Oscars party like it's '99

Frenzy of Oscar fetes to hit crescendo Sunday

By BILL HIGGINS

When the man sang "we're gonna party like it's 1999," who would have thought he meant in March?

The number of Oscar night parties has easily doubled since '97: Unlike last year with "Titanic," more films are legitimate contenders, leading to more hopeful studios; businesses have seen the worldwide publicity benefit of an Oscar tie-in; and the economy is booming.

This year Vanity Fair, the BBC, Elton John, the Hollywood Stock Exchange Web site, the new Standard Hotel, Sony Music, Talk magazine and the William Morris Agency will all be throwing parties, with the fete frenzy reaching its zenith (or nadir) on Oscar night, Sunday.

With so much buildup, it's a wonder that industryites can muster a Sunday smile for people they've been mingling with for the previous few days.

And the guest list will run the gamut. A Monica Lewinsky appearance is rumored, while Russian generals might be seen rubbing elbows with the likes of Red Buttons and Jermaine Jackson.

There's so much potential social gridlock among the parties that the idea of watching the Oscars at home seems like a flash of genius.

Sunday

Take the corner of Melrose and Robertson. On any given night, two sedate restaurants share the turf, and an unsuspecting driver could cruise by without even knowing they were open.

For the past six years, Vanity Fair magazine has staked out Morton's: a sit-down dinner viewing party with 140 guests, followed by a free-form, SRO, post-Oscars affair. The dinner attracts a decidedly older, more Manhattan crowd. The post-Oscar party has always been a hot ticket. In fact it was so popular last year that the fire marshal restricted entry, and people like Faye Dunaway and Neve Campbell had to wait outside. Across the street at Pagani will be the Elton John/InStyle mag party. This is an AIDS benefit that has the same setup as Vanity Fair's: Some come for dinner, more come later.

Just north is the Cobalt Cantina, where the BBC is planning a live-feed to England with a party featuring performances by the Spice Girls and Lenny Kravitz.

Oscar rivals DreamWorks ("Saving Private Ryan") and Miramax ("Shakespeare in Love," "Life Is Beautiful") will be the focal points of the night's two major studio parties.

DreamWorks and Paramount will be co-hosting in the Barnaby's restaurant space on Fairfax, where the big draws will be Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Miramax will take over the Beverly Hills Hotel's Polo Lounge, which tends to attract a young crowd.

The Pink Palace venue will be a bit congested: "The Night of 100 Stars" is being held downstairs in the ballroom. The contrast with the Miramax party should be striking since some wags have suggested that the "100" in the party's title has as more to do with the age of attending celebs than with the number of stars present.

However, this benefit for Martin Scorsese Film Foundation does have the most exotic guest on any party list: Siberian region governor Alexander Lebed, the front-runner to succeed Russian president Boris Yeltsin.

The online Hollywood Stock Exchange and Excite are taking over the House of Blues for a bash that will include a performance by Beck. A spokesman described this affair: "If Swifty Lazar's party was the convergence of the literary world and Hollywood, this is the convergence of the digital world and Hollywood."

Down the street, Andre Balazs will show off his yet-unfinished Standard Hotel. The idea is that this party would heat up around midnight and then go to dawn. The bash's publicist, perhaps with an eye on California's 2 a.m. limit on serving alcohol, said the dawn patrol aspect is now being played down.

Saturday

Many of the revelers making their way through Sunday's limo-lock will have had a full day of schmooze-and-run Saturday.

The day's big event is the Independent Spirit Awards held in a massive tent alongside the Santa Monica beach. Think Sundance with seagulls.

The British Academy of Film & Television Arts' tea party at the Shutters Hotel is the British consul's annual brush with glamour.

Gramercy and Universal have taken over Dominick's to celebrate the seven noms for "Elizabeth." There's a wisdom in celebrating on Oscar eve because, as a Gramercy spokesman says, "everyone will still be happy."

While Lions Gate has taken over the Chateau Marmont for a cocktail party, Miramax is holding its annual Oscar eve bash at 5:30 p.m. at the Regent BevWilshire.

Friday

Festivities begin as early as Friday with October Films' party at the Chateau Marmont, the William Morris Agency bash at the massive ACE gallery on Wilshire Boulevard, and the consul general of Italy reception for Roberto Benigni.

Tony Mottola and Sony Music will be celebrating at the Mondrian's Asia de Cuba restaurant, while the night's most private party is thrown by ICM president Ed Limato at his home. And he does mean private. This might be Oscar weekend's most press-free zone.

Though Chris Lee, Christopher Ciccone and New Line's Mike DeLuca are taking over the Atlantic restaurant for their own party today, going much earlier than that and Oscar weekend would begin with the DGA awards.