“Dial O for Oscar” – Cinema Center Oscar Party 2013

Cinema Center will host “Dial O for Oscar,” a Hitchcock-themed party saluting the Oscars, on Friday, February 22. The party will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at Cinema Center, 437 E. Berry St., and will feature movie music by keyboardist Hope Arthur, hors d’oeuvres and cash bar by Calhoun Street Soups, Salads & Spirits (CS3), a silent auction, Oscar voting, an Oscar trivia contest, and a Hitchcock costume contest. There will also be a “photo booth” featuring a shower curtain autographed by the late Janet Leigh, star of Hitchcock’s celebrated film Psycho. Following the party, the Oscar-nominated film Hitchcock will be screened at 9:15 p.m.

The shower curtain, on loan from the private collection of Larry Wardlaw, is signed “Psycho-tically yours, Janet Leigh.” Oscar Party attendees who pose with the shower curtain will receive free snapshots to take home with them.

This year, in a break from tradition, Cinema Center is choosing its own Best Picture winner. Oscar Party attendees will vote for Best Picture from among 10 nominees recently chosen by Cinema Center audiences. Local moviegoers were asked by Cinema Center to vote for their 10 favorite films of the year by paper ballot or online. The top 10 nominees, as chosen by Cinema Center audiences, are: Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, Moonrise Kingdom, Searching for Sugar Man, Lincoln, Django Unchained, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Zero Dark Thirty, and Les Miserables. Votes were cast for 95 different films, and 71 moviegoers participated in the voting. Other films that just missed Cinema Center’s top 10 list were Cloud Atlas, The Hunger Games, Looper, Skyfall and The Master.

In true Oscar fashion, a representative from a local accounting firm, BKD, will be on hand the night of the Oscar Party to tabulate the final results.

“Cinema Center is very excited to not only show Sacha Gervasi’s film Hitchcock for the “Dial O For Oscar” Party this year, but to honor the work of the real Alfred Hitchcock, who is perhaps the most influential filmmaker of all time, yet he never received an Academy Award for Best Director,” said Jonah Crismore, executive director. “In this spirit Cinema Center is asking its audience, the true film lovers of Fort Wayne, to choose their own winner of Best Picture of the Year, so we can be sure a great film (and its filmmaker) will receive the recognition it deserves.”

Oscar Party attendees are also encouraged to come dressed as Hitchcock or as their favorite character from a Hitchcock film. Prizes will be awarded in various categories.

Cost for the evening is $20 in advance ($25 at the door) and includes the film. Student tickets are $10 in advance ($15 at the door). Tickets may be purchased in advance at cinemacenter.org, or by calling 260-426-3456, emailing movies@cinemacenter.org, or visiting the Cinema Center box office during regular showtimes.

The film Hitchcock is rated PG-13 and stars Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Toni Collette, Danny Huston, Jessica Biel and James D’Arcy. It is Oscar nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Proceeds from this event will benefit Fort Wayne Cinema Center, a not-for-profit cultural organization dedicated to bringing the best in film to northeast Indiana. Event sponsors include Calhoun Street Soups, Salads & Spirits (CS3) and Brainstorm Creative. Organization sponsors include Arts United, IAC, and Lincoln Financial Group.