IMG_1156By now, anyone familiar with us, and our site, is well aware that Arty Chick and I went to the Oscars. Sort of. We’ve plastered our pictures on Facebook and across the social media universe and regaled our friends with tales from the Red Carpet. But in case you’ve just stumbled across Chickflix.net or are hungry for more details, here’s how it all went down.

It was a total fluke. I’d gone to Oscars.org back in late September to check the date for the 2013 Academy Awards so I could plan a viewing party. And there it was: an announcement for “The Oscar Fan Experience” lottery. Enter to win two bleacher seats along the red carpet! So I did. And I forgot about it. Months later, in January, I got an email telling me I’d been picked from the wait list. Someone else’s loss would be my gain – assuming I passed a criminal background check and could get myself to Hollywood in six weeks, on my own dime. [insert sarcasm here].

Arty Chick happened to be in town when I got the email so I invited her to be my plus-one. It seemed only fair since we had both lived and worked in L.A. for a while and welcomed any excuse to revisit the land of surreality and sunshine. Fast forward a few weeks and there we were – back in La-La-Land, checking out the preps at Hollywood and Highland, visiting friends and old haunts and gearing up for the “Oscar Experience”. That Sunday, we checked in with the “Bleacher Creature” crew at 8:30 a.m., got our assigned seats and a swag bag of snacks, tee shirt and mouthwash, and settled in for a long day of star-gazing. We also got to get our pictures taken with a real Oscar. I like to think that mine went home with Ben.
IMG_1137IMG_1138IMG_1165Oscars

Be sure to check out our Facebook page and Arty Chick’s post for more on the day, and pictures of the many celebs who graced the swath of carpet below us.

As the sun set on the Red Carpet in front of the Dolby Theater, we bleacher fans were ushered into the historic El Capitan Theater across the street so we could actually watch the 85th Academy Awards. It was cool to see the telecast on a big screen surrounded by other movie fans from all over the country, and the world. I’m a bit more forgiving than Arty Chick when it comes to Seth MacFarlane’s turn as host. But there’s absolutely no excuse for the opening number going on longer than five minutes. The makeup, writing, lighting and audio were grossly sub-par, especially for a show that’s supposed to be celebrating achievement in all those things. And, I seriously don’t understand how a town full of producers can’t figure out how to pace a show and produce it to time. THREE HOURS is more than enough people!

Anyway, I digress. The bottom line is, I still love watching the Oscars. I’ll watch them regardless of who’s hosting. I loved the musical numbers. I loved being a part of the “Oscars Experience”, however tangentially. And I’m really glad that Argo won for Best Picture because it is, after all, a near-perfect Mainstream movie.

And… I’m glad I can cross “going to the Oscars” off my bucket list. Not that I’d say ‘no’ if, say, George Clooney or Bradley Cooper needed a plus-one next time around. After all, I’m pretty sure Brad was waving to me from the Red Carpet…
Bradley Cooper waving

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