Inside Oscar night's hottest party: at One Sunset

One Sunset was the place to be Sunday, as the Oscar night party place for Fox Searchlight quickly turned into the Oscar celebration of 2009. The studio kept press inside to a bare minimum, so this is a bit of an exclusive.

With "Slumdog Millionaire" winning an incredible eight Oscars, the constant ecstatic outbursts in the room during the viewing party were just as plentiful as the Champagne glasses being filled.

Now, of course, this was all fairly predictable, but it didn't stop revelers like Fox Searchlight President  Peter RIce, 20th Century Fox co-chairs Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos, News Corp. head Peter Chernin and the entire "Slumdog" team, from Danny Boyle on down, including all the kids and Dev Patel, from absolutely giddy reactions as they made their way into the party from their triumph at the Kodak.

Gianopulos told me it was a great night

"You have got to love Hollywood,"  he said with a laugh. The back story on how Fox mangaged to get this one away from the grip of Warner Bros., which had made it but didn't have a clue how to release it, is now Tinseltown legend.

Photographers lined Sunset to grab shots of Boyle, Patel and crew making their way into the intimate restaurant that Searchlight took over. The "Slumdog" back-patting was going well beyond 1:30 a.m., the time I left in order to file this story.

Biggest reaction of the night was when Boyle won and performed his improv "Tigger dance" as he began his thank-yous.

Over the years, I have spent Oscar night in various ways. I remember F. Murray Abraham got so mad at me for grabbing him for an interview and keeping him from eating his dinner at the Governors Ball in 1985 that he tried to hit me with his Oscar. Or at least it appeared that way. Then there were the great Oscar night celebrations a la "Slumdog" that I spent so much time at. "Platoon's" victory party was fun. The "Crash" party at Chateau Marmont was just insane.

The "Slumdog" gang skipped the Vanity Fair party just up the street in order to spend time at their own once-in-a-lifetime Oscar shindig.

Everyone there seemed to agree this was an Oscar show for the ages.  Sure, it wasn't perfect. They never are, but the Bill Condon/Laurence Mark production got so much right it doesn't really matter.

Best innovation of the show was having five former winners present in each of the acting categories to the newest winner. Seeing Shirley MacLaine, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman,  Halle Berry and last year's champ, Marion Cotillard, all hand one off to Kate Winslet was just breathtaking.

This is the kind of thing show business should be all about. Let's hope this becomes a new tradition.

Curiously, the male 2008 winners, Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem, were no-shows, but this innovation was so successful they weren't really missed when it came time to present lead actor and supporting actor awards.

Other highlights were the ever-changing sets of David Rockwell, the best I have seen in any award show, and the superb presentation of the three original song nominees. A big Hollywood top-hat-and-tails number fronted by Jackman and conceived by his "Australia" director, Baz Luhrmann, was also great fun and a tip of the top hat to old Hollywood style.

Also knocking it out of the park was the heartfelt tribute to Jerry Lewis by Eddie Murphy, one 'Nutty Professor' to another. Then there was the brilliant idea of setting the "In Memorium" segment to music. Queen Latifah was pitch-perfect in her rendition of "I'll Be Seeing You" as we collectively said goodbye to Paul Newman, Charlton Heston, Sydney Pollack and so many others. Touching perfection.

If the goal was trying to add a touch of class back into the Oscarcast, Condon and Mark succeeded beyond our greatest hopes. And it wasn't all about the nominees. In addition to the rather indie-oriented list of contenders, there was plenty of respect paid to the biggest moneymaking movies of the year via clip packages that emphasized the kind of movies that sell tickets.

As for all the awards handed out, there were no real surprises unless you count Japan's come-from-behind victory in the foreign-language film race. Favorites were thought to be the more widely seen and distributed "Waltz With Bashir" and Palme d'Or winner "The Class," but some voters told me earlier in the week that they were bored by "The Class" and didn't know quite what to make of "Bashir," which would have been the first animated film, first documentary and first Israeli movie to win in the category. Clearly three "firsts" were just too much for the conservative academy tastes.

"Departures" also benefited from a distribution strategy that made it hard to see during key voting periods. The film had a bit of exposure at the Palm Springs Film Festival this year, but that was it. All other screenings just barely met the academy's requirements for foreign-language entries. Every movie in the category must be seen in a theater environment or you would not be eligible to vote. That's no problem for "Class"and "Bashir" (both from Sony Classics), which have been in general release, but by making "Departures," which doesn't open until May, difficult to see for those who have a day job, the relatively new distributor, Regent, was able to make it an even playing field. Another advantage the film had was its emotional core, a hallmark of many winners in this category.

As for the rest of the winners, I got 20 out of 24 correct. This was good enough to tie Dave Karger for the Gurus of Gold crown and to place second to Tom O'Neil at The Envelope. Tom got 21 right, thanks to a last-minute change in animated short. Bringing up the rear was Scott Feinberg, who scored 18, but he was easily the most improved, getting six more right than he did last year.

I was delighted to see my prediction of Penelope Cruz winning the supporting actress prize for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" come to pass. I made this prediction right after seeing the film in Cannes in May and stuck by it throughout the topsy-turvy award season that saw eventual lead actress winner Kate Winslet try to weasel her way into the wrong category. Fortunately, the academy recognized Kate in the lead actress category for "The Reader," where she belonged, opening the competition to Cruz, who came home Sunday night with a guy named Oscar.

My other favorite moment was seeing the impeccable coordination of Philippe Petit, the subject of "Man on Wire," who balanced his brand-new documentary Oscar on his chin. Priceless.

OK, yes, I would have loved to see Mickey Rourke win or "Wall-E" take all six of its nominations, but life isn't always fair.

These Oscars were.

A consultant I know who brought home a few Oscars for the team Sunday night is ALREADY talking about next year and a certain musical being touted for major awards. Give us a few days rest and we'll be ready for the hype.

RIght now, it's just congrats to "Slumdog," the little movie that could. May you party on all week.

— Pete Hammond

(Photo: Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Ayush Mahesh Khededar, Azhar Mohammed Ismail, Dev Patel, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar and Freida Pinto. Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Comments

[Film buff]

Great win for Slumdog!! Congratulations!

I'd like to point out that a slight mistake in the photo credit here.

The kid holding the Oscar, third from left, is actually Tanay Hemant Chheda, and not Azhar Mohammed Ismail, as indicated in the credits.

Would someone correct that please? Thanks

[Jemima]

It's been 2 whole days and we're still over the moon! Great win all round, tho' I agree, Rourke should have got the Oscar. What a speech that would have made!

[Ray Burnside]

The only thing "insane" about the Crash party was that such a awful, childish film was given a prize for its third-rate melodramatics.

Interesting that Hammond name-checks F. Murray Abraham. B/c this column reads like it's 1985... at least he's able to remember such loooooong-gone-days.

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