You Just Gonna Sit There All Day? Absolutely!

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 8, 2007 4:00PM

Now that the Super Bowl is finally over, we can at last turn our attention to things which are truly important ... like The Oscars. Really we wanted to talk to you about this last week, but a hunch told us that it just wouldn't register. The Oscars are now less than three weeks away. Speculation is flying fast and furious. Maureen Ryan at the Trib is whining about how Hollywood "seems to have gone even more out of its way to make the telecast irrelevant." But we'd like to be sophisticated enough to think that the Oscar ceremony has little, if anything, to do with the films themselves; no, it's all about the psychology of the industry voters. That's what makes the evening such a fascinating study.

While each category seems to have a favored winner, in our view it doesn't look like there'll be a sweep by any one film. We think a lot of folks are going to go home with a little something (except the presenters: those infamous swag bags have been discontinued).

All peachy keen. Predictions are fun. Except this year (and we're red-faced with shame to have to admit this) we've seen a whopping ONE out of the five Best Picture nominees. We know we're not alone in our neglect; don't worry, you can admit it out loud to us. So let's work together to educate ourselves, shall we?

By a stroke of good fortune, AMC Theaters understands our disgusting procrastination and is here to help. On Saturday, February 24 at River East 21, they'll be showing all five movies in a marathon screening starting at at 11:00 am. Your $30 ticket buys admission to all five movies, and a large popcorn and a large soda with free refills all day long. Wow. Tickets are now available for presale and we'd recommend getting them soon. Everything will be fresh in your mind when those stars stride down the red carpet, since the marathon is the day before the ceremony (as long you get a good night's sleep afterwards). The last film of the marathon, Little Miss Sunshine, will end around 11:30.

This isn't the last of our Oscar coverage. Not by a long shot. So keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, you tell us: which of the films nominated are you going to try to see before Oscar night?