By Christopher James
We come to this place for magic. We come to the Dolby theaters to love, to cry, to watch a truly unhinged Oscar night. The Oscars have reached an interesting inflection point in their history. How do they adapt to the changing times without leaving behind what makes them special? As a movie fan, of course, like Nathaniel I want the Oscars to err on the side of more-is-more. They should be the Super-Bowl of movies that everyone is excited to watch or, yes, half watch. How have we (by we, I mean people who don’t have an interest in football) been conditioned to watch the Super-Bowl each year? Simple: the Super-Bowl party. Who doesn’t love an excuse to party and hang out at a friend’s house on a Sunday and watch something that everyone will talk about the following day? The Oscars should be longer, bigger, more fun and be the type of event that people want to throw parties for.
Throwing an Oscar party each year (sans last year for obvious reasons) has been one of my greatest joys. I invite you behind the scenes of (East) Hollywood’s biggest night (aka me packing thirty rowdy Oscar watchers in a small apartment)...
THEME
One piece of filmmaking dominated the year. It wasn’t CODA or The Power of the Dog. It starred Nicole Kidman but it definitely wasn’t Being the Ricardos. I’m talking of course about the AMC ad. In the past, I’ve done themes around movies released in the year, former Best Picture winners, snubs of Oscars past and even a Costume Design year. This time, however, it made the most sense to honor Nicole’s towering achievement… going back to the movies.
DRESS CODE
We were celebrating Nicole (and her AMC ad). Thus, the costume theme is… Dress as your favorite movie that either:
I (center) went as Nicole Kidman in the AMC ad. I'm flanked by costumes as Marisa Tomei from "Only You," Nicole Kidman from "To Die For" and an approximation of "The Power of the Dog's" Bronco Henry.
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takes you somewhere you have never been before.
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makes you not just entertained, but somehow reborn, together.
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has sound that you can feel.
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makes heartbreak feel good, in a place like this.
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contains a hero who is the best part of you.
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features a story that is perfect and powerful.
I myself tried my best to recreate the Nicole Kidman AMC commercial look. Everyone who showed up went all out, either going with films from this year (Patrizia Reggiani & Mauricio Gucci from House of Gucci, Bronco Henry from The Power of the Dog, Julie from The Worst Person in the World), recent classics (Reynolds Woodcock from Phantom Thread, Cassie from Promising Young Woman) and classics from further back (Kiki's Delivery Service, The Big Lebowski, and Moonstruck).
THE DECORATIONS
The Oscars may have chosen eight categories to punt to an earlier time slot, but we instead chose to highlight them. All along the apartment, we had fun facts and lists of all the winners of the eight categories that were presented before the show: Best Film Editing, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Short Subject and Best Live Action Short.
(left to right) Displays for Best Original Score, Best Film Editing and Best Production Design.
(left to right) Displays for Best Short Categories and Best Makeup & Hairstyling.
Display for Best Sound categories.
Aside from spotlighting crafts, I always love to hang photos of the past acting and picture winners from the past 20 years. After all, we come to this place for glitz and glamor.
Only years 2006 - 2016 are pictured here. 2000-2005 and 2017 - 2020 are elsewhere in the room.
Plus, we couldn’t help but have our own joke versions of presenters and performers.
THE FOOD
We didn't get a chance to photograph all of the dishes at the party, but I did have a photo of (most) of the placecards I made for each of them. The only one missing was Guiness for Belfast (okay, we had to phone one in). My cooking skills are rudimentary at best, but luckily I was able to workshop the menu with my partner and friends (and delivery from local businesses). Themed cocktails for Don't Look Up and The Power of the Dog kept flowing throughout the night. Appetizers from Nightmare Alley and Drive My Car started us off right. By the end of the night, we were all screaming at the TV and shoveling pizza and "tennis meat balls."
The Oscars should be fun, plain and simple. I love throwing a party to make it fun for my friends, film fans and non-film-fans alike. The Oscars can still have their prestige and take a little bit of fun (and champagne) from the Golden Globes. Let’s hope they let their freak fly more, get a bit more dramatic and remember that we are all here because we love the movies, not that we are ashamed of loving them.