I thought that the 83rd annual Academy Awards were kind of meh, but the party was great! For the 8th year running, I hosted a get-together at my place to watch the show. For the first year since I became a parent, I had actually seen all of the best picture nominees, and it was a great crop of movies this year. Some quick notes:
The show: I thought James Franco and Anne Hathaway were kind of boring (mostly James Franco) and I really like both of them. Oh well. Maybe it wasn’t them, but the general lack of fun in the show? Maybe it was the show’s writers? Maybe it was the fact that the hosts were not comedians? I don’t know, but it was certainly my least favorite telecast in recent memory. By far, my favorite bit was the auto-tune segment. I love a good misuse of auto-tune.
The awards: The actual awards and winners were pretty spot on. I was rooting for Hailee Steinfeld, and I thought Inception and How to Train Your Dragon had the best scores, but overall it was a good mix. I had assumed that The King’s Speech would sweep more categories, and it was nice to see the love spread out a little bit this year.
The food: This year we served 127 Hors D’ouevres, Winter’s Boneless Wings, Harry Potter and the Deathly Nachos – Part 1, Black & White Swan Cookies, Melonception, Prawn: Legacy, The Chips Are All Right (The Dip Is Better), and of course, Salt. Our drink station was called How To Drain Your Flagon, and included delicious beverages like Buzz Rootbeer.
The party: I think we had the biggest turnout yet! Usually, I get people calling at the last minute saying they can’t come. This year, I had people calling at the last minute saying they could come! It was fabulous. And people brought food! I don’t usually ask people to bring things, but people showed up unannounced with cookies, cupcakes, and all manner of delicious items! Wonderful! I was worried about the transfer of the party from Baltimore to Vermont, but it turns out I didn’t need to worry, and now I can’t wait for next year!
P.S. – We let Ruby stay up until 9:10 to see Toy Story 3 win Best Animated Feature. She was thrilled!