Mullanes Bar and Grill Rolls Out the Red Carpet
By Mike Russell
Do you get upset every time the academy denies Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar? Did you bore your friends with your detailed analysis of Seth MacFarlane’s hosting performance? Or did you simply yell at your TV because “Argo” wasn’t really the best movie of the year?
Then you sound like you’d enjoy Mullanes Bar and Grill’s Fifth Annual Academy Awards viewing party, where you can discuss your motion picture picks with other cinephiles. Guests will be treated to a red-carpet experience, complete with a photographer and prizes for the most stylish attendees, as well as for the astute movie buff who most accurately predicts the Oscars’ results.
“I like getting everyone together to enjoy the ceremony [of the Oscars],” said Vincent Bonanno, who has organized the event for the last five years.
Guests can watch the Academy Awards on one of Mullanes’ seven giant flat-screen TVs, as well as on a giant projector screen set up in the back of the bar. The bar will also feature its own red carpet and photo booth.
Guests will be handed a ballot when they enter to pick who they think will win the academy’s top prizes, such as best movie and best actress. At the end of the event, whoever selected the most right answers will win a prize, which in years past have ranged from bottles of wine, to a snowboard.
Other awards range from the usual “best-dressed” and “worst-dressed” guests, to awards Bonanno makes up on the spot, such as a “best sweater” award – inspired by a woman’s sequined cat sweater one year. Bonanno encourages these types of flashy outfits.
“In an effort to get more people to dress up,” he says, “I’d like to say that the attire is glitzy and glamorous.”
Bonanno, a movie enthusiast, started the event in 2009 as an excuse to enjoy the film industry event with other cinephiles in the area. The turnout is usually around 40 to 50 guests, he says, which is enough to fill the bar and make the experience more enjoyable.
“If you want to be [at home] in your pajamas watching it, by all means,” he says. “But I, for one, enjoy the camaraderie of fellow film enthusiasts.”
Fifth Annual Mullanes Bar and Grill Academy Awards viewing party is free and takes place on March 2 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at 71 Lafayette Avenue.