Oscar Party 2011 (Menu and Recipes for the Academy Awards)



Mural of the 10 Best Picture Nominees

The last few years I have thrown an Oscar Party.  Who knew that if you got tasty food, cocktails, and (ahem) some friendly wagering all in one place you could get even the most hardened anti-award-show types to have a great time?  I will eventually go back and post recipes and some pics from previous parties, but lets begin with the most recent.

The main components to the shin-dig are threefold: A dish for each of the movies nominated for Best Picture, fun decorations including the free hand Mural in the 100 Mile Hallway, and the Oscar ballot game where everyone guesses who wins for prizes at the end of the night.  Throw in some top flight movies, some over priced fashion, and some mediocre comedy and you gotta party baby!  Let's roll out the red carpet and take a look at the nominees...



Here is the menu (and links to the recipes) for the dishes to represent the nominated films.  Some of the names might elicit groans and eye rolls, but some of them were pretty hard to come up with, and its all in good fun so just roll with it.

1. The Fighter- Punch
2. The Social Network- The Social Knochwurst
3. 127 Hours- 127 Hors (D'oeuvres) - (Snack Platter)
4. Toy Story 3- Soy Tori - (Teriyaki Chicken Skewers)
5. Inception- In-Pep-Tion - (Stuffed Peppers)
6. The Kids Are All Right- The Curds Are All Right - (Nacho Cheese Dip)
7. Winters Bone- Wings & Bones - (Chicken Wings & Short Ribs)
8. True Grit- True Grits
9. The Kings Speech- The King's Peach Cobbler
10. Black Swan- Black Flan - (Blackberry Custard)

Now, decorations and a creative menu will only keep your guests interested for so long.  The best way to actually keep them attentive during the show is to get their competitive nature going.  Enter the Oscar Pool game.  There are 24 awards given out during the show, ranging from Sound Editing and Makeup to Best Director and the granddaddy of 'em all Best Picture.  Print out a ballot (there are a number of them available on line once the nominees are announced) and assign a point value to each category.  Here is the scoring schedule I've used and it does a good job of balancing value of the "most important" awards and keeping the game competitive through out the night:

• Best Picture- 15
• Best Director- 13
• Bast Actress, Best Actor- 12
• Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor- 10
• Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay- 8
• Animated Feature, Documentary Feature, Cinematography- 7
• Animated Short, Live-Action Short, Art Direction, Costume Design, Documentary Short, Foreign Language Film- 6
• Film Editing, Original Song, Original Score- 5
• Makeup, Sound Editing, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing- 3

This scoring system has worked for us, but you can tweak it any way you like.  Once you have your scoring system, on a printed ballot put the value for each next to each category, a place to print your name, and a spot for a tie breaker (I like using what time will the show end, to the minute).  Make enough copies for your guests and you are good to go.  This year I found a little Oscar replica to hand out to the winner, but I'm sure you can get creative with some way to motivate your guests to join the game...

Movies and film are a wonderfully vibrant and important part of "Americana", and the Oscars are the biggest night in Hollywood.  They are, in their own phony, over-produced, self-important way, one of the most vital pillars in our society.  Granting recognition to those who dare to stand out and take the rest of us with them.  Whether it be a trip back in time, the story of two star crossed lovers, or to a galaxy far, far away, the journeys we take through film are important (J-Lo. movies not withstanding).  And even if you don't buy in to all of that... The Oscars are a good excuse for a party!  So, if you like movies, parties, hanging out with your friends, and beating your friends at award show ballot games, this is a great way to incorporate all of these things into one night.  Break a leg...

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