\n
Seated by the window at a hightop table was the filmmaker John Waters, who had been at the party since around 3 p.m., when a small percentage of the event\u2019s regulars are invited to arrive for a dinner that takes place during the broadcast.<\/p>\n
Less than 24 hours before, Mr. Waters had been in Ocean City, Md., where he hosted a screening and talk for his 1988 movie, \u201cHairspray.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI went home around midnight, lost an hour because of damn daylight savings, got picked up at 4:30, and went to the Philadelphia airport so I could come to this party,\u201d he said. \u201cHow\u2019s that for dedication?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Waters said that he had loved \u201cPoor Things,\u201d a kaleidoscopic movie about a Frankenstein-like surgeon who implants the brain of a baby into the body of a recently deceased woman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\u201cAnytime an insane, sex art movie with a $35 million budget becomes an international box office hit, that\u2019s good for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But that wasn\u2019t the real reason he was here. \u201cThe whole point is to prove you\u2019re invited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
A woman approached to tell him how much she loved his films.<\/p>\n
Her name was Cathy Scorsese and she was there with her father, Martin.<\/p>\n
Turns out, Dad receives Mr. Waters\u2019s annual Christmas card, which last year was accompanied by a blow up doll of the sender.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was great,\u201d said Mr. Scorsese, who was now at her side.<\/p>\n
Seconds later, they were all taking pictures together.<\/p>\n
Upon completion, Sharon Stone bounded up to Mr. Scorsese and gawkers swarmed, eager to capture the director of \u201cCasino\u201d in a picture with the woman who starred in it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Naturally, they complied.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
A few steps away was the television producer Shonda Rhimes, who had been at the dinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to go take my Black excellence photo,\u201d she said, darting toward the front of the room with a group that included the actress Tracee Ellis Ross, the actor Jeffrey Wright, the musician Babyface and the filmmaker Ava DuVernay.<\/p>\n
Oscar winners arrived, trophies in hand.<\/p>\n
One was the singer Billie Eilish, who along with her brother, Finneas O\u2019Connell, became the youngest two-time winner in Oscars history when she won the award for best original song.<\/p>\n
This time, they had won it with the song \u201cWhat Was I Made For?,\u201d from the movie \u201cBarbie.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was cradling it as if it were a baby. Asked where she planned to put it when she got home, she replied, \u201cnext to the other one.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n