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There Will Be Lots Of Gazing At Stars On Oscar Night

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By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 21, 2008

So the 80th annual Academy Awards will arrive as scheduled on ABC Sunday night. "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart returns at the helm. The red carpets will be rolled out. The actors will be glammed up. The fashion police will be on alert. Cue the music. Let the pomp begin.

This spectacle of the show itself is reason most couch spuds watch. Raise your hand if you have seen all of this year's nominees for best picture. You are excused from the rest of this column.

Each year the moviegoing audience dwindles. And this year's Oscar nominees do not include top box-office draws such as "Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third," "Transformers" or "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

Nearly three times as many people saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks" as saw best picture contender "No Country for Old Men." Another contender, "There Will Be Blood," ranked 83rd among the 100 top-grossing films of 2007. The most financially successful nominee is the teen morality charmer "Juno," a sleeper at $125 million.

In a year of disturbing and violent films, "Juno" is the "Little Miss Sunshine" or "Sideways" kind of entry. The rest, "Blood,"' "No Country," "Atonement" and "Michael Clayton," have plots driven by murder, betrayal and paranoia. This is not unusual considering that we live in the shadow of terrorism, mistrust of government and fear that the American dream is getting out of reach.

But we don't ponder the significance of the nominees while watching Oscar ceremonies. If we did, we might have to think about what "Superbad" or "Knocked Up" says about our culture. And that would just make your head hurt. On Oscar night, we just want to see stars.

We tolerate acceptance speeches from the unknown and unglamorous people who win for such things as art direction or film editing just to see Johnny Depp or George Clooney.

We sit through predictable jokes from presenters because they are often more buzz worthy than the nominees. Among them this year: Miley Cyrus, Patrick Dempsey, Colin Farrell, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Garner, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway and Katherine Heigl.

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813 259-7654 or wbelcher@tampatrib.com.

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