Oscars Luncheon

Oscars nominees cross their fingers at luncheon

By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY
BEVERLY HILLS — For the first time this award season, Oscar was smiling.
High spirits reigned at the Academy Award nominees luncheon Monday afternoon as positive word from the writers’ strike negotiations led many to believe that this annual low-key gathering would not be their only chance tocelebrate together.

George Clooney, a best-actor contender for Michael Clayton, has pressured both sides to make a deal that would at least allow the Oscars to happen. He noted that even a tentative contract needs to be ratified by the guild board. “I think it’s got a good shot at it, and I think it’s a great sign. It looks very good,” the actor-writer-director said, while noting that he still would not attend the awards without a deal in place. “I’ve never crossed a picket line, and would never. I belong to six unions, so it makes it hard.” Clooney worked hard to keep the afternoon light, particularly during the nominees’ pre-lunch news conference. After fielding a particularly heavy question from a reporter, he told the small group of reporters, “I don’t know if you could hear her, but she asked, uh, how come I look so good up close?”

He also jokingly taunted Daniel Day-Lewis, regarded as a front-runner in Clooney’s acting category for his misanthropic oilman in There Will Be Blood. Day-Lewis was among the few nominees who didn’t attend the luncheon. “I’ll tell you, I don’t like Daniel Day-Lewis. I don’t know if you guys have met him, but … I, uh, caught him stealing,” Clooney said. “He screws the whole thing up because he’s so good.”

Clooney abandoned his table for much of the afternoon to chum around with No Country supporting actor Javier Bardem, both of them corralling the Coens when they passed by.

Clooney, who noted that he came to fame later in life, in his mid-30s, said the young nominees don’t need any advice from him. “I can’t give Ellen Page advice, she’s too smart. I need to find some dumb actor.”

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George possible attendee of the Governors Ball Oscar Night

George talks about the Oscar Season.

Even actors who are not serious contenders for awards this year have movies to sell, and if they’ve ever won an Oscar, they can talk about that, as George Clooney did when pushing his movie “The Good German” on “Live With Regis and Kelly.” Asked about his Academy Award victory last year as supporting actor for “Syriana,” Mr. Clooney pointed out how exhausting the whole awards season can be.

“There’s a lot of weeks of awards shows leading up to it,” he said of the Oscars.

“And you have to attend all of them,” Regis Philbin added.

Mr. Clooney, wry as ever, agreed: “Yeah, you do — or they hate you.” Now there’s a novel twist, and if we’re lucky a whole new campaign maneuver: THE HONEST ANSWER MASQUERADING AS A JOKE. (Ny Times)

Most Memorable Oscar Moments…

Best Acceptance Speech
George Clooney
It’s good to be George Clooney, but it’s not so bad watching him accept an Academy Award either. The Best Supporting Actor winner (for his role in Syriana) gave the night’s funniest speech — imagining his obituary starting with ”Oscar winner George Clooney, sexiest man alive 1997, Batman, died today in a freak accident.” The outspoken star provided one of the evening’s emotional highlights, too, saying he was proud to be counted among the ”out of touch” Hollywood community, which had led the way in tackling such taboo subjects as racism and AIDS.