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Lights! Camera!
By Kelly Breckunitch
kbreckunitch@kansan.com
Host your own glamorous Academy Awards party and invite your friends as your own personal'A'-list
The Academy Awards ceremony is an extravaganza. Eric Melin, film critic and founder of www.scene-stealers.com, knows all about the excitement of the night. In fact, he gets into it every year by hosting an Oscar party of his own.
"For me, the Oscars is my Super Bowl." Melin says.
Kelli Berry-Szrot, owner and principal designer of Red Door Event & Design, 941 Pennsylvania Street, says though the Super Bowl leads to a different party, an Oscar party can be similar in some ways, especially when friends are rooting for different movies. "There's that quiet competition of,'This is who I'm supporting, this is who I'm backing', and you know,'My guy against your guy,''Berry-Szrot says.
The tension is a lot more evident at his parties, Melin says. "They're taunting each other to see who's doing better than who," Melin says.
Alex Backus, Lawrence junior and media relations contact for KU Filmworks, says the awards spark conversation between friends. "Whichever one wins, we can debate about it or talk about it," Backus says.
All three recommend watching the Oscars with friends because it's just a better
experience. Backus says being a film student it gives his friends and him a chance to discuss the films in more detail, especially because they have a keener eye when watching films.
Melin says you almost have to watch the Oscars as part of a group because of the length of the program.
He knows from experience. Melin says he has been hosting Oscar parties since 1992 and he enjoys being able to do it.
Melin used to live in Manhattan, but he still remembers the last Oscar Party he threw there. "We had a big giant cardboard Oscar that we mounted on the roof and we put spotlights up there and we had a big red carpet," Melin says.
Berry-Szrot says his partner at Red Door picks a different theme each year based on a film nominated for Best Picture. She says one year her partner chose a Brokeback Mountain theme and everyone came dressed as cowboys and her partner served some elk chili. Berry-Szrot also says her partner comes up with a specific cocktail tailored to the theme each year.
Berry-Szrot says in terms of planning your own Oscar party, you can be as creative as you want. "Films are such a creative medium as it is that there's so many different directions you
can go," Berry-Szrot says.
A lot of times people dress up for Oscar parties as well. Berry-Szrot says that shouldn't be a problem for college students. "It can be elegant without being extravagant," she says.
Maybe you don't want to stay home and watch the Oscars with your friends. If not, you can still watch it as a group at the Granada Theater, which is where Backus and KU Filmworks are hosting their Oscar party this year. Backus says there will be prizes and ballots for guests who predict the winners.
If you do stay at home though, make sure ballots are available. It's something all three have noticed as a staple of Oscar parties.
We all watch movies with our friends, so why not watch the awards ceremony for those movies with friends as well?
Melin says films can really be as much of a hot topic as anything else friends may talk about. "The way people talk about sports, it's kind of funny to hear them talk about movies the same way," Melin says.
Melin has even seen people start fights and get kicked out of bars over the Academy Awards. He says at the Scene Stealers' last Oscar party, when Crash won best film, some attendees started fights in the bar where the party was hosted and were thrown out.
Photo Illustration by Chance Dibben
And the winner is ... The Academy Awards can be tension-filled time when watching the show with friends. The Oscars are at 7:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC. Throw your own viewing party to celebrate the best movies of 2008.
The Academy Awards may not be the Super Bowl, but it still gets people talking. You don't want to predict the winners alone, so round up some of your friends and get your own Oscar party together. It's really not that hard. Please, though, just don't punch anyone if Frost/Nixon wins Best Picture. JP
Milk
Milin says:"Suffering a little bit from the common biopic hazards, Milk doesn't always have a plot that propels itself forward effectively especially in the beginning.
Like Harvey's life, though, the movie finds its direction and positions its main character as a symbol of hope without a preachy mentality. ...Van Sant's agile movie, full of fresh performances and vigorous life, should go a long way towards making people examine how they feel about human rights." Grade: Solid rock fist up
Best Pic rundown
Eric Melin, film critic, can help you catch up on the Best Picture nominees with synopses
from his reviews of the Best Picture nominees. If you want to read the entire review, you can find it on his website, www.scene-steelers.com, which is the only place you can check out his video review of
nominee The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
(Grade: Minor rock flist down).
Frost/Nixon
Melin says:"Because of the flat, reality-style presentation of the movie, I still couldn't help but wondering why I was watching a movie based on a play based on a TV interview.
And while I normally don't complain too much about facts getting distorted in movies for better drama, Howard's format inherently seems like it's trying to pass itself off as reality, and that really bugged me." Grade: Minor rock fist up
The Reader
Melin says:"As it stands,
The Reader at least has a
perspective on the Holocaust
and deals with a subject that
most films won't—the idea
of a national conscience and
responsibility vs. personal relationships:"
Grade: Minor rock fist up
Slumdog Millionaire
Melin says:"[Director] Boyle has made one of those rare movies that brings to life the sights, sounds, and smells of one specific place while also making a film that anyone
anywhere can relate to. If you are wondering why I haven't mentioned subtitles up until now, it's because I almost forgot there were any. Foreign films are so commonly associated with 'great, slow-moving works of art' that I almost forgot I had to read subtitles throughout Slumdog Millionaire.
Grade: Rock fist way up
February 19,2009
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