Dental floss, therapy sessions with a phobia expert, 15 pairs of luxury false eyelashes and a loo brush are among the items to be contained in this year’s Oscars gift bag, the much-coveted swagbag handed out to nominees in the directing and acting categories ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards.
The bag, whose value is estimated to be in the six-figure range, is, as usual, dominated by beauty serums and treatments – with many of this year’s marked by marijuana content following a broad legalisation of the drug in California last year.
Cannabis-infused skincare products feature, as does a gift box featuring cannabis edibles and lotions, as well as membership to a pot-friendly Hollywood social club.
Other presents include a wearable silent breast pump, which retails at £250 and allows nursing mothers to “ditch the hours spent hidden in cupboards, tethered to a wall or cleaning tubes”, a grip-free dog leash and a spy pen donated by the Peta. The organisation hopes recipients will pop the pen in their breast pocket and activate it in the vicinity of animal abuse.
Reflecting the creative nature of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an original painting by Reian Williams, a portrait artist who specialises in dogs and big cats, is also included. The representative image shared by Distinctive Assets, the marketing company that puts together the bags, shows two women lightly wrapped in sheets, one in an apparent state of ecstasy, as a tiger prowls at their feet and a butterfly flutters above. Enormous daubs of blue paint are smeared over the wallpaper in the background.
Perhaps the most valuable present is a small-ship luxury break to Iceland or the Galapagos islands, one of four holidays on offer. At the other end of the glamour spectrum is a glow-in-the-dark toilet plunger featuring a huge poo emoji as its sucker. Named Mister Poop, the antimicrobial bathroom accessory is, according to its manufacturers, is a “crappy product that really works”.
The lucky-dip nature of the bag’s contents reflects the lack of certainty over what this year’s ceremony will actually include. Hostless for only the second time in its history, a rolling roster of high-profile presenters, including the cast of the forthcoming Avengers movie, will unveil the winners and introduce performances of the five nominated original songs.
Following a U-turn last weekend, the telecast producers are committed to airing all 24 awards – including cinematography and editing – within the three-hour running time.
The ceremony will open with a performance by ageing rockers Queen, with Adam Lambert standing in for Freddie Mercury. Mercury’s biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, is in the running for best picture but sexual assault allegations against its director, Bryan Singer, may prove its undoing when it comes to clinching the prize.
The current favourite is Roma, the black and white semi-autobiographical story of an upper-middle class family in 70s Mexico City and their beloved housekeeper. Alfonso Cuarón also seems likely to take best director.
Other best picture nominees include Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, A Star Is Born, period romp The Favourite, superhero movie Black Panther, Spike Lee’s real-life crime story BlacKkKlansman, road movie Green Book and Dick Cheney biopic Vice.
The acting categories are slightly more open to upset, with Vice star Christian Bale the main contender to Rami Malek, whose portrayal of Mercury has won him many fans.
Other Brits who could unseat frontrunners include Olivia Colman, whose turn as Queen Anne is up against veteran Oscars bridesmaid Glenn Close (for The Wife), and Richard E Grant, gaining ground on supporting actor rival Mahershala Ali following a month sharing his ecstatic joy at being nominated for Can You Ever Forgive Me?.
