. Scott (Tony) found “a profound dullness … a tedium that rubbed off, often unfairly, on a lot of the winners. His colleague, Manohla Dargis, has often complained the Oscarcast is “grindingly dull.”
The actresses looked beautiful, but glamour somehow appeared low-key, and insiders wonder if perhaps the films didn’t grab “those folks out there.”
Oscar host Chris Rock poured his hot lava energy tackling Jada Pinkett Smith’s Big Stink about diversity. He scored touchdown after touchdown, shouting that, yes, Hollywood is racist. Shrugs surfaced later through the night’s longeurs that it was “enough already, Chris, enough.”
Hey, Chris, who designed your spiffy white dinner jacket? We’d like to order one.
Once Patricia Arquette announced Mark Rylance as the Best Supporting Actor for his brilliant performance as the Soviet spy in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar nominee, Bridge Of Spies, the evening picked up. A relief, after the exhausting run-through of the technical and writing awards, which, yes, deserve their recognition, but not one after the other. Reactions the next day were not favorable. Best to shuffle them around.
Music mogul and poker maestro Norby Walters hosted his 26th annual “Night of 100 Stars” at The Beverly Hilton, where BHC Publisher/President Marcia Hobbs and we sat with Variety’s managing editor Peter Caranicas and wife Manny. Lovely folks we should all know.
Norby’s is a fun, relaxed night, with outsiders shelling forth $1,000 for dinner, an open bar, and mingling with the celebrated.
The New York Times’ Paul Brownfield devoted two pages in a Styles Section describing this event. The good time is overseen by PR whiz Edward Lozzi, who paid attention to detail, detail, detail. Edward represents numerous stars including the fabled Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Canadian billionaire dress designer Peter Nygard underwrote the evening, with monies assisting varied charities as well as his foundation for aging research.
Vanity Fair’s Graydon Carter corralled the usual suspects for his annual Oscar night dinner-cum-fannybumper. Fox News’ best-dressed superstar anchor Megyn Kelly (we miss her former softer hairstyle) and author husband Douglas Brunt were a big “get” that Vanity Fair’s jaded partygoers hungered to meet. Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall were front and center, as was Monica Lewinsky.
Monica Lewinsky is no “loony tune,” as Hillary Clinton branded her. We met and spent time with Monica and Hamilton South at the 1999 VF Oscar party at Morton’s … pretty, charming, smart, a total delight, and thanks to Howard Bragman we met her dad Bernie Lewinsky, a born prince).
Not long agao, Monica graduated with an MFA from the London School of Economics.
During Sunday’s VF after-party, John Mirisch was congratulated as our next mayor of Beverly Hills, who’ll be installed on March 16 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. He escorted President Obama’s Treasury Secretary Rosie Rios, who the crowd ached to greet. A Hayward, California native from a family that includes eight siblings, Rosie signs all of our paper currency, and she gifted select admirers that night with personally autographed two dollar bills.
Any truth to the talk that Oscar winners may accompany a dozen friends to the Vanity Fair party, which this year was underwritten by Apple?
Bouchon chef Thomas Keller served his chicken pot pie with attractive and courteous servers. Later, the fannybumper crowd pigged out on In-N-Out burgers.
VF’s resident genius Sara Marks, the director of special projects, designed a humungous marquee near the Wallis in Beverly Hills. She organizes the entire yin and yang. Being acquainted with her impressive efforts when we attended the VF parties in the long ago, Sara merits a fat yearly bonus.