The SECOND Annual Nitrate Stock Oscar Bash! Yeah! It's A Thing!

Friends, Stockahz, Countrymen! I come here not to bury Oscar, but to capitalize on AMPAS' annual getting the whole damn thing wrong, with a boozy fest celebrating the very thing the ceremony truly means to all who regularly watch the whole shebang; OSCAR POOLS! That's right! To all you wonderful lads and lasses who made last year's event so successful and memorable, the 1st ever public event to be hosted by this website, here's the official word that we will, indeed, be doing it all again! The 2nd Annual Nitrate Stock Oscar Bash is less than three weeks away, Sunday evening the 28th of February, and just like last year we'll be offering up swag to the ballot winners, specialty cocktails, and the finest pub grub the isle of Manhattan has to offer. But you already knew about that last part. So let's get to that swag!

Last year we held the complete James Bond BluRay box set over yer heads like a carrot, along with 2nd and 3rd prizes, 2014 nominees THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL and BIRDMAN on BluRay. Everyone seemed pretty pleased with the results! Well, the happiest attendee walked off with that box set, but everyone else seemed pretty damn happy still; a feisty group of movie fans chattering, cheering, and chowing to the glam spectacle of movie star winners and losers; delicious cocktails and mouth-watering apps & mains; and the handing out of prizes at the ceremony's end to the real heroes, all of you who attended! And booing Ben Affleck. Which I wholeheartedly look forward to once more. Shmatman.

This year's doozy of a Grand Prize is the fantastic, nearly-comprehensive, and somehow both super-talky and ultra-violent QUENTIN TARANTINO XX BluRay box set! Released just over 3 years ago in advance of the director's 1st all-out western, 2012's DJANGO UNCHAINED, it celebrated 20 years of his output while simultaneously promoting his then-upcoming film. Synergy, Bebeh! Ya get everything from debut feature RESERVOIR DOGS, through industry-enema PULP FICTION, the criminally under-loved JACKIE BROWN, the entire KILL BILL magnum opus, Grindhalf DEATH PROOF, and his superior WW2 epic INGLORIOUS BASTERDS! Plus you get the NON-Tarantino directed but fully Tarantino-scripted TRUE ROMANCE! All these are accompanied by TWO-COUNT-'EM-TWO discs full of bonus content EXCLUSIVE to this box set! Think of it: twenty years of Big Kahuna burgers, Hattaro Hanzai swords, Dick Ritchie auditions, Delfonics classics, and Nazi scalps! What screams Oscar better than these glowing synechdoches???

2nd and 3rd prizes this year will again be two nominated films: Ridley Scott's THE MARTIAN and George Miller's madcap brilliance, MAD MAX FURY ROAD. I'm openly hoping the latter sneaks up from behind both THE REVENANT and SPOTLIGHT, the two, admittedly masterwork frontrunners, and snatches the prize in classic Road Warrior fashion. But enough of my wants and needs. This is about you, the Oscar faithful, and your wants and needs. Specifically your food, booze, and BluRay wants and needs. So let's get to the rules.

Each attendee on the eve in question must purchase a liquory bev and/or scrumptious comestible from our flawless food menu in order to be issued a ballot. Said ballot must then be completely filled out by that recipient's best-guesses. One ballot to a customer. Ballots must be turned in before the 8pm start time. Any ballots turned in late will be denied as far as the first two awardees on their ballot. If the ballot is late for the 3rd award announcement it will be considered nullified (because, C'MON, don't be late!). These ballots will be turned in to our appointed ballot-checker, who will reside in full view of the evening's beautiful, intelligent, most fabulous crowd the world has yet known! Upon broadcast's end the votes will be tallied, and a Grand Prize Winner announced, to be gifted the Prize Most Grand. It just makes sense that way.

In case of a tie, I will provide trivia questions to break it, the correct response fleeing fleetingly with all but two of QT's greats. The loser of the tiebreak will be declared 2nd Prize winner. And so forth should there be a three-way tie. Beyond that, good luck. We've only got three prizes to give away. Mebbe I buy you a beer. Or a hug. From me or the person of your choice. Keep it clean.

This year's cocktails are being concocted as I type, and are, like last year, being specially-guarded by the Price-Waterhouse team. I will reveal them shortly, but I promise they will thrill as much as last year's menu did. They may not cause as much lemon-juice-under-the-fingernails happy as they did last year, but hey! It's all in service to our Hollywood Overlords, so let's just make sure we don't anger them and they'll let us live. y'know, the usual drill.

In June, this site will be 4 years old, which well bests my record for a girlfriend relationship, so you bastards and exceptional women are the best bond I've ever formed, apparently. And why not? We all share a deep-seated and perpetual romance with an art form whose doom was proclaimed not long after its inception, yet still soldiers on in very much the same form it came to take soon after its initial bloom. We love to compare and contrast our individual feelings regarding thus. And we continually look forward with eyes eager to what's yet to come. Film Lovers are essentially optimists, however pessimistic we might occasionally seem. Because we're waiting for the next wow. Eternally.

I hope to see as many of you there as can make it, if it's anything like last year it'll be quite the bash indeed! The ceremony takes place Sunday February 28th. The Grafton NYC is located at 126 1st Avenue betwixt St. Mark's & 7th street! Stick with me Stockahz! I've got lots planned for 2016, more fundraisers, interviews, transcripts, and other spesh somethings I'm quietly plotting. I'm gonna get back on the crane this year. I promise fun things. Excelsior, Knuckleheads!

JoeW@NitrateStock.net