Local insiders celebrate the Academy Awards, the press honors Congress, and a hometown girl makes good
By Janet Donovan
Actress Taraji P. Henson poses with Donna Brazile and a poster of her co-star Brad Pitt at a pre-pre Oscar party at Arcadia.
Bingo
“The dirty little secret of these Oscar parties,” said WJLA-ABC-7 film critic Arch Campbell, “is that nobody has seen the movies, nobody. You ask ten people here if they’ve seen any of the nominated pictures and they may have seen one, Slumdog Millionaire.” Such was no doubt the case at Washington’s only officially-sanctioned Oscar party benefiting the America Red Cross and hosted by Michael Saylor, Pamela Sorensen and David Marra at the Hard Rock Café. Campbell had seen them all and called them all. Best Actor: Sean Penn (Milk). “Everyone would like Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) to get up and make a speech because you know it will be outrageous, but Sean Penn’s the one.” Best Actress: Kate Winslet (The Reader). “I love Meryl Streep but Kate Winslet is going to win.” Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (Dark Knight). “He would have won anyway, posthumously or not.” Best Picture: (Slumdog Millionaire). “The movie resonates with our current national psyche.” Another winner, this one unexpected, was the “terrific” food. “This hamburger,” Arch noted, “is the best I’ve had since the Little Tavern was in business.”
