Academy Awards

RECENTLY I HAD the most surreal weekend of my life. It goes without saying that this happened in Los Angeles. I was there for the Academy Awards. The host, Steve Martin, had asked me to be on the team of writers working with him; apparently, he felt that what was needed, to lend just the right tone to Hollywood's most glamorous night, was booger jokes. So I went to the Oscars, but that wasn't all: I also stayed at Steve Martin's house, which is very tasteful, unless you count the giant arrow through it. No, really, it's a beautiful house, and it was the scene of my first surreal Oscars experience.

To: Presenters and winners at the 75th Annual Academy Awards From: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Ribbon Committee Subject: Ribbons for the 75th Annual Academy Awards Dear presenters, nominees and winners: As you know, the 75th Annual Academy Awards are taking place under the terrible cloud of a potential war in Iraq. We at the academy understand that many of you will be tempted to voice deeply held opinions -- opinions, I trust, that your assistants are busily researching at this time.

Everything comes at a price, we are told, and for Stephen Dixon it is no different. Being nominated for the National Book Award in fiction is a welcome honor, but he will have to wear a tuxedo.Not that he doesn't appreciate being nominated for "Frog," the 769-page work consisting of three interrelated novels, three novels and 15 short stories, all interrelated. Despite having published five novels and close to 300 short stories, Mr. Dixon, a professor of fiction in the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars since 1980, has labored in relative anonymity for nearly 30 years.

There is no tougher room than the Academy Awards. Just ask Jon Stewart, whose stint as Oscar host Sunday night at times drew a chilly reception from the star-studded audience in front of him. For a while, he seemed destined to join an ignominious group: comedians killed by Oscar. Kind of like Chris Rock and David Letterman. Why is it so hard to host the Oscars? "I think it's the toughest single gig that a humorist can have," Dave Barry, the former humor columnist for The Miami Herald, said yesterday in a telephone interview.

HOLLYWOOD -- The true experts on handicapping the Academy Awards -- the Hollywood publicists who attend dozens of academy-member screenings during the height of Oscar season -- say that actors' off-screen performances have almost as much impact as their on-screen dramatics. In recent years, Oscar hopefuls have been aided by making high-profile appearances on the critics' awards-banquet circuit, as eventual winner Gwyneth Paltrow did last year in support of "Shakespeare in Love." "It's hard to get nominated if you're not out doing any publicity," says Tony Angellotti, a veteran Oscar publicist.

Looking for backstage access to this year's Academy Awards? You've come to the right place. All weekend, I'll be blogging about what is being said backstage, as Hollywood takes the time to pat itself on the back for whatever good work it did in 2011. The fun begins on Saturday, when I'll be attending the 27th annual Spirit Awards, given to movies produced outside the major studios and with limited budgets. Among this year's big contenders is"The Artist," which is also favored in the Oscar race -- meaning this could be the first time ever that the same film has won the Best Picture Spirit and Oscar.

HOLLYWOOD - In the last of the major ceremonial awards in Hollywood's run-up to the Oscars, Daniel Day-Lewis was chosen best male actor for his wicked turn as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York, and Renee Zellweger was named best female actor as the merry murderess in the musical Chicago on Sunday night at the ninth annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Chicago also took the award for best movie ensemble, and Catherine Zeta-Jones was named best supporting female actor. The remaining movie honor went to Christopher Walken, who received the supporting male actor prize for his emotional turn as the down-on-his-luck father of a teen-age con artist in the caper film Catch Me If You Can. Although competition this year is strong, with its additional awards Chicago would appear to be the film to beat at the Academy Awards.

There were signs in Hollywood last week that tonight's Academy Awards may be like none before. Despite concerns about the propriety of holding an event characterized by razzle-dazzle parties and glitzy fashions while U.S. troops were at war, Oscar organizers decided (at least as of press time) that the show should go on. But with a little less fanfare. After some celebrities asked if they could use a back entrance to avoid the customary fanfare out front, producers for the first time in the award's history did away with the red carpet, backdrop for the glamorous sashay from limousine to theater.

Midnight Cowboy [MGM] $30 Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee's tale of love between two cowboys, is the front-runner to win the top Oscar prize Sunday. The film's frank and open depiction of the men's relationship has caused much controversy this award season. But it's just movie history repeating itself. Thirty-six years ago, the Academy Awards embraced another love story - albeit platonic - between two men and gave the drama Midnight Cowboy an Oscar for best picture of 1969, as well as awards for best director (John Schlesinger)

The mounting tension. The unexpected disaster. The potential for an over-the-top spectacle. The strutting stars. The chance to decide who's a winner and who's a loser. It's a night of pure drama, of sublime comedy, a roller-coaster ride of the powerful raised high and brought low.We're talking Oscar Night, of course. But not the Academy Awards. Let's face it: After they announce the half-dozen Big Ones, who cares about the winners of the Best Lighting or Best Sound-Effects Editing Awards?