All hail the Bagger

As anyone who follows the ever-growing, ever-working and ever-sniping world of Oscar blogging knows, no one does it with more wit, insight or eloquence than the New York Times’ David Carr — or, as he chooses to be known for the next couple of insane months, The Carpetbagger.

Unlike the witless Harold Robbins novel for which he is named, however, The Carpetbagger has serious smarts. A seasoned media journalist and author (check out his superb memoir, “The Night of the Gun,” if you haven’t already), he treats film awards season as the intricate political labyrinth that it is, but with a fine, ever-present sense of irony. Okay, I’m gushing, but he’s special.

So it’s a thrill to see him make his entrance on the 2008 derby — at the sensible starting point of late November, unlike us year-round lunatics — with an extensive introductory column, and a brand-new logo:

The column is a great catch-up session for those just tuning into the race now, laying out most of the big contenders and their occasionally bumpy journeys thus far. A lot of it is familiar territory to regular awards-watchers — Weinstein vs. Rudin on “The Reader,” the Cinderella story of “Slumdog Millionaire,” Kate Winslet’s two-pronged awards attack — but it’s economically assembled, with admirable attention to detail. (Did you know that Winslet has size 11 feet? Before reading this, I didn’t.)

I particularly enjoyed his wry take on the inherent hypocrisy of the whole pricey campaigning process in the midst of a national economic crisis:

Watching Hollywood hug itself in an orgy of self-congratulation has some real psychic benefit. Who among us will not enjoy the diversion of watching someone opening an envelope that contains something besides the ashes of your 401(k)?

As the season kicked into gear, some suggested that Oscar backers would rein in spending out of deference to hard times and the bottom line — Peter Bart, the editor in chief of Variety, wrote a column yowling about the lack of Oscar ads in his trade paper — but profligacy remains the default setting for the silly season. In just the past two weeks the producers, actors and directors of this season’s contenders have been crisscrossing the skies between Los Angeles and New York, holding star-studded screenings, indulging in lavish parties and all but licking the faces of media types and Academy voters in hopes of gaining that ineffable edge.

Zing. Lots more where that came from — check out the rest here. Welcome back to the circus, Bagger — we’ve missed you.