Oscar Night At Hollywood Theater

2016 UPDATE:  THE PARTY BEGINS WITH RED CARPET COVERAGE AT 4PM ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28.  AS USUAL ADMISSION IS FREE.

This is the first year, I think ever, that I’ve managed to see all the Oscar nominees for Best Picture.  This year that is nine movies!  As if that’s not good enough, we also managed to see all the short animated films and short live-action.  With all this prep, we decided to do something a little different this year and watch the show live at the Hollywood Theater.  It’s free.  They served pizza, brought in a bartender and showed it on the big screen.

We had a fantastic time. We sat in the front row, drank far too many beers and laughed a lot.  There was a “best dressed” contest and a very cute old lady who couldn’t hear a thing won!

(Please excuse my blurry photos.  It was dark and I could not use a flash)

Since they show commercials the atmosphere is much more relaxed than a regular movie. People had cell phones out, a few brought lap tops. There was a lot of cheering and booing.  The were pretty much alway a line for drinks.  I only had beer but they had cocktails named after some of the movies.

As for the show, I thought it was great! Between Channing Tatum’s dance number and Captain Kirk ‘s visit from the future, he won me over. I know a lot of people hated Seth McFarlane’s job, but it worked for me. He did exactly what I expected: a few offensive jokes and lots of singing. He kept the energy up and kept things moving.

Of course part of the fun of watching all the movies is predicting winners. The theater had a $1 Oscar ballot with prizes for the most correct. I did not get anywhere close to winning with only 9 correct. The winner predicted 22 put of 24 categories. Here are some of my predictions, favorites and winners.

BEST PICTURE

Favorite:  Django Unchained       Prediction:  Lincoln or Argo         Winner: Argo

LEAD ACTOR

Favorite:  Daniel Day-Lewis        Prediction:  Daniel Day-Lewis       Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis

LEAD ACTRESS

Favorite:  Emmanuelle Riva      Prediction: Jessica Chastain          Winner: Jennifer Lawrence

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Favorite:  Christoph Waltz         Prediction: Robert De Niro          Winner: Christopher Waltz

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Favorite:  Jacki Weaver              Prediction: Anne Hathaway            Winner: Anne Hathaway

ANIMATED FEATURE

Favorite:  Brave                           Prediction: Wreck It Ralph                Winner: Brave

ANIMATED SHORT

Favorite: Head over Heels           Prediction:  Paperman                    Winner: Paperman

LIVE-ACTION SHORT

Favorite: Henry                              Prediction:  Asad                              Winner: Curfew

DIRECTING

Favorite:  Michael Haneke      Prediction:  Steven Spielberg             Winner: Ang Lee

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Favorite:  Skyfall                         Prediction:  Life of Pi                       Winner:  Life of Pi

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE  (I did not see any in this category)

Favorite:  None.    Prediction:  Searching for Sugarman      Winner:  Searching for Sugarman

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (I only saw Amour)

Favorite: Amour                           Prediction:  Amour                          Winner:  Amour

ORIGINAL SONG

Favorite:  Skyfall                          Prediction:  Suddenly (Les Mis)       Winner: Skyfall