BRIAN VINER: It’s no wonder Sky has decided to cancel the broadcast of the Oscars… who would want to witness this pompous vigil?

Only once did I experience the entire Academy Awards ceremony from start to finish.

It was 1995 and I was at a showbiz party in New York where we were all invited to throw in $50 and make our predictions for each category, with the winner getting to take the pot.

My fellow guests watching the live TV broadcast included Christopher Reeve and the great director Sidney Lumet.

It was perhaps the last truly vintage Oscar year, with Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, Four Weddings And A Funeral, and Quiz Show vying for Best Picture.

(Unfortunately, I pounced on Shawshank for Gump and finished last.)

These days, the “watchability” of the Oscars depends on something dramatic happening, like in 2017 when Best Picture was accidentally given to La La Land instead of Moonlight, or when Will Smith punched host Chris Rock after he made a joke about Smith’s wife. .

Otherwise, the ceremony has become untenable as self-conscious actors, directors, writers and producers use their moment in the spotlight to preach whatever might be the latest fashionable wake message.

No wonder Sky has decided to stop broadcasting the Oscars after 20 years – and I feel completely unmoved.

Actors have always loved being in the stands.

It’s been half a century since Marlon Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather to decline his Best Actor award for The Godfather, in protest of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans.

But that kind of behavior was an exception at the time. Now it’s the norm.

Nothing devalues ​​the crazy hoopla like puffed-up stars, led to believe their own publicity by ridiculing reporters and subjecting us to their pomposity.

Perhaps another broadcaster will take over. But if they expect people to stay up half the night, like they used to when the Oscars meant something, they haven’t looked either.