planning the annual Oscar dinner

Every year, we watch the Oscars while enjoying a meal inspired by the Best Picture nominees.  For example, we had sushi for Lost in Translation and cowboy campfire beans for Brokeback Mountain –  you get the idea.

On my Oscar Dinner page, you can see past menus and some photos. In 2009, Frost/Nixon and Milk were stumping me until I realized that they were all set in the 1970s.  So we had celery sticks stuffed with pimento spread, pigs in a blanket and Tequila Sunrises.  And we’ll never top the Severed Hand Ice Sculpture for 127 Hours and Winter’s Bone (above).

Anyway, here’s our menu for 2015:

 Table decorations

Lilacs – In Birdman, Riggan asks for camellias for his dressing room and wants anything except roses;  his daughter later brings him lilacs.  (We could have also gone with the theater critic’s martinis or the sliced lunch meat in Riggan’s dressing room.)

Beverages

Pub pints of beer – Frequently consumed in pub scenes in The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything.  (I drink Ballast Point Sculpin, but we’re going to pretend that it’s Newcastle.)

Starter

Pizza – from the pizza date in Whiplash.

Hummus – Chris Kyle and his buddies share a family meal at the Iraqi home of the guy hiding a cache of arms in American Sniper.  (With so many excellent recent movies set in the Middle East, we’ve had Hummus before along with Kabob Koubideh, Khoresh Ghormeh and Fatayer bi Sabanekh.)

Graduation party appetizers – from Boyhood , a movie with MANY unforgettable scenes (lots of family dining, snacks and the diner scene), but with pretty unmemorable food choices.

Main Course

Fried chicken and fixins – requested by the appreciative Southern Christian Leadership Conference team upon their arrival at their hostess’ home in Selma.

Dessert

Courtesan au chocolate – the elaborate filled pastry smuggled to the Ray Fiennes character in The Grand Budapest Hotel.