Oscars hit Hollywood despite war

With the awards underway, the champagne is on ice, the limos have arrived - including a few bulletproof ones - and the appropriate but somber black dresses selected as Hollywood holds its biggest show of the year - the Oscars - against the stark backdrop of war in Iraq.

Organizers insisted that the 75th annual awards ceremony take place as scheduled despite the war but organizers admit the today's Oscars have turned into a nail-biter worthy of Alfred Hitchcock.

American network ABC could preempt televising the show at the last minute because of war developments or break into it with news bulletins. The phrase "This just in..." could be competing with "And the Oscar goes to..."

Outside the Kodak Theater where the show is taking place, limousines - even those with bullet-proof windows - must navigate a zig-zagging maze of orange cones and barricades just to get to the small patch of red carpet that leads into the venue.

Hollywood Boulevard was cordoned off for eight blocks or more on either side of the Kodak with cops in cars, cops on motorcycles, cops on bikes and cops on foot at every turn.

The fences and barricades didn't stop demonstrators, however, both against the war and in support of the US-led troops. And movie fans still showed up to see celebrities even if it took binoculars just to catch a glimpse of a fast-moving star.

At the famed intersection of Hollywood and Vine, a group of about 50 protesters holding signs saying, "One more American for peace" and "Bring US soldiers home" rallied. One woman wore a ruby red gown and had blood-red makeup smeared on her face and arms.

"The eyes of the world, theoretically, are on Los Angeles," said protester Peter Thottam, a Los Angeles-based attorney with a group known as Answer L.A.. Thottam said the war was being waged for "empire" and "oil" and added, "no doubt it will only boost enlistment in al Qaeda."

Some protesters said they would try to block the entry into the Kodak ahead of the ceremony. At the opposite end of street, a group supporting the troops waved American flags and had tied red, white and blue ribbons to the barricades and fencing.

"Those people are isolated from the world. They are not privy to the information that our leaders are," said Ted Hayes, a member and organizer of the group. "The real stars today are the troops."

Movie fans also lined the street just to see the carnival-like atmosphere that was mounting.

Cynthia Humphrey of Fort Smith, Arkansas agreed with the decision to curtail the glitzy red carpet walk-up, saying it was respectful and befitting of the world situation.

"I think there's a little more going on in the world," Humphrey said.

From the speakers atop its steeple, a church just behind the Kodak Theater played out "Let there be peace on Earth."

That many celebrities are opposed to the war in Iraq is no secret but the big question is whether they will turn the Oscars into a forum for dissent.

Several stars and Oscar nominees chose to do that at the Independent Spirit Awards for independent films on Saturday.

In a star-studded luncheon, the art house movie industry's version of the Oscars, celebrities blasted President Bush and the American-led war against Iraq.

Most outspoken was filmmaker Michael Moore, the man behind the popular anti-gun expose "Bowling for Columbine," whose title refers to the Colorado high school where two students massacred 13 people in 1999. His film is up for an Oscar in the documentary category.

"The lesson for the children of Columbine this week is that violence is an accepted means by which to solve a conflict," Moore, wearing a badge that said, "Shoot movies, not Iraqis," said as he accepted a Spirit award .

He later told reporters he had spoken to a number of Oscar nominees who said they planned to acknowledge the war in acceptance speeches if they won in their categories.

In a nerve-racking week, Oscar organizers insisted that the show would go on, saying that it was more important ever to celebrate American culture. They added that they were monitoring the military campaign in Iraq on an hourly basis.

Since the war started last week, Hollywood has been wringing its hands over how to appropriately celebrate the movie industry during a U.S.-led war with Iraq that has sparked mass street protests around the world.

Perhaps the hardest job in Hollywood this week is to be a joke writer for Oscars host Steve Martin, who has a fine line to walk for a self-declared "wild and crazy" guy.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, decided to do away with the show's traditional red carpet celebrity entry, saying that many stars felt uncomfortable with the glitz and glamour of parading before the media while war raged.

The Oscars show has never been canceled in its 75-year history, but has been postponed three times: in 1938 because of Los Angeles floods, in 1968 after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and in 1981 because of the shooting of President Ronald Reagan.

- REUTERS