This Sunday, March 7, is Hollywood’s Super Bowl, the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The show begins at 5pm PT on the ABC network, with a five-second delay in case an award winner starts offending non-liberals in the flyover states.
If you’re looking to snark, snicker, laugh or cry in public, the following venues are hosting Oscar-viewing parties:
Los Angeles Film Enthusiast’s 2010 Annual Oscar Party Extravaganza
Libertine 8210 W. Sunset Blvd., 4pm, $31 per person, which covers entertainment and food, drinks extra. Relax in plush sofas near the fireplaces and big flat screen TVs. Enjoy cocktails from the full bar, chat with film fans, and make new friends. Please dress up. RSVP here
Oscar Party at Busby’s West
Busby’s 3110 Santa Monica Blvd., 4pm-10pm, $17 per person, includes appetizers, red carpet photos, Oscar ballots, goodie bags, raffle tickets for prizes, entry into the Oscar pool for prizes, and cake. A full menu and drinks are available for order as well. Dress to impress, or arrive casual. RSVP here
Visual Communications 2010 Oscar Party and Fundraiser
Cinespace 6356 Hollywood Blvd., 4pm, Visual Communications (VC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to accurate and honest portrayals of Asian Pacific American peoples and communities through the media arts. They are holding a sponsored fundraiser at Cinespace, the premiere movie lover’s bar-lounge.
$20 for VC members and students (pre-sale), $30 general pre-sale, and $35 at the door. For $300, a VIP table for six guests can be reserved in the sweet center section with accompanying VIP swag bags. There will be free appetizers and drinks sponsored by Jinro and Hite beer. For more info and to purchase tickets, click here.
Cinefamily Awards-Watching Party and Fundraiser (and cocktail contest)
Silent Movie Theater 611 N. Fairfax Ave., 4pm, Watch the Oscars on the big screen of the art deco-styled Silent Movie Theater (with sound, even). The pre-show will show the docudrama TVTV Looks at the Oscars, starring Lily Tomlin as a housewife in the Midwest watching herself nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Nashville.
The Cinefamily will be selling specialty cocktails developed and named after each of the ten Best Picture nominees, but they are stumped on four of them and need your help. Submit your cocktail recipe inspired and named for the movies Precious, An Education, District 9, and/or A Serious Man and you could receive two free passes to the Awards Night Gala or any General Admission screening. Deadline is midnight March 6. Admission is $15, dress up or down. For more info, click here . To buy tickets, click here.
Columbia College Chicago’s “Night at the Oscars” Viewing Party
Universal City Hilton (Sierra Ballroom) 555 Universal Hollywood Drive, 4pm, Columbia College Chicago , the largest arts and media college in the country, is hosting their seventh annual Oscar party. For $50 per person, CCC alumni, friends, and the public can enjoy complimentary valet parking, a walk and photos on the red carpet (one year they recruited high school students to scream like rabid fans at the guests), raffle prizes, the Oscars on three huge video screens, and a buffet & hosted bar with beer, wine, and champagne.
Columbia will be rooting especially for alumnus Mauro Fiore, nominated for Best Cinematography on the blockbuster Avatar. You do not have to be a Columbia College alumnus to attend, but be prepared for a big contingent of Chicagoans. Cocktail or formal attire recommended. For more info and tickets, click here or call Director of Alumni Relations Sarah Schroeder at 323-469-0443.
Police Activities League (PAL) at the Oscars
The Hollywood Museum, 660 N. Highland Ave., 3pm; you can enjoy the exhibits, such as the Oscar-nominated costumes from Avatar, or watch the stars arriving in their designer outfits next door to the museum. PAL is a community-based crime prevention program that provides alternatives to at-risk youths. This is a fundraiser event for a very good, very local cause. Tickets are $150 per person (plus a $9 service charge) for reserved table seating, with a discount of four tickets for the price of three. Price includes televised screening on the big screens, museum admission, cocktails, appetizers, and a buffet dinner. The biggest benefit is that your printed ticket (with photo ID) grants you the ability to drive into the restricted, maximum-security area near the ceremony and park in the reserved lot (for an extra fee, of course). Formal attire required.
For more info and tickets, call 1-866-WAN-TIXX (1-866-926-8499) or click here.
Night of 100 Stars Oscar Viewing Party
Beverly Hills Hotel – Crystal Ballroom 9641 Sunset Blvd., 4pm, If you have $1000, you can hobnob at Norby Walters’ black-tie affair that features current stars and past Oscar winners. There’s only a limited number of tickets available, but for a cool thousand, you can hang out with the celebs. Ticket includes reserved table seating, dinner, and an open bar. More info here. For tickets, call 323-874-0716
If you wish to forego the modern era and experience the Golden Age of Oscar, check out
The Cicada Club’s 1940 Academy Awards Costume Party
Cicada 617 S. Olive Street, 6pm, with dancing to music of the late 30’s and early 40’s. Cover charge is $40 pre-sale, or $50 (cash only) at the door to enjoy Maxwell Demille’s Cicada Club costume party as they hearken back to the Academy Awards show of 1940. Come dressed as a character from the Best Picture nominations of 1939: The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Ninotchka, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Dark Victory, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, or Wuthering Heights. If you don’t have a costume, their regular dress code will suffice: coat and tie for gentlemen (no jeans, zippered jackets, or athletic shoes), and cocktail dress, skirt or pants suit with matching jacket for the ladies. Valentino’s Costumes (http://valentinoscostumes.com/) is offering a 25% discount for costumes for this night only.
Drinks and dinner from Cicada are extra. If dining, you need to make reservations with the restaurant separately (213-488-9488). Guests without reservations have standing room and limited seating in the mezzanine lounge (also where the bar is) on a first come, first served basis.
Dean Mora and His Orchestra featuring Kayre Morrison and Damon Kirsche begin their first set at 8pm, and the second at 9:30. At 11pm, the after party will commence in the Oviatt Penthouse, but tickets for that portion of the evening are sold out. There will be a large paper moon for photographs, and special guest Madame Vindaloo, the Sultry Soothsayer, will predict Academy Award Winners 70 years in the future, in the year 2010.
For revelers outside of Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has a list of Oscar viewing parties by state.
Hooray, Hollywood.