It’s Oscar night. Opulence and excess, glamour and profligacy, absurdity and immoderation. And that’s just the goodie bags the stars get for turning up. This year’s booty will be worth $100,000. A sample of what this year’s nominees, presenters and assorted hangers-on will be hauling home: A $6,000 widescreen digital TV; a $700 Krups kitchen centre, including espresso machine and a year’s supply of beans; a three-night stay, including services of a ‘‘personal surf-butler’’, at the five-star St Regis Beach Resort and Spa in California ($5,900); a red leather beauty case filled with Shu Uemura cosmetics and beauty accessories, including a pair of mink eyelashes ($600); a party at Morton’s The Steakhouse ($1,500); Armando Manni olive oils ($540); a baroque Tahitian pearl necklace ($3,200); a Dyson DC11 canister vacuum cleaner ($429). The Oscar bag, devised in the 80s, is emblematic of a ‘‘beat-this-if-you-can’’ freebie culture. —The Daily Telegraph
