(no subject)

[verbicide]

Thank you guys so much for voting. the feedback was very helpful!!

My final menu is:

(I know. Can you tell I love Ina Garten?)

- Cheese platter/tapenade/marcona almonds/champagne-marinated grapes
- Mini steak and roasted veggie sandwiches on foccacia
- Roasted shrimp with chile dipping sauce
- Tomato goat cheese tarts
- Stuffed mushrooms (meat and meatless versions)
- Garden salad - roasted red pepper dressing, sunflower seeds, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes
- Dulce de Leches Brownies and I'm going to try an upside down pear cake. It's based on the Alton Brown upside down peach cake. But this time I'm going to try to do one cake instead of four minis and as always, I'm using pear instead of peach. If it's an epic fail, I'll have the brownies for sure!

And, if I can find mini popcorn boxes locally (it's too late to have them shipped) I was thinking it would be fun to make white cheddar popcorn and serve it in little boxes while we watch! Maybe if Pete and I decide to suck it up and go to see Benjamin Button on Saturday I can buy some from the theater.

And I've decided to give a bottle of wine as the prize, because I'm going to be doing so much cooking, I just don't want to deal with making another item. I figure, I foist my baking endeavors onto my friends often enough as it is!

As with anything trivial, it's fun to set a goal. I really wanted to see as many nominated films as I could.


So far, the tally (in no particular order) is:

Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Wrestler
Tropic Thunder
Doubt
The Dark Knight
Revolutionary Road
Rachel Getting Married
The Reader
Kung-Fu Panda
Wall-E
Slumdog Millionaire
Australia
The Duchess
Encounters at the End of the World
Man on Wire
Iron Man
The Visitor (pending, but will watch before Sunday)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (pending, but will watch before Sunday)

That covers nearly all of the major awards. I don't think I've ever seen so many nominees in a single year before. It took some effort, for sure! Thank god for Pete, my fearless movie buddy.

I might still see Benjamin Button. I don't think I'll have a chance to see Frozen River (Actress in a Leading Role), In Bruges (Writing, Original Screenplay), or Happy Go Lucky (Writing, Original Screenplay) in time, unfortunately (they're all on my Netflix queue, but Happy Go Lucky doesn't even come out on dvd until after the Oscars).

I'm frustrated that I've somehow missed ALL of the films nominated for Best Foreign Film. I almost never manage to see the short films of any type so that was no surprise. Sometimes they'll have a local viewing of all the documentary shorts or animated shorts, but I didn't see any this year.

No regrets on not seeing: Wanted, Defiance, Hellboy II, Changeling, or Bolt. They weren't worth the effort for a variety of reasons.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the party! I wish you guys could all come!! :)

Comments

[margotheangel.livejournal.com]

Wow, I have seen a total of ONE of the movies you mention (The Dark Knight, which everyone on Earth has seen by now). I'm sure this has a lot to do with our reliance on Netflix - we don't go out to movies very often. I know I'm cheap, but they're SO EXPENSIVE now, although there's a movie theater near here that just switched to showing second-run movies for $3, which makes the cost excuse not as relevant.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I do really love seeing movies in the theater. It forces me to sit and actually watch (instead of doing Other Things while I watch) and appreciate the movie. (Or, in some cases, like Synecdoche, New York, rabidly hate it and want to stab it to death with a fork.)

So, it's worth the money to me because it's more than just seeing the movie, it's the Movie Experience, or something.

And even loving movies in the theater, it took some serious effort to see this many in a relatively short time!

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

Wow, sounds so yummy! I wish I lived in Seattle, so I could go.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I wish you lived here, too!!

[trailer-spot.livejournal.com]

Since you list all kinds of nominated movies I've actually seen quite a few of them: Frost/Nixon (earlier this week, will write about it when I've seen another one), Tropic Thunder, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Iron Man, The Visitor, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (I was hoping for another reply at our previous conversation), In Bruges, Happy Go Lucky.
I could see "Rachel Getting Married" if I wanted to (but I'm currently not in the mood or it) and I would like to see Slumdog Millionaire and Man on Wire if they were already shown here.

I'd say "missing" the Best Foreign Films isn't a good phrasing since I believe only "Waltz with Bashir" so far had a somewhat larger release in the US and "The Class" is only starting to get a wider release right now.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I'm about to post a review on Man On Wire! I hope you get to see it :)

And what answer were you hoping on VCB? That I wouldn't want to know what you thought? I should be seeing it tonight! (Or at least part of it.)

And I know those don't get wide release, but usually I'll have seen one or two of them at least. Oh well.

[trailer-spot.livejournal.com]

Even if it gives away what I generally thought about VCB, let me put it this way, if you've seen half of it and were wondering if it will change in the second half; it doesn't. :)

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

Hah--so it's predictable? :)

[trailer-spot.livejournal.com]

No, not necessarily so. I meant more the "tone" of the movie doesn't change. If you like what you see in the first half you will probably also like what you see in the second half and vice versa.
I hope this didn't confuse you even more. :)

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

No, it makes sense now. Very curious to see it. I was talking to one of my younger cousins last night, and she loved it. Our tastes don't always match up, but there's usually a healthy overlap!