SPOTLIGHT: WAITING FOR OSCAR

Is self-loathing the shadow twin of excessive self-regard? That seems to be the case in Hollywood, which has long been fond of beating itself up, as Dr. Phil might say, even as its leading citizens grow ever more imperious. But, hey, biting the hand that coddles you is fun! And so we find ourselves enjoying a mini-golden age of Hollywood satire, a delightfully bilious eruption of on-screen conceit, greed, and spinelessness. HBO alone has thoughtfully given us both Entourage—Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold will go down in history as one of the great archetypal Hollywood graspers, up there with Sammy Glick and Norma Desmond—and Lisa Kudrow's formerly underappreciated The Comeback. On a less scathing note, the new season's big critical hit has been Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Aaron Sorkin's attempt to divine the humanity that may or may not lurk beneath network television's venal breast. (Good luck.) Heart, fortunately, has no place in For Your Consideration, a joyful vivisection of the annual awards-season frenzy which is also the latest big-screen installment in the ongoing comedy master class being taught by writer-directoractor Christopher Guest, co-writer and co-star Eugene Levy, and the impeccable troupe that previously improvised its way through Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind. Catherine O'Hara gets the Fearless award here, playing a vain but fading actress with no regard for O'Hara's own vanity; she could go toe-to-toe with Gloria Swanson in a Sunset Boulevard mud-wrestling match. Or, as Ari might bleat, "Self-abasement, baby!"

BRUCE HANDY