Goodies in the bag

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