Oscar Satyricon




Curmudeonly and serious Elder brother of the New York Chattering Classes Kurt Anderson's new BFF (Blog Friend Forever) Davis Carr, of the Gray Lady's Carpetbagger, notes:

"There was a nice little lunch out in Brentwood at Arianna Huffington’s house yesterday. It was sort of fancy — the Bagger spent 15 minutes trying to figure out which fork to use — but the conversation was rocking. There was a lot of talk about Clinton, Obama and Geffen, as there has been all week at every place Priuses gather.

"The Bagger was eventually able to steer the conversations around to something important — tomorrow’s Oscars — and the table, which included more than a few members of the Academy, divided neatly between 'The Departed' and 'Babel.' Which is weird. Everywhere else the Bagger has been these past few days, all of the talk has been about a 'Little Miss Sunshine' surge to the win. Academy voters want to feel good in a dark-hearted way, or so the theory goes.

"Even though tomorrow night will involve a lot of heavy lifting and a last few feckless hours on the Carpet, the Bagger is looking forward to it, if for no other reason than that he will finally be able to quit asking people what they think will win best picture."

And, of Barry Diller's Annual Satyricon, says Liz Smith (link via Intelligencer):

"THE most important get- together of this weekend is the cov eted invite to Barry Diller's Coldwater Canyon picnic on Saturday, with carpets spread over a hill and VIPs chowing down outside. There is no press coverage. This party is a miracle of insider privacy, never pushy or 'selling' anything but a good time. Last year I'll never forget Penny Marshall at the buffet table examining every dish and asking, 'Is there cream in this? Is this organic? There's no oil here, is there?'"