The nominations came out approximately five years ago, but on Sunday, March 4, the Academy Awards will finally dish out their honors for 2017. Will "Three Billboards" post one final big victory for this season? Or will "Lady Bird" fly away with the crown? And what about "The Shape of Water" or "Get Out"? And my god, could we actually have to use the phrase "Oscar-winning 'Kong: Skull Island'" from here on out?
Well, thanks to the Avalon Atmospheric Theater, The Times Cinema and Santa Margherita Wine, if you correctly predict the answers to those questions and more, you could end the night a big winner, as well.
Beginning at 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 4, The Times – located at 5906 W. Vliet St., in Wauwatosa – and the Avalon, found in Bay View at 2473 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., will host special Academy Awards viewing parties, projecting Hollywood's biggest night live on the neighborhood theaters' big screens. Before the festivities begin, everyone entering the theaters will receive a glass of wine from Santa Margherita, plus a small bag of popcorn, while B93.3 morning host Joe at the Times and Adler from FM 102/1 at the Avalon will help MC the evening's activities – including movie trivia for prizes during the awards show's commercial breaks.
However, the big prize on the night (not including Best Picture, of course) is the contest for free movies for a year. Upon entering, each person will also receive a ballot to make their guesses for the night's Oscar winners for a chance to win the grand prize: movies for a year from the Neighborhood Theater Group theaters (which include the Times, Rosebud and Avalon).
Tickets for the viewing party (a 21-and-over event) are on sale now at both The Times Cinema's website and the Avalon's website, and cost $20. The Avalon's viewing party also features a VIP pre-party starting at 5 p.m., featuring samples off the small plate and main course menus at the theater's new Mediterranean-themed restaurant Mistral. Tickets for the VIP experience cost $40.
And as a special bonus, proceeds from the party will go toward the Lou McGlothian Memorial Scholarship Fund, a fund of The Business Council, Inc. reserved for ethnically diverse students in the state of Wisconsin. So even if your ballot ends up a bust (pro tip: If you mark down "The Emoji Movie" as a winner in any category, start over), you can still feel like a winner at the end of the night.
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.