The limos didn't stretch quite so far this year. The parties were fewer, with studios opting for more private — and cheaper — dinners over the traditional apres-awards excess. Even the acceptance speeches were put on a budget, with a 45-second time limit cutting the ceremony down to a no-frills three and a half hours, 40 minutes shorter than last year's notoriously bloated telecast.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 73rd Annual Econo-Oscars.
Nobody dared mention it up on the podium — the otherwise sharp-edged Steve Martin didn't crack a single joke about it — but the looming writers' and actors' strikes, along with Wall Street's shaky status, were on everybody's minds last Sunday evening. There were signs of belt-tightening all over, from the austerity of the outfits (poor Jennifer Lopez couldn't even afford a bra) to the grumbling at the cash bar ($3 for a Diet Pepsi!), giving the old Shrine Auditorium an almost wholesale atmosphere, like an Academy Awards Discount Warehouse.
''There's anxiety about the economy, there's anxiety about the strikes,'' Best Supporting Actor nominee Willem Dafoe acknowledged while strolling up the red carpet before the ceremony. ''People are putting it on hold and trying to enjoy the Oscars, but by tomorrow they'll be back to the strikes mighty quick.''
''Hollywood is definitely battening down,'' agreed Pulp Fictionproducer Lawrence Bender while unwinding with a peach vodka and mango juice after the show. ''[People] are spending less. It's looking pretty bad.''
Unless, of course, you happen to be Best Actress Julia Roberts, who woke up Monday morning to find her face on the front pages of a stack of newspapers piled outside her door at L'Ermitage hotel (assuming she did awaken; her Do Not Disturb light stayed on for most of the morning). Or Best Actor Russell Crowe, who gave one of the night's most memorable speeches (even if he lost Mister Congeniality by blitzing through DreamWorks' Gladiator party, snubbing the press). Or Marcia Gay Harden, who turned out to be one of the evening's few surprises, snagging Best Supporting Actress for Pollock. (Said the stunned winner, ''I should have bet on myself.'') Or Steven Soderbergh, who was the other surprise, nabbing Best Director for Traffic.
Still, even some of the winners took a stab at the New Frugality. Roberts arrived at the Shrine not in a limo but an Expedition SUV (Sting did her one better, tooling around in a van for most of the weekend). Other stars, like Chocolat's Juliette Binoche, had cost-cutting thrust upon them (the Best Actress nominee asked for extra tickets to the Vanity Fairparty — and was told no). And then there were those who made the ultimate sacrifice and stayed home, at least for part of the ceremony. Matt Damon watched his buddy Ben Affleck present a clip from Ben's house. ''We had a few people over,'' Damon confessed at the Vanity Fair party. Pearl Harbor director Michael Bay had an even more cost-effective evening, watching ''in my underwear, with my dogs, who weigh 250 pounds.''
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