Oscar Movie Marathon

So have I mentioned before that we're huge movie fans? We have over a thousand DVDs in our house. Robb's the one who's really into it, but I think he would agree that I have good taste and can appreciate films better than most. So a couple of years ago when I was working at Panera on the weekends I noticed people coming into the bakery with movie passes hanging around their necks. I asked what the deal was and was told that they were attending an Oscar movie showcase at the AMC movie theaters. I had never heard of that before! They were attending all five movies nominated for best picture at that year's Oscar ceremonies in one day, the day before the Oscar ceremony! I thought it was such a cool concept and I knew Robb would love it. Since then the Oscars have increased the number of movies nominated for best picture - now there are 10 movies and AMC breaks the showcase into two weekends. This year Robb and I finally got our schedules organized enough to go to the movies two Saturdays in a row.

I was pretty apprehensive. I love movies, but to see five in a row in the theater sounds a little intimidating. But you know, it ended up being pretty easy. It was nice to be in a theater with other people who love movies and are a respectful audience (no talkers, texters, etc.) We got there about an hour before the start time to secure our seats. The seats you choose for the first movie are the seats you are stuck with all day - we were pretty happy with our seats (we like to get seats where you can stretch out your legs.) There were about 15-25 minutes between each movie to get up and stretch. In the early evening there was an hour long break for people to go get dinner if they wanted. The first weekend we grabbed a burger. The second weekend we packed our own picnic (including a sugar cookie sold at Metropolitan Market that was in the shape of an Oscar award)! Included with our passes were gift cards to buy food at the concession stand, so we snacked on popcorn and soda throughout the day.

I had a pretty good idea that we would be attending the Oscar Showcase this year, so as movies came out in the previous months that had Oscar buzz, I made sure that we did NOT go see them. So we went into the showcase having only seen two movies previously - Toy Story 3 and Inception, which were great movies so we didn't mind seeing them again.

I don't want to review all of the movies, because I don't want to give everything away and I don't think my words could do the films justice. But, a brief overview will do. On the first day we watched: Toy Story 3, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, True Grit, and The Fighter. I thought all of the movies were really good, except for The Kids Are All Right. I was really looking forward to that movie the most and it disappointed me on several levels. I really had no desire to see 127 Hours, but I ended up loving it, which kind of shocked me. On the second day we watched: Winter's Bone, Black Swan, Inception, The Social Network, and The King's Speech. I was impressed with all of the movies this day. My favorite movie of the entire showcase was Winter's Bone. I'm not quite sure why it spoke to me so much; the depiction of poverty was powerful and the story drew me in. We had a great time at the showcase and I hope that we can do this again in the future.

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