Jersey Boys Christian Hoff and Daniel Reichard and Brooklyn boy Chuck Schumer at New York's party at the Spotted Pig last night.Photo: Patrick McMullan

To: Lynda Obst
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 1:38 PM
From: David Edelstein
Re: Last Year’s News

Hi Lynda:

The Oscars are such old news. Really, I went out for a hamburger last night and took a little walk (well, a half walk, half stumble) in the beautiful falling snow, and tens of thousands of bloggers filled the Internet with their musings. I wrote you last night that I had absolutely nothing to say and you didn’t think I had LITERALLY nothing to say, so I gather you were late for your post-Oscar party waiting for me and I’m so sorry.

Photo: Getty Images

From: Lynda Obst
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 11:43 AM
To: David Edelstein
Subject: The Aftermath

Dear David,

So it was the Departed mini-sweep we suspected it might be, all centered on the inevitable crowning of Marty as Best Director. From Editing on, it became a drumbeat, didn't it? But before that, the most interesting trend that I hadn't expected at all was the love showered on Pan's Labyrinth — for a minute, I thought I was watching the Independent Spirit Awards. Art Direction, Makeup, Cinematography! Why not Director? All these choices determine the look of the movie, all are made by the director, all complete his vision. There were many tough choices this year, with this movie coming out late in the voting season, but it is curious in retrospect that Del Toro himself was not nominated by the director's branch of the Academy.

Oscar night is almost here! New York film critic David Edelstein and Hollywood producer Lynda Obst continue their discussion of the race. Check back after the ceremony for more.

From: Lynda Obst
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 3:33 PM
To: David Edelstein
Subject: RE: Journey's End

Dear David,

Maybe Al Gore will be that guy to bring politics to the Oscars tonight. This morning, the gang on This Week With George was still wistfully thinking he would declare for president when he grabs his statue tonight. If that happened, it would be news beyond a spectacular upset like Meryl beating Helen. I can report that Al was not, however, glad-handing or politicking Friday night at Mr. Lourd's. Sorry, Cokie. At least the former vice-president will clearly remind us of what would have happened if the recount went right.

Oscar night is almost here! New York film critic David Edelstein and Hollywood producer Lynda Obst continue their discussion of the race. Check back after the ceremony for more.

From: David Edelstein
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 12:58 PM
To: Lynda Obst
Subject: Journey's End

Dear Lynda:

I thank you for that stirring account of life among the too beautiful and overpaid. I talk big in print (“Not up to snuff, Mr. Clooney”) but go agahhh-agahhh-agahhh when I see those kinds of stars in person. I am relieved to hear that mature women still find Peter O'Toole fuckable in the flesh, because you'd have to be a necrophile to want him as he's photographed in Venus.

As Oscar night approaches, New York film critic David Edelstein and Hollywood producer Lynda Obst are discussing the race. Check back through the weekend for more.

From: Lynda Obst
Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2007 3:14 PM
To: David Edelstein
Subject: Re: The Parties

Dear David,

Can I tell you about the parties? And I’ll get to your questions along the way. By the time I arrived at Bryan Lourd’s affair, the New York contingent (Graydon Carter, Fran Lebowitz) was leaving, and the line was ten minutes just to drop off your car at the valet. I was worried we had actually come too late, but no. Somehow, the coziness of Bryan’s sprawling architectural home, combined with his now traditional detail of camellia wrist corsages given to the women on our entrance, made the crush of wall-to-wall movie stars less unmanageable than I feared.

As Oscar night approaches, New York film critic David Edelstein and Hollywood producer Lynda Obst are discussing the race. Check back through the weekend for more.

From: David Edelstein
Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2007 1:09 PM
To: Lynda Obst
Subject: The Parties

Dear Lynda:

At this point, my aesthetic judgments are even less relevant than earlier in the week. Now, it’s all about the parties, the nasty gossip, the things that no one will say publicly but will be reflected on the ballots—and become a part of Academy history. So I’m going to make life — my life, anyway — easier by interviewing you.

Sacheen Littlefeather refuses Marlon Brando's Godfather Oscar in 1973.Photo: Corbis

From: Lynda Obst
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 2:18 PM
To: David Edelstein
Subject: RE: Overcoming Obamamania

Dear David:

We spend all this time brooding over what’s the best performance, the best movie — because we love to. We pick the purest vodka, the finest wine, our favorite football team, the most marbled steak, the fattest tomato; we love to root, to choose and then to triumph or be deflated, to be right or to be angry. This is a way that we participate in the global Zeitgeist and map the undercurrents of the culture and how we individually track with it. Are we Crash or Brokeback people? But it doesn’t mean our obsession with the winner diminishes other performances. It’s true that it’s an honor to be nominated and the greatest ride of your life, yadda yadda. But without winners, there would be no wacky speeches, no cheering, no betting pools, no fun.

Workman prepare for the Oscars presentation yesterday.Photo: Getty Images/AFP

From: David Edelstein
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 2:01 AM
To: Lynda Obst
Subject: RE: Overcoming Obamamania

Dear Lynda:

Actors in biopics clean up at awards time because:

1. What you said: the magnitude of real lives, etc.

2. Biopics are character-driven, which means less emphasis on plot, which means better showcases for actors, who can focus on their “arcs” and epiphanies instead of staring at blue screens and pretending to be awed.

3. They have to transform (usually), so their acting is easier to see and, therefore, to reward. You hear, “What an amazing actor!” more often than, “What a believable behaver!” — although behaving believably onscreen is often the greater feat (which is why Oscar-deprived Kate Winslet might be the best actress of her generation).

The king and queen at the Orange British Film Academy Awards earlier this month.Photo: Getty Images

From: Lynda Obst
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 4:07 PM
To: David Edelstein
Subject: Overcoming Obamamania

Dear David:

It’s a cold rainy day in Tinseltown, and the first Oscar party is struggling to drown out the Obamamania buzz. Tonight, once Entertainment Weekly and Tara and Peter Guber fête Fox Searchlight’s Last King of Scotland, Little Miss Sunshine, Notes on a Scandal, and Thank You for Smoking (will we be allowed?), we’ll get back to the crucial business of debating the winners of statuettes, not primaries.