Access Inside The Kodak: Blogging The Oscars

4:20 PM — Jon Stewart will make references to the following folks in his opening monologue: Jack Nicholson, Laura Linney, John Travolta, George Clooney, Day-Lewis, Ellen Page, James McEvoy, Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp. Got an inside source.

4:26 PM — Nicole Kidman is not sitting in the audience. She has bronchitis. She will be backstage, present and then split. Inside production source.

4:38 PM – Heidi Klum, who was in high heels, was a little daunted by all the stairs — a good 50 or so — that you have to walk from the end of the red carpet into the Kodak. She asked me, “How are we supposed to get in” [to the theater]. I said, “up those stairs.” She sighed, and I told her, “relax, you have 40 minutes.” She laughed.

5:16 PM — With minutes to go before the awards, George Clooney is drinking a glass of white wine while walking into the theater.

5:28 PM — Regis just called Javier Bardem “Xavier” — that’s his grandson’s middle name. Kidman is now sitting for a bit and will split after her presentation.

7:18 PM — There is seriously no action at the bar — beginning to think they’ve come up with a hidden place for the stars to hang out.

7:48 PM — Wesley Snipes and I just talked a little. Asked him how he was to have the IRS issue over. He said, he was, “much relieved.” And when I pressed whether it was a good feeling, he gave an emphatic, “Hell yeah!” He’s looking forward to getting back to the business of making movies.

8:01 PM — Just talked with Steve Guttenberg and Marlee Matlin and asked them who’s going to win. Marlee said she was, and when I asked who was going down in flames, she pointed to Guttenberg. Very cute rapport. She said he’ll lose so he can vote for her. Guttenberg and I talked about living for the moment. He lost his labrador of 15 years two nights ago, but is taking it OK. He said he won’t get another dog.

8:10 PM — Tilda Swinton and her boyfriend hit the bar. She enjoyed a celebratory glass of white wine.

8:16 PM — It was a little big surprising that there was only one or two super brief claps when Tom Hanks said the “Best Short Documetary” would be announced by servicemen and servicewoman in Iraq.