Barbie cocktails and Oppenheimer martinis: How to throw an awards-worthy Oscar party

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An underrated high quality of this yr’s Oscar contenders? How lots of their characters can be enjoyable to party with! Poor Things’ Bella Baxter? A riot! Maestro’s Leonard Bernstein? Did you see his strikes on the dance ground? Kitty Oppenheimer? Sozzled in any respect hours! It’s a disgrace that Anatomy of a Fall’s Samuel Maleski plummeted to his demise earlier than giving anybody his Spotify particulars – based mostly on his love of fifty Cent’s “P.I.M.P.”, I’m positive he’d have put collectively a sensational playlist.

Sadly these folks will likely be unable to attend your Oscar party this weekend – seeing as they’re solely fictional and/or deceased. But don’t fret! We’re right here to make it easier to do the subsequent smartest thing: throw an Oscar gathering so enjoyable that it’ll warrant slightly gold statue of its personal.

The Oscars happen on Sunday 10 March at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, starting at 4pm PST (11pm GMT), with a reside broadcast going down for the primary time within the UK on ITV1 and ITVX.

Here’s our step-by-step information to making it an evening to keep in mind…

Send out your invitations

This is an awards ceremony, not a rager, so be selective. You don’t desire a massive crowd of individuals chatting away and distracting you from the surprising second that turns into this yr’s equal of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway saying the mistaken Best Picture winner, John Travolta mispronouncing a significant star’s identify or the slap heard around the globe. Do because the professionals do: draw up a shortlist of nominees, then choose a handful of winners to obtain an invitation in a tasteful gold envelope. Five to seven attendees is ideal.

Get the purple carpet prepared

Just since you’re staying house, that’s no motive not to gown to the nines. Whether it’s Cher’s eye-catching jet-black Bob Mackie headpiece from 1986 or Björk’s unforgettable swan gown from 2001, the Oscars are identified for showcasing outrageous style. So what if the present gained’t end airing in Britain till well beyond midnight – there’s no rule saying you’ll be able to’t pair that headdress together with your pyjamas.

Pick your winners

Print off our helpful checklist of all this yr’s Oscar nominees, then distribute to your company. Pick your winner in every class, then swap sheets so you’ll be able to mark what number of one another received proper. Here, the satan’s within the particulars: positive, you might need a good guess for who’s going to win Best Picture, however what number of of your company can accurately determine the Best Cinematography winner, or who’ll be taking house the prize for Best Animated Short? A little bit of analysis may seal your victory.

Now drink

Next, get as snug as you’ll be able to in that swan-shaped gown and get pleasure from a themed cocktail in honour of the night time’s most-nominated movies. May we recommend:

J Robert Oppenheimer’s signature martini

He could also be finest identified for cooking up a somewhat extra explosive concoction, however J Robert Oppenheimer was additionally well-known for his signature drink. No, not a manhattan in honour of the Manhattan Project, however a martini with a candy, citrus twist. Eagle-eyed viewers can have noticed that Cillian Murphy truly makes one to Oppenheimer’s specs in Christopher Nolan’s hotly tipped biopic. Here’s what you’ll want, in accordance to the Los Alamos National Laboratory: take a relaxing martini glass, dip the rim in a mix of honey and lime juice, then add 4 ounces of gin and only a sprint of vermouth. Atomic.

Something pink for Barbie

There are loads of suitably pink-hued drinks excellent for paying tribute to Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s runaway field workplace smash – in reality, right here at The Independent, we dreamt up 9 of them impressed by the doll’s traditional outfits. We significantly loved the Eighties-inspired “Pink and Fabulous” Barbie cocktail, made with two ounces of raspberry vodka, one ounce of peach schnapps, two ounces of cranberry juice, one ounce of lime juice and one ounce of easy syrup. Shake and ice, then pressure into a relaxing martini glass, and garnish with cotton sweet. A few these and you gained’t even give you the option to pronounce “Margot Robbie was robbed!”

A drink match for a Maestro

When Leonard Bernstein was 21, he developed a style for rob roys whereas consuming with Olga Koussevitzky, the spouse of his mentor Serge. It’s a drink price savouring simply as a lot as Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan’s performances in Cooper’s thrilling Bernstein biopic. To make a rob roy, all you want is 2 ounces of scotch (Bernstein most well-liked Ballantine’s 17-year-old), one ounce of candy vermouth and two dashes of bitters. Garnish with a brandied cherry or a lemon twist, and you’ll be conducting a symphony of your individual very quickly.

American Fiction’s whisky politics

In Cord Jefferson’s caustic race satire American Fiction, creator Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is instructed by his agent Arthur (John Ortiz) that literary success is lots like Johnnie Walker scotch. There’s a budget stuff (Johnnie Walker Red), the mid-range stuff (Johnnie Walker Black) and the very nice stuff that comes with a price ticket to match (Johnnie Walker Blue). Monk desires to put out the good things however, as Arthur factors out, they promote a complete lot extra Red than Blue. We’ll go away it up to your discretion (and price range) to resolve which one’s proper on your party.

A ravishing drink for a globetrotting Poor Thing

In Yorgos Lanthimos’s unusual and beguiling Poor Things, a younger girl named Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) is introduced again to life by unorthodox surgeon Dr Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) earlier than travelling the world in quest of lovely experiences which embrace, after all, the magic of a martini. For this you’ll want 4 ounces of gin and a touch of vermouth as earlier than, however you’ll be able to skip the honey and lime rim. Who’s the mad scientist now?

A style of Christmas with The Holdovers

An awards present viewing party is hardly the proper setting to cook dinner up a full Christmas dinner with a honey ham as hearty because the one produced by college chef Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) in The Holdovers. Instead, have a good time Alexander Payne’s festive comedy-drama by mixing up peppermint schnapps, half-and-half cream and vodka. If that doesn’t make you merry, nothing will.

Enjoy!

All that’s left is to sit your self safely on the couch, watch the winners roll in, and be grateful Saltburn didn’t get nominated – in any other case, you’d be consuming runny egg juice straight out of the bath. Salut!