Envelope, please

Lights, camera, Oscar party action

By Christian Carvajal on February 22, 2018

Nearly everyone who's ever so much as mumbled a line as Third Tree From the Left in a grade-school production of The Lorax dreams of accepting an Oscar. Still, rare are the opportunities working adults get handed by life to dress to the nines, walk the red carpet, credit Mom and Dad, insist it was an honor just to be nominated and fire shooty fingers at Jack Nicholson. That's where the South Sound's independent movie houses come in handy. Each year they invite cineastes to enjoy a taste of Tinseltown stardom by hosting Oscar-show viewing parties that boast almost as much glitz and glamor as the real shindig.

Let's start at the viewing party organized by The Grand Cinema, an event so big it had to be moved into Theater on the Square. The film-savvy attendee who predicts the highest number of Oscar winners correctly will be awarded a "Golden Ticket" worth free cinema admission for a year. By all means, cosplay as your favorite movie character; four winners chosen by audience applause will receive $25 Asado gift certificates, a $100 Boathouse 19 certificate or, in the case of the grand-prize winner, $200 in credit at the Lobster Shop. That's one serious crustacean sensation. Lots of other guests will win raffle prizes, and a silent auction will continue throughout the night.

Meanwhile, the Olympia Film Society rolls out the red carpet for its own affair, hosted this year by musicians Bree McKenna and Lisa Prank of Witch Chat. Don your sexiest tuxedo or little black dress, as you'll be interviewed by celebrity "journalists" on your way down the red-carpeted path into the theater. Make sure to get your picture taken with an actual Oscar, specifically the statuette won by producer and MGM executive Arthur Freed for 1952's An American in Paris. And of course there'll be plenty of prizes for costumes, Oscar picks and movie-trivia contests, plus delicious hors d'oeuvres and concessions. The mezzanine will be open and serve drinks to guests 21 or older.

Who's likely to win at the 90th annual award show? Last year was an exceptionally good one for movies of all forms and genres. Even after the lesser award shows, experts are unsure whether the night's biggest prize will go to The Shape of Water or Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Odds-on favorites include director Guillermo del Toro and thespians Allison Janney, Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell. Or you could play the long odds and root for The Boss Baby, which was in fact nominated for Best Animated Feature Film.

Sorry, The Emoji Movie. You'll have far better luck, if that's the right way to put it, at the Golden Raspberry Awards (aka the Razzies) this Saturday.

FILM AWARDS PARTY 2018, 5 p.m., Sunday, March 4, Theater on the Square, 915 Broadway, Tacoma, $20-$90, 253.593.4474, grandcinema.com

OSCAR PARTY, 5 p.m., Sunday, March 4, Capitol Theater, 206 5th Ave. SE, Olympia, $7-$10, 360.754.6670, olympiafilmsociety.org