Plan a celebrity-worthy Oscar party

Let your guests pick their own toppings by setting up popcorn bar at your Oscar Party. Find movie themed decorations at your local party store. Oscar statuette pattern from twigandthistle.com | Photo by Heather Leszczewicz

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Updated: February 21, 2013 9:26AM

For many movie fans, the Academy Awards is their Super Bowl.

The Oscars are a culmination of the greatest performances of the year complete with plenty of glitz and glamour. This year’s show airs on ABC at 6 p.m. CST Feb. 24.

But how to celebrate?

PREPARATION

Unless someone is an avid movie fan, it’s more than likely that they haven’t seen a number of the nominated movies. Help remedy that by hosting a pre-Oscar party screening.

It’s poor timing this year for most of the top categories. Of the nine movies nominated for Best Picture, only “Beasts of the Southern Wild” is currently on DVD or Blu-ray. “Argo” is the only other film slated for release prior to the Oscars.

However, four out of five animated features as well as a couple films in costume design, visual effects and original screenplay are available.

If you’d rather stick to the Best Picture category, you can marathon all nine movies in February with AMC Theatres’ Best Picture Showcase. Watch four movies for $30 on Feb. 16 and the other five for $40 on Feb. 23 in suburban locations. You can also head downtown to the River East location Feb. 23 for a chance to watch all nine movies in a day.

For more information, go to www.amctheatres.com.

Most nominated films will also make a comeback in theaters and a double feature at your local theater is also an option.

FOOD

After evaluating how formal or informal your party will be, decide on the food. For a formal party, it could be mini quiche and caviar or a re-creation of what Wolfgang Puck has done for a previous Governor’s Ball. If it’s more of a friendly get-together, go for pizza and pasta for a crowd.

But what about snacks? It should be something that you don’t have to spend a lot of time watching and refilling. What says movies better than popcorn? Try a popcorn bar, which can be very versatile and doesn’t take too much planning. Plus, mini-popcorn bags or popcorn tubs can be part of the decor.

You can easily buy various popcorn flavors, like caramel, cheddar, buttered and kettle corn. Or, try popping a few bags of lightly salted popcorn and placing it in a large container. Then give your guests the option to create their own kind of popcorn with bowls full of toppings. Try savory selections like ranch, taco or garlic powders. Go sweet with cinnamon sugar, cocoa powder or little candies that can be sprinkled into the popcorn. You can also melt some butter or find flavored oils to pour over the top.

For dessert or an end-of-party snack, there’s no need to go overboard. You could make a cake in the likeness of the Oscar statuette, but that’s a bit time-consuming. Focus on stars as a theme. Bake cookies and use a star cookie cutter or buy or make cupcake toppers in the shape of stars. Top it off with star-shaped sprinkles.

DURING THE SHOW

Before the first award of the night gets handed out, have your guests fill out a ballot. There are two options: a ballot for the top six awards that will be handed out or one for all the awards that will be aired on TV. Make a game out of it — give award or a theater gift card to the person who gets the most winners correct.

During commercials, host a celebrity guessing game of “Who am I?” or “Or who are you?” For both games, create a pile of nametags with celebrity names on them.

For “Who am I?” everyone has a nametag applied to them in a place they cannot read it, usually on their back. They need to ask people questions to figure out their identity.

For “Who are you?” the person keeps their celebrity identity secret from their fellow party guests, but gives them clues as to who they are.

It’s a fun activity to keep everyone entertained throughout the night.

For more Oscar Party ideas, head over to our Oscar Party Pinterest board: pinterest.com/pioneerpressgo/oscar-party.

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