The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 71

SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER Thurcday, March 23, 1989 D-3 1 I -Shelley Oscar-watching for AIDS As much as he enjoys getting carried away with his own productions, Ozier says the thing he likes best about Friends of Oscar is that it has managed to retain its intimate flavor. Although the party has grown by 20 to 30 percent a year, he says, enough people come back every year that it still resembles the kind of party it was when it first started. "It's grown from a group of my friends, to a group of their friends and then their friends," says Ozier. "It's not like buying a ticket and going to a chain hotel for New Si Wednesday event ng in the City Hall rotunda, ami, according to Ozier, it promise? to be the most elaborate yet. Ozier says organizers are expecting at least 1,200 people, dressed in every variety of black tie, to arrive at 5:30 p.m.

for cocktails and piano music by L'Etoile pianist Peter Mintun. During the televised Oscar ceremony, which begins at 6 p.m. and will be visible on 45 video monitors as well as one big screen at the top of the rotunda stairs, guests can imbibe from an open bar and partake of dinner selections ranging from pasta and a carving buffet to oysters and mountains of shrimp. At the end of the award telecast, organizers will present checks to the receiving charities, and then dancing will go on till midnight to the music of the rock band Big Bang Beat. The Friends' beneficiaries The charities that will benefit from this year's Friends of Oscar include the San Francisco AIDS Foundation Food Bank; Family Link, a residence for families of people with AIDS; and Continuum HIV Day Services, an organization that provides help to AIDS patients living at home.

This is the fourth year that Friends of Oscar has donated its proceeds entirely to AIDS support agencies a policy its board of directors decided to maintain until the AIDS crisis has passed. 9 if' I t. 4 i poorly used in "Troop Beverly Hills. in her face. When she falls into a swimming pool in her evening dress, she doesn't milk it for slapstick.

She makes a much smarter, and funnier choice. She walks out dripping chlorinated water and dignity. The same innate dignity gets her through this movie, too. MOVIE REVIEW 'Troop Beverly Hills' Cast Shelley Long, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Gross, Jenny Lewis Director: Jeff Kanew Writers: Pamela Norris, Margaret Grieco Oberman Rated: PG Theater Alhambra Evaluation: fa IIMSr ...1 1 1 si it 2v Shelley Long's fine comic talents are Norris and Margaret Grieco Ober-man possibly be dumber? Even relieved by the occasional witty line, delivered impeccably by Long, the thing is still an empty, old-fashioned, worn-out rag of a situation comedy.

The schemes and dilemmas (how to sell enough cookies to earn a spot in the jamboree), make you long for re-runs of "Hazel." Craig T. Nelson, who always gives the impression of solidity in his performances, is competent as Phyllis' wayward husband. Mary Gross seems doomed to only play obsequious sluggards when she is capable of much more. Thank goodness for Long, canny and imaginative and looking as perky as Debbie Reynolds. Her greatest gift is a fierce awareness of her physical assets.

She seems to know how to solicit the aid of every tiny muscle mm iter' lm a Ax venicie is short Zpn laughs Barbara Shulgaater 1 "EXAMINER STAFF CRITIC -Sj 00R Shelley Long one of C'. r- the freshest, most appealing, T--A attractive and clever comic -actresses around and nary a film to "put her in, rv Nary a film, that is, worthy of talents, "Troop Beverly Hills," largely inoffensive piece of fluff, jwbfters a few good laughs. But one "understands that it is Long's efforts 4hat leave you smiling rather than scripts cleverness or director 'Jeff Kanew's way with a comic mo-- ment. Oddly, that the film itself is so 'second-rate only adds stature to -Long as an actress, Sit-com level -comedy abounds yet she rises vbove it notwithstanding). Long plays Phyllis Nefler, a spoiled Beverly Hills housewife whose most well-developed skill is shopping, who buys jewelry when feeling blue and who is going Hhrough a divorce she claims is wrenching.

Seeking to inject her life with new meaning, Phyllis volunteers to be troop leader of the local Wilder- Tiess Girls troop. The girls are driven to meetings by chauffeurs in the family Rolls. Only one has ho money and her father is played by Edd Byrnes of "77 Sunset Strip" fame. (Several well-known sports and entertainment figures make cameo Appearances, including Kareem VAbdul-Jabbar, Sugar Ray Leonard, Frankie Avalon and Annette Funi- cello.) Unversed in outdoor survival, V' Phyllis determines to teach the bored little girls urban, that is, 'privileged upper-class, conspicuous survival. Off to Rodeo Drive they go, learning gem appraisal and other indispensables.

When their first overnight camping trip gets rained out, Phyllis checks the troop into the Beverly Hills Hotel and orders room service. Could this script by Pamela DONT MISS THE NEW ef-MGM lili.irl hi iir WHEN VISITING WAIT DISNEY WORLD OPENS MAY 1 K7-A414 fhMtta Regency 3 4 Star Dally 1:45, 3:30, 5:15, 7:00, 8:45 Barg.mat.lst nr. On avail, seating Daily 12:15, 1:50, 3:30, 5:00, 7:00, 8:40. Barg. SatSun Wea.

1st nr. only. THE FUNNIEST COPS ARE FUNNIER THAN EVER! -2ND GEARY AT 1 8th AVE MARKET I ALEXANDRIA ST. THEATRE TSi StOOMJ THEATRE Daily: 12:30, 2:30, I Daily at: 4:30. 6:30, 8:30, 3:35, 7:05 W0TCH THE tCADfMY 0WAHDS 0M I 'XL By Sara Frankel Of THE EXAMINER STAFF KILE OZIER KNOWS a thing or two about throwing a party.

Nine years ago, when he and about 30 friends decided to watch the Academy Awards, they didn't just get together in front of the television in someone's living room. Instead, Ozier invited guests who were instructed to bring a bottle of champagne and to dress creatively in black tie to the Bedford Arms Hotel, where he had rented a suite and plastered it with 14 borrowed television seta, enough so no one would miss a second of the broadcast. "I kind of seem to take off with ideas," shrugs Ozier, who has produced events for occasions ranging from former Mayor Dianne Fein-stein's 1984 inaugural to the Black and White Ball. He now works as production manager for Stanford University's National Centennial Celebrations. Reflecting on the way "Friends of Oscar," his yearly get-together to watch the Academy Awards, has grown into one of San Francisco's annual extravaganzas, he adds, "Every time I give a party; it somehow ends up being a major produc tion." Party outgrew its space Since the evening at the Bedford Arms in 1980, Friends of Oscar has turned into one of his biggest pro ductions of all.

After the first year at the Bedford Arms, the event moved to Ozier's living room, and by the third year had already grown to 80 people. Two years later, the party had grown so large Ozier and his mend and co-organizer John Twomey couldn't afford to pay for it. Rather than scale down the pro duction, the two decided to start charging admission enough, says Ozier, to "make a profit and give it away to something good. In the five years since then, Friends of Oscar has grown into a series of annual benefit events that culminates with a party to watch the Academy Awards every March. This year's party, a benefit for AIDS charities, will take place next I JM) Ml IHO HMIUdllll I DolbyDaily: 12:30.

3KX). 8:00. Oscar Wednesday, March 29th. f)olhvl omorrow: 1:1 S. 5:45.

815 Wednesday, March 29th. EXAMINER STEVE ESSAFF Kile Ozier produces annual event Ti'iil ltl My 0 tj 0 0 iirjjuaii'Sj'iTtD H. SON 7f' MMt i WEEK Slh 8th hm I COLMA FRANCIS ff UA the MOVIES 362-4832 THEATRE 994-1065 12:05, Dolby Daily: 1:30, 3:45, 6:00, 8:15, OSCAR WE0NESD0Y. HURCH 2BTH NOW PLAYING Year's Eve." The theme of this year's party could be loosely described as "Hollywood chic." The usually bare jro-tunda will be transformed into a kind of high-tech opening-nightset piece, complete with gold lame draping and architectural lighting. Ozier will only describe the lighting designs as "special," promising a few surprises that will echo the Hollywood theme of the evening.

For attendees who follow every development on the Academy Awards broadcast, Oscar ballots are included with each invitation. The guest who turns in the awards ballot closest to the actual Academy Award winners will win a package called "The Hollywood Weekend at the Portman Hotel" a weekend that includes theater tickets and a shopping spree. Other awards include clothing, electronics equipment, food and wine, and a two-week cruise on the Royal Cruise Line. Charities get all the proceeds But the main thing, Bays Ozier, is that Friends of Oscar promises to raise a lot of money for AIDS service providers. Unlike many charity events, where funds go to pay for the evening, Friends of Oscar is entirely underwritten by its sponsors.

As a result, every penny spent on tickets goes directly to support the charities picked as recipients. Although everyone who wants to attend Friends of Oscar must be invited, the only thing people need to do to get invited is to call and ask for an invitation. Friends of Oscar can be reached at 781-7573; the cost of the benefit is $75 per person. so. SAN FRANCISCO ctKTUKV plaza iM WATCH THI THEATRE T43-S200 MIOEMT AWARDS OSCAR WEDNESDAY IDstbyDaHy: 1:00, 3:30.1 MRCH ZtTH.

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