An Assembly Line of Hors d'Oeuvres

You're invited to an intimate little cocktail party Dec. 6 at Rupert Murdoch's New York apartment. Well, only if you've been deemed a "tastemaker" who could help Fox's big Oscar contender Life of Pi and its director, Ang Lee, gain momentum in an especially heated awards season. Thanks to strong films and a shift of the start of Oscar voting to Dec. 17 -- the earliest date ever -- distributors are packing in as many parties and screenings as possible before voting ends Jan. 3. That means an early onslaught of bicoastal campaign lunches, dinners and A-lister-hosted screenings. "It's just exhausting," gripes one Academy member of the barrage of parties. "I've stopped going."