How Brad Pitt's zen reinvention has paved the way for Oscar glory via @catherineshoard
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— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) February 3, 2020

Catherine Shoard

As final votes are cast, the Hollywood heavyweight has been putting in a winning - and carefully calibrated – turn as a wise-cracking sage

Every awards season has its darling. An actor whose modesty, wit and earnest embrace of the Oscar race charms both punters and peers. Last year, it was Richard E Grant, whose 30-year career – and longstanding friendship with numerous A-listers – was successfully redacted for a new narrative: he was a wide-eyed starlet gasping at the sight of Lady Gaga.
This year’s homecoming king is 56-year-old Brad Pitt: an evergreen A-lister who has managed a third-act reinvention as, simultaneously, a veteran, an unknown (thanks to a strategic decision to wear his name tag at the Oscar nominees’ lunch), a frontrunner, an underdog, a footloose bachelor and half of Hollywood’s best-loved power couple.
Most surprising, perhaps, has been Pitt’s sudden emergence as a public speaker of rare zip and self-awareness. The actor’s acceptance speeches at the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards, where his performance as a zen stuntman in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood won him best supporting actor, made headlines for their well-crafted wisecracks.
In the former, after a nod to Leonardo DiCaprio’s fate in Titanic (“I would have shared the raft”), he explained he’d hoped to bring his mother as his plus-one, “but any woman I stand next to they say I’m dating and it’d just be awkward”. At the SAGs, he began by saying he’d have to update his Tinder profile, teased his director about his foot fetish (“Quentin has separated more women from their shoes than the TSA”), then indulged in superlative self-satire. His part in the film, he said, was “a big stretch: a guy who gets high, takes his shirt off and doesn’t get on with his wife.”
“The idea that Pitt has a speechwriter is not news,” says Anne Thompson, Indiewire’s editor-at-large. “They all use them. Carrie Fisher used to do it. This one is good, whoever they are.”
“Every one of the competing films has a PR team that brainstorm, write, manage, promote and do everything possible to control every single moment and decision of the campaign,” adds Steven Gaydos, editor-in-chief of Variety. The financial and artistic stakes are too high for anything other than micro-management. The script for such a key lobbying platform would never be left in the hands of an amateur.
Or, even, a film-maker: it’s rumoured a Netflix insider has drafted all the potential acceptance speeches for Marriage Story, while names mooted to be behind Pitt’s bon mots include Saturday Night Live stars Nick Kroll and John Mulaney. “Everything is very carefully curated,” says Thompson. “The awards teams behind each of these films have talking points, things they want to get across.”
In the case of Pitt, these include his emergence from domestic and addiction woes (“We know pain, we know loneliness,” he said at the SAGs) and his newfound singleton status. This is balanced by an amplification of his “good-old-boy qualities … leaning into jokes that men will laugh at,” says Thompson. Phrases such as “holy moly” have made an appearance. He refers to his colleagues as brothers and sisters, to DiCaprio as “an all-star, a gent”.
Also key is the dovetailing of Pitt’s podium persona with his character in the film: macho yet laconic, tough yet up for concluding a speech with a shoutout for kindness. This ensures he acts as a goodwill conduit for a film many voters might not feel is quite worthy of a top prize (just, says Thompson, as Laura Dern is likely to become “the win” for Marriage Story).
Another of Pitt’s strengths is his willingness to play the game. While his chief rival in the supporting actor category – The Irishman’s Joe Pesci – does no press and rarely attends awards ceremonies, Pitt is the opposite. “He has an incredibly engaging, warm and open acceptance of the rigours of campaigning,” says Gaydos. “Night after night, day after day, he’s attending an endless stream of events and when called upon to collect another award, he’s shown a side of himself that is sincere, witty and appreciative.”
Hollywood’s renewed crush on its longtime darling is also self-protection, thinks Gaydos. At a time when the bona fide movie star is under threat, Pitt acts as the ultimate poster boy.
The ace up Pitt’s sleeve, however, remains the real-life drama in which so many still invest: whether he and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston – now both divorced from their second spouses – could reconnect. His marital-discord crack at the SAGs was warmly applauded by Aniston in the audience, and photos of the pair congratulating one other backstage have proved an irresistible crumb to millions hoping for a reunion.
“Hollywood is a small town. And they genuinely still like each other,” says Thompson. “But Brad and Jen knew they were being photographed. Movie stars are calculating everything all the time. They make clever calculations that become viral moments. That’s how they stay movie stars.”
Whether or not a reconciliation occurs, the warmth such a prospect engenders will likely help buoy the belle of this year’s ball to his first on-screen Oscar. “Oh yeah,” says Thompson. “There’s no way it’s not gonna be Brad.”

Oscar bits

Yahoo

Oscar Week: Where The Stars Will Party

By Matt Donnelly | omg! – 20 minutes ago

 It may be customary to toast after claiming a prize like an Academy Award, but in Hollywood the celebrating starts much earlier. Oscar week is packed with some high-profile events, where nominees and their famous supporters will schmooze and sip. Here are a few that omg! is especially looking forward to:

• Remembering Liz: Jeweler Bulgari won back eight of its stunning pieces that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor. Having acquired the jewels from her estate auction, they'll celebrate the late legendary actress with a special exhibition Tuesday that's got RSVPs from Julianne Moore, Kirsten Dunst, and Drew Barrymore.
• Full Chairs at Full Tables: The movie may have been gut-wrenchingly sad, but the filmmakers and stars of "Les Misérables" are rallying for cocktails on Wednesday. West Hollywood's Eveleigh will play host with Chrysler. Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway will attend the fete, which also serves as a benefit for the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education.
• Fun and Games: Each year Haiti relief group Artists for Peace and Justice partner with domino enthusiast and social butterfly Daya Fernandez for "Hollywood Domino," a fundraiser that brings the old school glam of Havana to the Sunset Tower Hotel on Thursday. Gerard Butler, Donna Karan, Adrien Brody, Moby, Ali Larter, and others are on the list.
• Girls Night: Non-profit Women In Film hosts an annual cocktail party to applaud the efforts of lady filmmakers. WIF president Cathy Shulman will welcome Oscar winner Octavia Spencer and a slew of others to West Hollywood eatery Fig & Olive on Friday. They're coming for solidarity, but staying for the epic gift bag -- this year's includes MAC cosmetics hand-selected by makeup artist Tami Lane (a nominee this year) and a bottle of Perrier-Jouët bubbly.
• The Artist: Legendary photographer Mario Testino will offer a sneak peek of his forthcoming exhibition at L.A.'s glossy Prism gallery on Saturday. A combination of portraits and landscapes, the event should draw a major bold-named crowd. Who hasn't Testino shot in Hollywood?
• Piano Man: The Elton John AIDS Foundation once again builds over West Hollywood Park for founder Elton and husband David Furnish's Sunday viewing party. Chelsea Handler, Kim Kardashian, Sean Penn, Rashida Jones, and Heidi Klum are some of the celebs who will show in their Oscar best.
• Gold Standard: It's the afterparty. Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter will greet Oscar's big winners, a bevy of movie stars as well as luminaries from Wall Street, Silicon Valley, the fashion district, and beyond at the Sunset Tower Hotel.

The Wrap

Oscar Party List 2013: The Shindigs, From Intimate to Sprawling

Published: February 19, 2013 @ 4:40 pm

By Mikey Glazer

As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the voting is over.

The wave that started with questions over champagne at Cannes, morphed into awards whispers in Telluride, cocktail chatter in Toronto and full-scale debutante balls between October and December at AFI, Academy screenings and holiday premieres, finally crashes out wide to create a festive sea over the next five days.
Here’s how to surf your way through the 2013 slate of Oscar parties. Our listing is divided into four categories based on the guest list and tone of each: Nominees, Power Players, The Scene, and The March Through Oscar Sunday
Nominees
 
These rooms have people who may actually end up on stage at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday with a trophy in hand. But when they toast in the days before, everyone is still a winner.

Vanity Fair’s Campaign Hollywood – Dueling Dinners

Chrysler’s Toast to “Les Miserables” at Eveleigh (in support of The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education) &

Barney’s New York Dinner for “Silver Linings Playbook” at Chateau Marmont (in support of The Glenholme School)
David O. Russell’s son, who has become a big part of the media narrative of “Silver Linings Playbook,” attends this school in Connecticut. For Russell, Cooper, and De Niro, it’s been an emotional campaign, including a triple outpouring of tears on Katie Couric’s couch, and this intimate dinner will be one of the most reflective quiet notes in a boisterous week.

The Great British Film Reception
British Consul-General, The British Residence 4 P.M. – 7 P.M.
Consul-General Dame Barbara Hay hosts British nominees at The British Residence downtown.

Women In Film Cocktails
Fig and Olive, 5 P.M.
WIF needed a more spacious venue for their big turnouts, and they got it.
Octavia Spencer and WIF President Cathy Schulman host tons of nominees at this one: Debra Hayward (Best Picture, “Les Miserables”), Jacki Weaver (Best Supporting Actress, “Silver Linings Playbook”), Jessica Chastain (Best Actress, “Zero Dark Thirty”), Lucy Alibar (Adapted Screenplay, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”), Megan Ellison (Best Picture, “Zero Dark Thirty”), Stacy Sher (Best Picture, “Django Unchained), and lots of other producer, writer, and costume nominees of both genders.
Get the giftbag. I hear “The Hobbit’s” makeup artist Tami Lane drowned them in M-A-C cosmetics, and there’s bottles of the free-flowing Perrier-Jouët champagne from this event to-go in there, New Orleans style.

Agency Parties
Various Locations, Thursday and Friday Night
CAA and WME bring together their respective clients on Friday night. ICM Partners slides up a night with a party at a private residence on Thursday night.


Film Independent Spirit Awards
Santa Monica Beach, Noon

Andy Samberg hosts, and since he co-starred with Rashida Jones  in nominee “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” don't be surprised if Jones joins her real-life pal on stage at some point.

There’s something new on the plate this year. The kitchens from Boa, Katana, Sushi Roku, and the recently added Riva Bella take over the food, with an eye towards counterbalancing the early drinking. It’s still a tough task “with a big bottle of Jameson in the middle of the table,” as Hitfix’s Kris Tapley observed on his “Oscar Talk” podcast. Brancott Estate wines will also be poured for the “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Bernie,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Keep the Lights On,” and “Beasts” teams on Saturday afternoon.

The real action is in the tents before, during, and after. Inside the heavily fortified corner tent, it’s gifting with a tie-in. Mattel Games is making a donation to Film Independent for every talent that plays their movie-guessing game “Pass the Popcorn.”  While there, talent can snag a trip to a private island (from Caribbean Living Magazine), Jabra Revo headphones, and graze the commissary of last-minute fashion and beauty first-aid from sponsors like Fashion Forms and GKhair.

Weinstein Pre-Oscar Party sponsored by Chopard
Soho House, Saturday, 8 P.M.

Power Players
Hollywood’s 1 percent, these partygoers are the ones making decisions about other people’s careers.

TheWrap’s Award Season Celebration
Culina at the Four Seasons Hotel, Wednesday 6 PM
TheWrap's editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman hosts the key players of awards season and media. Last year, the social circles included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Harvey Weinstein, and Ryan Kavanaugh sprinkled amongst nominees in the plush setting.

Weinstein and Lexus’ Lexus Short Films
DGA Theatre, 8 P.M.

It’s not just Vanity Fair’s dinner planners -- Harvey’s double-booked as well. Weinstein and his COO David Glasser picked filmmakers to create a series of shorts in a branded entertainment crossover tied to Lexus’ theme “Life is Amazing.”  On Oscar week, the theme invariably brings back memories of Roberto Benigni’s spastic “Life is Beautiful” celebration in 1999 (right).

“Night Before” Party benefiting the Motion Picture & Television Fund
Beverly Hills Hotel, Saturday Night
“If you're over forty, working at a studio, agency, or production/management company and not at The Beverly Hills Hotel tonight, try harder.” This is how the anonymous industry skewering twitter account @AgentTrainee captioned the Night Before party just after midnight last year.
The big news is that The Hollywood Reporter replaces Variety as the partner on this massive roll call of all the industry’s power players. Anistons, Clooneys, Spielbergs, Afflecks, Hankses, Witherspoons, Downeys, Stillers, Smiths, Day-Lewises, Diaz, and Timberlakes are all expected.

The Scene
It’s the greatest week of the year to be in town. Even without a direct connection to this year’s Oscars, young Hollywood and other constituencies still want to piggy-back on the celebratory atmosphere. Here’s the best entries.

Art of Elysium Pieces of Heaven Art Auction
ACE Museum, Wednesday, 6 PM
Confirmed art connoisseurs include David Arquette, Justin Bartha, Moby, and Jason Statham. More fitting for art, the event moves from Smashbox studios to an actual museum.

Global Green USA’s 10th Annual Pre-Oscar Party 
Avalon Hollywood, Wednesday, 6 PM
No stranger to green, Willie Nelson performs for the climate-concerned demographic

 Expected: Orlando Bloom, Emmy Rossum, Miranda Kerr, Ed O'Neill, and an actor who performed in two nominated movies, Walton Goggins.
Oscar Wilde: Honoring the Irish in Film
Bad Robot in Santa Monica, Wednesday, 6:30 PM
The US-Ireland Alliance (headed by a former top staffer to the late Senator Ted Kennedy) honors Colin Farrell, Oscar winning make-up artist Michele Burke, and Lionsgate’s Michael R. Burns.  J.J. Abrams emcees, Paula Wagner presents and Liam Hemsworth is expected.

“Una Notte Verdie” with Fiat
Cecconi’s West Hollywood, Thursday

Oscar winners Hans Zimmer and Ron Howard (above left, with Jamie Foxx) do cocktails for the United Nation’s International Labour Organization and Green Jobs Programme.  Despite all the British spellings, it’s one of Vanity Fair’s Campaign Hollywood events. There’s a legacy on those coordinates on the corner of Melrose and Robertson: As Morton’s, it used to be the home of the Vanity Fair post-Oscar party.

Hollywood Domino & Bovet 1822 Pre-Oscar Gala & Tournament
Sunset Tower Hotel, 8 PM

Jon Hamm won the trophy last year…legitimately.
Saying he plays frequently on the “Mad Men” set, he knew the terminology and this was not some fix-job by a publicist hunting for a press angle. Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers was outside laughing at and loving the outcome.
Gerard Butler, Paul Haggis, Donna Karan, and Adrien Brody (marking 10 years since his “The Pianist” win) will be there. They have repeated this event in Panama later in the year, so schmooze hostess Daya Fernandez on how to earn a seat on that jet.

Chez Andre at the Standard
Standard West Hollywood, Thursday-Saturday, from 10 PM
Hotel and nightlife moguls Andre Balazs and Andre Saraiva sneak their East Village karaoke club in to Balazs’ The Standard for three nights only. With a chunk of the week revolving around Balazs’ other property (The Chateau) and his neighbor (Jeff Klein’s The Sunset Tower), this aims heat towards the corner of Sunset of Sweetzer.

QVC’s Red Carpet Style-Live 
Four Seasons, 6 PM
The Thursday party where Kardashians and Keiblers roamed the party is no more. Friday night’s event is a shoot for a live televised shopping special with Jennifer Hudson, Nicole Richie, and Heidi Klum, so it should be more lucrative for QVC and less of an outright festivity.

OK Magazine Pre-Oscar Party
Emerson Theatre, Friday, 7:30 PM

The March Through Oscar Sunday
This is the varsity schedule. For those with a horse in the race the march through Oscar Sunday includes these A-list stations.


The 85th Academy Awards
Dolby Theatre, Sunday, 5 P.M.

The multi-page instruction booklet that contains actual Oscar tickets asks attendees to patronize the bar on their own floor of the theatre, importing the coach-class/first-class lavatory caste system to the Oscars.

  Nonetheless, most will congregate at the lobby bar before and during the show. Patron and Ultimat vodka are the official pours and organizers tell me that shots are not banned. Limes are no problem, but good luck finding a salt shaker.

Governor’s Ball
Hollywood and Highland Ballroom, Immediately Following the Telecast

Elton John Aids Foundation 21st Annual Viewing Party
West Hollywood Park, Sunday, 4 PM

The multiple tents are so sprawling, you have no idea you’re in a park on San Vicente Boulevard. It’s completely disorienting.
After a killer Florence and the Machine performance in 2011 and a hard-to-follow Foster the People set last year, Sir Elton brings Emeli Sande (who just made her industry debut at Clive Davis’ party) to the stage after the Oscar telecast.
The dinner is packed, the after party is white hot right after the show, but it peaks just before Elton leaves to go to the Vanity Fair party himself. Deep pockets can bid on the chance to join Sir Elton and David Furnish at the VF bash.
It’s the biggest fundraising event on Oscar night and all the money that is raised goes toward the fight against AIDS, which means everyone comes through to support.

Vanity Fair Oscar Night Dinner and Party
Sunset Tower Hotel; TImeslot Arrivals

If you’re going to this, Graydon Carter and or Beth Kseniak told you so back in January, around the time of Sundance.
For a party so cloaked in mystery (they don’t release the guest list in advance, they erect a multi-story wall blocking looking-loos from seeing the Sunset Boulevard arrivals), they have a robust social media presence in real time spitting out fully edited videos of what’s taking place inside.

For winners in smaller profile categories, a little gold man no longer guarantees entry. For a party reporter, it’s the pinnacle of the profession and a tough nut that’s been cracked only by a few.

Seth MacFarlane’s After Party
Private West Hollywood Location, Late
This could just as easily go in the “Scene” category, as MacFarlane’s resume of celebrations is impressive. On Sunday, the host of the show will host 500 guests well in to the night.
Two years ago, he performed with a big band on Thursday night at Hollywood Domino. Now, he’s bringing a 70-piece orchestra to his own after-party. With an impressive track record (offering to send his neighbors out for a night on the town or join in to his bashes), this will be a high-energy punctuation mark on awards season, especially when/if MacFarlane (or the animated “Ted”) kills on the telecast.
All of these events are private, by invitation only. Many will be tweeted in real time by @CelebSightings.

Read the original article at The Wrap

Slate

Does Oprah Get Thanked More Than God? No, but Meryl does.

Crunching the numbers on a decade-plus of Oscar acceptance speeches.

By Nathaniel Rogers and Chris Kirk

Posted Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, at 2:38 PM

Natalie Portman accepts the Best Actress award at the 2011 Oscars.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Slate has updated this article and interactive feature to reflect the 2012 Oscars.

When Daniel Day-Lewis wins his third Oscar on Sunday night—an event as likely as last year's Best Actor Jean Dujardin struggling adorably with "Quvenzhané Wallis" while reading the Best Actress nominees—whom will he thank? After Day-Lewis’s first win for My Left Foot, he thanked only Christy Brown, the man he'd played in the film. The second time he held an Oscar aloft, for There Will Be Blood, he was more effusive, mentioning family members by name and focusing his speech on his director Paul Thomas Anderson’s "mad, beautiful head." Who will this new speech focus on? With the heightened emotion an Oscar win brings, how do the stars ever remember who to thank—especially with the academy requesting that winners speak “from your heart, not from a piece of paper”?

This Sunday, three more actors will win Oscars along with Day-Lewis, and one more historical performance will be required of each of them: the acceptance speech. During the past 11 years, 43 actors have given acceptance speeches during the Oscar ceremony. (We’ve updated our interactive from last year with the four winners from 2012.)  Morgan Freeman delivered a 32-second moment of grace. Halle Berry’s speech was a 4.5-minute aria of gratitude. (Heath Ledger, of course, could not deliver a speech at all.) I watched and catalogued each one to see what patterns emerged. It’s my firm belief that what comes out in the moment—or doesn’t—is a true reflection of feeling, whether the speech feels rehearsed and polished or immediate and spazzy. And in Hollywood—and what’s more Hollywood than the Oscars?—billing matters.

First is best, of course. Agents may battle for top billing on their clients’ behalf, but they rarely get it themselves on Oscar night—just one acting-Oscar winner recently, Tilda Swinton, thanked an agent before thanking anyone else. Last in the speech is also special; if you can’t get top billing, make sure you get the “And … ” spot that in a film’s credits might be reserved for the biggest star of all. At last year's ceremony Christopher Plummer ended with a gorgeous, self-deprecating tribute to his wife, Elaine, "who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for coming to my rescue every day of my life." Meryl Streep, on the other hand, thought this move too risky and placed Don Gummer first "because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech, they play him out with the music." Meryl's fears aside—really, who would ever dare play off Meryl Streep?—most winners end with a loved one, usually a spouse or child—even an unborn child. Catherine Zeta-Jones was very pregnant when she won for Chicago at the 75^th Oscars (“My hormones are just too way out of control!”) and ended by mentioning that she’d share the Oscar with her impending arrival.

The tool below allows you to see who was thanked in each actor's speech and when: first, second, third, in the rabble in the middle, or in that glorious final position.

Certainly it’s better to come last than to be forgotten entirely. It’s perhaps ungenerous to remind them, but here goes: Best Actress and Million Dollar Baby Hilary Swank attempted to apologize to her husband, Chad Lowe, at the 77^th Oscars for forgetting to thank him the first time she won, but she couldn’t help but congratulate herself in the process: “I'm going to start by thanking my husband, because I'd like to think I learn from past mistakes.” They were divorced two years later. Sean Penn thanked Robin Wright the first time he won for Mystic River at the 2003 Oscars but forgot her when he took home his second for Milk. They divorced a year later.

Winners are most likely to become choked up when they mention their family members, which could be one reason they save them for the finale. Moms are referenced most often, though dads are hardly snubbed. Occasionally a winner will mix it up with an inspirational grandparent. When Jamie Foxx told a loving story about his grandmother repeatedly whipping him, the atmosphere in the room seemed to change from exhilarated to should we be clapping?

Though it seems a cliché to thank fellow nominees, it actually happens less often than you think. That’s why Sandra Bullock’s extremely generous speech for The Blind Side at the 2009 Oscars—wherein she addressed each and every one of her fellow nominees by name—was so unusual; no wonder she’s beloved in the industry.

Hollywood (and by extension the academy) is notoriously hard on actresses, so is it any surprise that they receive fewer standing ovations than the men—yet work harder at ingratiating themselves to the powers that be? Actresses start by thanking “the academy” more often than their male counterparts, and once they get going, they aren’t as quick to stop and generally cite a longer list of people. More interesting still is that they have long memories, often ceding credit to those who helped them rise to fame. The Reader’s Kate Winslet thanked Peter Jackson at the 2009 Oscars presumably because he discovered her with Heavenly Creatures 15 years before. Penélope Cruz, who won the same night for a Woody Allen picture, thanked three earlier directors, including “my friend Pedro Almodóvar for having made me a part of so many of his adventures.” Halle Berry and Natalie Portman had similarly deep appreciation for the directors who gave them their big breaks.

Male winners occasionally looked back to early influences, but only if they were family members. Jeff Bridges, for example, thanked his mom and dad for “turning me on to such a groovy profession” and told a story about his dad teaching him the basics of acting. Colin Firth thanked Harvey Weinstein for “discovering me when I was a mere child sensation,” but it was a joke referring only to previous collaborations when he was a touch younger. He had to thank Harvey anyway for backing The King’s Speech.

You’ll hear Harvey’s name again on Sunday night if Jennifer Lawrence wins Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook. The Weinstein Company impresario helped shape the modern (relentless, shameless) style of awards campaigns, and his methods work. Perhaps you can even blame him for the amount of publicists who are thanked by name on the big night. It says something about the Oscars, or at least about celebrity actors, that their publicists are thanked by name so much more often than the people who help shape their award-winning performances. Costume designers, cinematographers, editors, and the like usually have to settle for the sad generic tent of “cast and crew”—though Natalie Portman’s Black Swan speech made a heartfelt name-filled detour toward her costumers, makeup artists, camera operators, and even the first assistant director.

When a name crops up without a connection to the winning film, it’s usually a legendary celebrity. The past 43 speeches held multiple mentions for Oprah Winfrey (two), Sidney Poitier (two), and Meryl Streep (four). Meryl, ever wittily self-deprecating, couldn't help herself when she won last year, confessing  "when they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, ‘Oh no! Oh, c'mon why? Her? Again?’ "

Though it won’t surprise anyone who thinks of Hollywood as a contemporary Babylon, God has only been thanked three times. Oscar is the world’s shiniest and most coveted false idol, the golden calf in the Hollywood Hills. It’s not that God is never mentioned: Denzel Washington started with “God is great,” and Jennifer Hudson claimed, “Look what God can do!” (Make the other four nominees lose?) There’s a reason for this notable lack of the divine, and it isn’t the absence of religious faith. It’s just that to actors, the director is God.

“You’ve truly rocked my life,” Marion Cotillard shouted to her director with the fervor of someone born again. Halle Berry named hers “a genius” and cried for his gentle guidance. Tilda Swinton directly noted the divine when she won for Michael Clayton. “Tony Gilroy walks on water. It’s entirely official as far as I’m concerned.” Only four of the 43 actors skipped their director by name in their speech: Mo’Nique, Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin—and George Clooney, whose speech might have been the most curious of all.

When Clooney won for Syriana he began by quipping, “All right, so I’m not winning Director,” referencing his other nomination that night for Good Night, and Good Luck. The speech that followed had a couple big laughs but was mostly a serious ode to the academy’s progressiveness—and, by extension, George Clooney’s own. He thanked no one directly. Who needs to worship a false idol when the man in the mirror is a golden god?

Read the full article with images at Slate