Oscar Class of 2009

*Click on the above photo to see the full size.

One of my favorite Oscar events of each year is the Nominees Luncheon, where actors will mingle with film editors, cinematographers with composers and the like. For some reason, the stars just seem a bit more like human beings in the photographs from this event. And what's in the gift bag? A special monogrammed hoodie. Oscar has never looked so casual.

Ordinarily, I'd be scouring Getty images this evening, hoping that the various photographs would somehow reveal some narrative of the event. But this year, Oscar has reached out to the public by offering up a live stream. A few highlights—especially the scuffle to assemble the class photo—were worth your three hours. Others, not so much. I'm a little disappointed in myself for indulging in such a time suck.

The stream began with a press conference in which reporters asked nominees about the Oscar experience, who they'd like to meet, and other gratuitous questions that lent themselves to name-dropping. The class photo followed (seriously, the best part of the entire charade), and then the show's producer's addressed the nominees.

Their plea? Keep your speeches interesting. Supposedly this suggestion is customary at this event (this is just the first time the public has been made aware of it), but I couldn't help but feel that the producers were being entirely selfish. They essentially coached everyone on what they thought was a good speech. Had I been in the room, I would have asked one of the caterers to pass me a bucket of tomatoes.