Join Patch Sunday Night for a Live Blog of the Oscars

Watching the Oscars Sunday night? Grab your popcorn and your laptop. Patch is rolling out the red carpet on Academy Awards night with a live blog that will start just before ABC's red carpet coverage at 7 p.m.

This year's 84th annual Academy Awards, hosted by comedian and actor Billy Crystal, begins its broadcast on ABC at 8:30 p.m. "Oscars Red Carpet Live" will begin at 7 p.m. 

Patch columnists—movie critic Leslie Combemale and Fort Hunt Patch columnist Beth Jarvis—will co-host the live chat on Patch with an assist from Patch editors who also love the Oscars. Patch readers are encouraged to join in on their commentary of films, personalities and fashions. 

Both Combemale and Jarvis have been big fans of movies and the Academy Awards for years. "Of course I've followed the Oscars since I was a movie-obsessed kid,” Combemale said. “My obsession started in earnest when I started to attend an Oscar party with some friends who invited over 100 fans to each party. They always had a contest, and for six years, I won hands down.”

Jarvis seconds that. “I've been a fan of the Academy Awards since I was a teenager,” she said. “As an adult, it's become my signature annual chick party, replete with prizes for those who correctly guess the most winners.  I even roll out a faux red carpet and base the menu around the Best Picture nominations.”

“The viewing experience is greatly enhanced by watching it with others as there is so much material to comment on—the host's remarks, what everyone is wearing, the speeches, how the celebrities react to winning/losing, the upsets,” Jarvis said. “It will be a blast watching and hashing it over virtually with Patch readers this Sunday.”

“I enjoy the Red Carpet almost as much as the telecast itself,” Jarvis said. “I love the pageantry and the escapism the show provides. Any program that includes Ryan Gosling and George Clooney in tuxedos is a show I will be viewing.”

Combemale agrees that red carpet fashions are part of the big night. “My best costume one year was the year American Beauty came out, when I wore a big shawl covering my outfit,” she said. “I had bought a flesh-colored bodysuit and sewed silk rose petals on the same spots they had in the movie poster.”

Movie buffs are in for a treat with commentary on films from Combemale who is an aficionado on animation; she co-owns a film and animation art gallery in Reston. She has also hosted and been a panelist at movie conventions in D.C. and California, including hosting a screening and discussion on the work of animator Chuck Jones at the Washington West Film Festival and being a panelist during the Harry Potter Fandom discussion at San Diego Comic-Con (with Darren Criss). 

"I don't think the Oscars parallel the best acting of the year, but since I watch up-and-coming actors and have since I was a child, I can't help but root for them at the event,” she noted. “I remember in 1984 when Haing S. Ngor won for ‘The Killing Fields.’ I was more excited than I could have imagined.”

What are her thoughts on this year's Oscar nominations? See her and tune in with Patch for our live chat. See you Sunday night! 

Didn't get a chance to see the films nominated for Best Picture? AMC Loews is holding a marathon "Best Picture Showcase" that begins Saturday at 11 a.m. and continues until Sunday morning. Check with the AMC theater closest to you to see if they are participating. Tickets are $60.