Where To Watch The Best Picture Nominees This Weekend

Why huddle around your pirating roommate's macbook when you can still catch the bulk of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture as they were meant to be seen? Here are the spots to catch seven of the ten would-be Oscar winners this weekend. And while you're at it, why not have some fun post-movie? It is the weekend and all...

King’s Speech
The charming tale of stuttering King George VI's quest to overcome his speech impediment leads the field with an impressive 12 Academy Award nominations
Where to Watch It: The cozy and old-fashioned style Cinearts at the Empire in West Portal. While it isn't the fanciest venue, the popcorn is known to be unusually legit.
Post-movie Activity: Fun fact: King George VI was the last King of Ireland. Why not pop over to neighboring Irish pub The Dubliner for a pint? Discounts if you trash talk the monarchy and rep Catholicism! (note: no confirmation said discounts actually exist.)

True Grit
Jeff Bridges plays a boozing U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn in this new adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name.
Where to Watch It: The full bar at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas means you can booze along with Jeff Bridges. Sadly, the Kabuki does not serve White Russians -- sorry Lebowski fans!
Post-movie Activity: Keep the country western theme going at Thee Parkside. The Portrero Hill staple hosts free live country and twang music each and every Sunday.

Black Swan
Your typical psychological thriller. Good girl ballerina gets the job; good girl ballerina goes nuts.
Where to Watch It: While we dig the charm of the city's smaller independent theaters, you really need the full on mega-theater experience to fully take in this visually stunning and impressively scored blockbuster. AMC Loews Metreon 16 is the place to be.
Post-movie Activity: Well isn't that convenient! Friday marks the launch of an all-Tchaikovsky ballet program at the The War Memorial Opera House. Sadly, the acclaimed Russian composer's piece Swan Lake will not be part of the review.

Winter’s Bone
The indie flick tells the tale of seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) attempt to hunt down her deadbeat dad in the Ozarks.
Where to Watch It: Truth be told, your choices here are limited – the Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkley is the only local spot screening the flick this weekend.
Post-movie Activity: Armed with your newfound knowledge of the Ozarks, cruise on over to neighboring Missouri Lounge to sample some authentic brews from the 24th state in the union. Hey -- Budweiser is technically from St Louis.

The Fighter
The biopic centers around the life and career of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and his half-brother and trainer Dicky Eklund (Bale).
Where to Watch It: The charm at the 82-year-old Grand Lake Theater in Oakland can hardly be beat. If you can hold out on seeing this one a bit longer, we recommend rolling through for it Tuesday -- free popcorn all day long.
Post-movie Activity: Feeling inspired? Cruise back to the city, march on down to 3rd Street Gym in Potrero Hill and sign up for their notorious boxing bootcamp before the fear of your impending headaches gets the better of you.

The Social Network
We know, we know -- you already saw the David Fincher directed tale of the rise of conniving Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Wait, you haven't? Dude...
Where to Watch It: Go for the authentic experience and take the train to Cupertino's BlueLight Cinemas 5 for the film. The family owned theater is a mere eleven miles from Zuckerberg's current office at the Palo Alto Facebook world headquarters.
Post-movie Activity: Resist the temptation to walk on over to the Facebook offices -- believe us, they aren't that exciting on a Saturday night -- and head back to the city. Your destination: The Summit. The Techcrunch featured Mission's hybrid cafe, bar and workspace is the best place to plot how you are going to make your own first million billion.

127 Hours
Be forewarned: the horrific account of trapped mountain climber Aron Ralston's fight for his life has been known to cause moviegoers to faint mid film.
Where to Watch It: An epic movie like this deserves an epic journey. Instead of taking MUNI downtown, hop on your bike and embard on the the daunting ride to UA Stonestown Twin -- okay the 8-mile or so ride into the depths of suburban-style suburbia may not rival 127 hours trapped on a mountian, but still...
Post-movie Activity: Survived the bike ride and the movie? Save the obligatory rock climbing excursion for Monday, and treat yourself to a beer. If you take the scenic route back to civilization, a brew at The Beach Chalet is most certanly the move.

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