Oscar Watch: Where To Watch Every Academy Award Nominee In D.C.

If you are like me, you are already caught up in the frenzy of Oscar. You’ve been studying the field of nominees since Academy Awards nominees were read off by Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone last week. You watched the Golden Globes and rooted for Oscar-snubbed Ben Affleck and tried to make sense of Jodie Foster’s speech.

You also viewed the long Holiday/Inaugural weekend as a time to make some progress on Oscar watching. So if you are like me, you are probably planning out where you can watch all the nominees. Last year I wrote some tips to make the most of your Oscar Watching experience. Here is a breakdown of where you can locally find this year’s nominees.

Best picture nominees in bold

Still In Theatres

The following films are still in widely available in theatres in DC, Virginia, and Maryland. If you are just interested in knocking out the nine Best Picture nominees, local AMC theatres are once again showcasing the Best Picture nominees in February. Also check other theatres like the Arlington Drafthouse and AFI Silver Spring for second run opportunities for films that may not be widely available.

  • Anna Karenina (on DVD 2/19/13)
  • Argo (on DVD 2/19/13)
  • Django Unchained
  • Les Miserables
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  • The Impossible
  • Wreck-It Ralph (on DVD 3/5/13)
  • Zero Dark Thirty

Released on DVD & Netflix

These films are already out on DVD/Blu-Ray, which means they are probably available on Amazon, Red Box, Netflix, iTunes, or wherever you rent your films. I made note of films that are available on Netflix Instant for those like me who only pay for Netflix Instant.

  • 5 Broken Cameras (Netflix Instant)
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Brave
  • Flight (on DVD 2/5/13)
  • Frankenweenie
  • Hitchcock (on DVD 3/12/13)
  • How to Survive a Plague (Netflix Instant)
  • Mirror Mirror (Netflix Instant)
  • Moonrise Kingdom
  • ParaNorman
  • Prometheus
  • Searching for Sugar Man
  • Skyfall (on DVD 2/12/13)
  • Snow White and the Huntsman
  • Ted
  • The Avengers
  • The Invisible War (Netflix Instant)
  • The Master (on DVD 2/26/13)
  • The Pirates! Band of Misfits
  • The Sessions (on DVD 2/12/13)

Watching The Documentary Feature Nominees

Most of the nominees will be available on DVD but the National Archives will be holding free screenings of the documentary features between February 20th – 24th. The notable feature you’ll want to catch this way is The Gatekeepers, which hasn’t been released yet.

Watching The Short Films

ShortsHD will be bringing the short film nominees (Live Action, Animation, and Documentary Short) to theatres in February. In DC the Live Action and Animated short films will be screened at E-Street cinema and the Documentary short films will be screened at West End Cinema. Stay tuned to their websites for showtimes.

The National Archives will be holding a free screening of the Live Action, Animation, and Documentary shorts as well.

On Febraury 19th the shorts will be released on iTunes as well.

One of the animated shorts nominees, Fresh Guacamole, is on YouTube. Another animated short nominee, Paperman, is screening alongside Wreck-It Ralph.

Watching The Foreign Language Nominees

Except for Amour, which is already showing at E-Street Cinema, a couple of the nominees will not be released in the US until after the Academy Awards. However National Geographic once again comes to the rescue with their Global Glimpses series. Between February 15th and February 17th they will be screening all five films at their Washington, DC headquarters.

The One That Got Away

Out of all the nominees the only one I haven’t found a solution to is the documentary Chasing Ice, which is nominated for best song. The film recently screened up in Baltimore but it appears to not be around the area right now.

Patrick has been blogging since before it was called blogging. At We Love DC Patrick covers local Theatre, and whatever catches his eye. Patrick’s blog stories, rants, and opinions have been featured in The Washington City Paper, Washington Post Express, CNN, Newschannel 8 Washington, and NBC Washington. See why Patrick loves DC.

You can e-mail him at ppho [at] welovedc.com

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3 thoughts on “Oscar Watch: Where To Watch Every Academy Award Nominee In D.C.

  1. The Washington “process” as Ann Hornaday described it, is on display in the Big Three – Lincoln, Argo and ZDT.

    It’s always cool to watch a DC flick here. Do you have any thoughts on which particular theater is the best in terms of feeling like a proud Washingtonian?

    I’ve always liked Georgetown because it’s in between Langley and the District, and I feel like people in the audience might be employed with a three digit agency.

  2. Jay: I’m a fan of supporting the more indie establishments. E-Street is in a great location downtown and I’m a fan of what Josh and company are doing over at West End Cinema. For me feeling DC is going local.