First Annual Oscars Party

My favorite thing about movies, if you haven't noticed already, is the Academy Awards.  I see a lot of cheesy, low-quality movies throughout the year (I'm looking at you, Wanderlust!), but I do look forward to the end of the year when serious Oscar contenders start to hit the theaters.  This year, I saw 7 of the 9 Best Picture nominees in theaters from October to January.  I rented Beasts of the Southern Wild this weekend, and I still have some time to catch Amour in theaters.  This year, my mom and I also decided to throw our first annual Oscars party.

There was essentially a blizzard yesterday morning, so four of the ten people weren't able to come, but we still had a blast.  We had sparking apple cider (pictured above) and everyone got their own ballot to predict the winners.  I ended up winning by one correct answer with a total of 13.  I have to say, I'm most stunned by Jennifer Lawrence's win.  I love her, but I didn't see that coming.  And I'm most satisfied with Argo's win(s).  I still can't believe Ben Affleck--I mean Benjamin Affleck--didn't get a nomination for Best Director.  Surprisingly, I thought Seth Macfarlane was a fantastic host and the Academy got exactly what they paid for.  He looked like he was having such a blast!  I loved it!

For our spread, we had foods inspired by the nine Best Picture nominees:

Amour: bread (shared with Les Miserables)

Argo: hummus

Beasts of the Southern Wild: red beans & rice, catfish etouffee

Django Unchained: cornbread

Les Miserables: bread (shared with Amour)

Life of Pie: lox

Lincoln: custard with strawberries

Silver Linings Playbook: crabby snacks

Zero Dark Thirty: dates

BEST DRESSED:

Amy Adams in Oscar de la Renta

Jessica Chastain in Giorgio Armani

Amanda Seyfried in Alexander McQueen

Charlize Theron in Christian Dior Haute Couture

Naomi Watts in Armani Prive

 

I know a lot of people didn't like Amanda Seyfried's dress, but I think it's gorgeous and who cares if it ages her up a bit?  It was certainly better than what she wore during her Les Mis performance.

WORST DRESSED:

Anne Hathaway in Prada

Melissa McCarthy in David Meister Signature

Kelly Rowland in Donna Karan Atelier

 

I hope Anne Hathaway immediately regrets her dress choice for her big night.  I don't think anyone liked it and apparently it wasn't even what she was supposed to wear.  Melissa McCarthy needs to take some tips from Octavia Spencer on dressing for your size.  This is so horrible.

 

I'm trying to not acknowledge the fact that Brandi Glanville was there, but she was absolutely the WORST dressed.  I feel like I have more of a right to attend the Oscars than she does.

SO CLOSE:

Jennifer Aniston in Valentino

Jennifer Garner in Gucci

Jennifer Hudson in Roberto Cavalli

Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture

 

I hate to do this to the Jennifers because I love them all, but none of them really blew me away.  They were all so close but Garner and Hudson threw it all away on the shoes.  I didn't love the shape of Larence's dress and there's just something missing from Aniston's whole ensemble.

 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Gucci gets my vote for Best Dressed Man.

 

Sally Field in Valentino was hands down the Best Dressed from the older crowd.

 

As for the winners, I'm blown away that Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress.  There's no surprise really with Anne Hathaway or Daniel Day-Lewis, but Best Supporting Actor could have gone to any of those five nominees.  Some people are calling Ang Lee's win for Life of Pi a shock, but that's who I predicted.  And I couldn't be more ecstatic that Argo won Best Picture.