Oscar Night 2013

I love the movies. I love to go the movies, I love to watch movies at home. I love the stars that work so hard to entertain us. It stands to reason, therefore, that I love Oscar night – it’s the biggest TV event of the year for a movie lover like me. And you know, we kind of get into it over at my house. I make food that represents each of the Best Picture nominees, we play Oscar bingo, we drink champagne and (sometimes) dress up and I really enjoy the whole night.

This year’s show did not disappoint me at all. I know there have been mixed reviews of Seth MacFarlane’s hosting performance but I thought he was funny and that opening was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Sure, he was crass and some of the jokes were in poor taste but, well, have you seen Ted? No one should be surprised by any of this. And honestly, I’m going to watch the show to the bitter end whether I like the job the host is doing or not because I love the movies. I managed to stick with the entire show when Ann Hathaway and James Franco did it back in 2011, after all, and I can’t picture anyone doing a worse job than they did.

Anyway.

The fashion is always a big part of the show for me and I thought the choices of many of the stars this year were terrific. Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington, Amanda Seyfried and Sally Field all nailed it, in my world. Anne Hathaway? Not so much. I will say, though, that I miss the days before stylists as we just don’t see the Red Carpet disasters we used to see. Remember Bjork?

I was also pretty happy with the distribution of awards. Dale was quite disappointed that Lincoln didn’t win for Best Picture but I honestly think that Daniel Day Lewis winning Best Actor for his portrayal of Lincoln is all that really mattered. Sure, I would have loved to see Sally Field win Best Supporting Actress because, really Anne Hathaway sang a song, but still, I’m okay with that. I loved Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty and thought she gave twice the performance Jennifer Lawrence did in Silver Linings Playbook but the post win interviews with Jennifer Lawrence are fantastic and that alone makes me happy that she won. And I’m glad that Argo won for Best Picture. I’m not sure it was my favorite as I truly enjoyed all of this year’s nominated films, but I think the win was deserved.

And finally, here’s the stuff you really want to see: the food I prepared.

Sushi for Life of Pi. I know, it’s a stretch but poor Pi had to eat raw fish while he was on that raft so sushi made it to our menu. Plus, if Wolfgang Puck can serve it to the stars then I can serve it to my family.

We had red white and blue fruit kabobs in the design of the American flag for Lincoln. No one ate in this movie so it wasn’t easy coming up with this one. Work with me here, people.

There was baked brie for Amour and a baguette to go along with it for Les Miserables. Not pictured but also delicious was hummus for Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, crabby snacks (of course!) for Silver Linings Playbook – I figured those could also represent Beasts of the Southern Wild since they ate a bunch of crab in that movie – and white cake for Django Unchained. That white cake actually fell apart when I took it from the cake pan so I made it into parfaits instead, complete with raspberries to represent all the damn blood in that movie.

And there you have it, my summation of Oscar Night 2013. I can’t wait to do it all again next year!

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This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. Wow! How festive! I fell asleep in my chair sometime after 10:00 and dvred the show to watch in the morning. Spent the weekend with my granddaughters and I was sooo tired 🙂
    I was pleased Argo won, but of course had a fondness for Lincoln. Usually we see most of the films before the Oscars, but these were the only two we saw this year….hmmm

  2. YUM! I want to spend Oscar night with you! Lincoln was the only movie we saw but they all look worth seeing this year. The Oscars, I can take or leave…that is unless I spend the night watching with you and your gang! 🙂

  3. Wow! It’s like a holiday! So much fun Carole, and I thought the event was okay…Seth did have some throw out some great jabs and I liked the boob song!

  4. Having seen absolutely NONE of the nominated movies, I still thoroughly enjoyed the Oscars! And now, I want to see *all* of the movies! I think first, though, I’d like to read Life of Pi, and then see the film. Who won your Oscar Bingo? And did you make the sushi??

  5. What fabulous food choices! I’m “borrowing” the fruit kabob flag for 4th of July, or maybe Memorial Day when the crowds descend on our house. I enjoyed Seth and thought he did a good job (especially the boob song) but the whole affair seemed curiously flat, and I’m not sure why. Maybe the lack of suspense waiting for outrageous surprises?

  6. I love that you guys get so into the Oscars. I watched the last 30 minutes, which seemed to be when the “important” awards were presented. I liked Seth McFarland too!

  7. I don’t watch enough movies (though I saw tons more movies in 2012 than I had for years past) to watch the Oscars, so I mostly follow along with my friends who tweet or FB the event. It looks like you go all out for this. So much more exciting than my early bedtime despite a mid-afternoon nap.

  11. Okay- that is amazing!! I want to do this next year too. Any chance you would share your ideas for recipes before the party night next year? I’m thinking that I might not be as creative and smart as you were Carole! What fun!

  12. Wonderful! Spectacular food. I think I’m going to have to up my game next year.

    I saw more nominated movies this year than in quite a while.

    I thought Seth MacFarlane was cute and talented, but I didn’t care for most of it. (Someone called him a “demented Donny Osmond” or something like that, and I thought that was spot-on.) After the weeks of build-up, glitz and glamour of the red carpet, I was looking for something more tasteful, if not elegant. (I never heard of him before The Oscars, nor watched any of his shows beyond clips that I couldn’t escape… not my thing, I guess.)

    That said, like you, I watch every minute no matter what!! It’s THE MOVIES!! 😉

  13. Wow, you did this SO MUCH BETTER than I did!! we were all about healthy (katie made spring rolls and hummus and we cut up a slew of vegetables) eating…and complete snark about the rest. Sara had to work and was relying on our tweets (and a few live blog feeds) to know what was going on. All fun. and I can’t remember the last time I saw the best picture award LIVE. (p.s. LOVED MO doing that…)

  15. You definitely know how to have fun, Carole! I love the Oscars, and try not to get bogged down in the hosting drama. Because, really, like you, ‘m gonna watch anyway!) I loved so many of the movies this year! I’m happy with all the winners (although I’m only so-so on the whole Life of Pi experience. . . and give me a break when it comes to Ms. Hathaway) — but probably most happy about Jennifer Lawrence. Anyone that can go mono a mono with Robert DeNiro like she did in SLP surely deserves an Oscar!

  16. I really love how you go all in for your Oscar celebration. One day I’ll get it together and come up with something good for us. Right now I’m just happy to watch it all… till the very end.

    I’m with you on Seth McFarlane and I did see Ted. Perhaps the people planning it should’ve. I love the dresses and I too miss the disasters. My favorite was Stacey Keiblers dress. Fab!

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