Quote Roundup: AMC Oscar Best Picture Showcase in Highlands Ranch, Colorado

On Saturday, February 26, 2011, die-hard movie buffs congregated at AMC Theaters in Colorado for the Oscar Best Picture Showcase. AMC Theaters screened all 10 Best Picture nominees back-to-back two weekends in a row for moviegoers. The AMC Movie Theater in Highlands Ranch was kind enough to let me drop in and talk with moviegoers between screenings.

The theater set up a single screen to show each of the 10 nominees including, "Toy Story 3", "127 Hours," "The Kids Are All Right," "True Grit," "The Fighter," "Winter's Bone," "Black Swan," "Inception," "The Social Network," and "The King's Speech." The films screened in that order, with the first 5 on the first weekend and the next set on the Saturday before the Academy Awards. AMC Theater staff noted that there were about 200 seats sold for the Saturday screenings. I caught up with some of the audience between screenings of "Black Swan" and "Inception."

Sandy Kotke, 53 of Morrison, Colorado said, "I've come to the Oscar Best Picture showcase for all 5 years it has run now. Last year was the first year the nominations jumped up to 10 films, but it's okay when it's split up into two weekends. I've seen a few of this year's films for a second time and this time around I get more that I may have missed... since I'm not so wowed, I can really see what's great about the films."

Patrons were given Oscar ballots to keep track of their favorite films, performances, and nominees in all Oscar categories. Kotke said, "With my own picks for favorites, I rarely agree with the Academy, but I still love to come. All I need is my essentials: lots of Coke, Nachos and Popcorn."

Ray Cartwright, 50+, Northglenn, Colorado had some other essentials, "I really enjoy coming to the Oscar showcase as long as I prepare for comfort and so I bring pillows and blankets... you've got to be comfortable. I chose to come down to this theatre, which showed 5 films each weekend. The AMC theater closer to me was showing all 10 nominees in one day and I just can't stay awake for that many movies."

This year's Oscar nominees for Best Picture certainly catered to a diverse crowd, so these were moviegoers with eclectic tastes. Cartwright added, "It's interesting that they seemed to program the films from the least likely to win Best Picture to the favorites this year, like 'The King's Speech' and 'The Social Network' showing last."

At this point, Oscar-thon viewers hadn't seen the favorites yet. John Zimmerman, 51, Fort Lupton, Colorado said, "Of the film's I've seen so far, 'Winter's Bone' is up there for Best Picture in my book... '127 Hour' was excellent and 'The Kids Are All Right' is probably the weakest contender. 'Toy Store 3' doesn't' seem likely to win it, but it will definitely take Best Animated Film."

Zimmerman seemed content to sit through a marathon of such great films, but noted, "It's really a chore to sit through all of the films, but it's worth it because they are all fresh in your mind for the Oscars."

A pass to AMC Best Picture Showcase was $60 for all 10 films on 2 days or $35 for 5 films on 1 day.

Rebecca Schuller, 27, Denver, Colorado said, "I actually came to the event just for today because I had heard so much about 'Black Swan' and how dark of a movie it was. So, I figured why not see all 5 nominees showing today, it's a great deal. Though, I should say that as excited as I was to see Natalie Portman, I am pretty stoked to see Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Inception' now."

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