NYC Big OSCARS Quiz Thing recap: Sunday, 3/2

Victory! Dare I say it, the second annual Big Oscars Quiz Thing was even more of a success than the first annual (maybe because this year's actual Oscars ceremony was a lot better than last years, IMHO). We packed the house at the über-classy Le Poisson Rouge for a tremendous pre-ceremony multimedia Oscars-themed quiz, followed by a deluxe screening (on three screens! I was expecting two) of the red carpet and the Academy Awards proper (with bonus trivia during commercials). A monstrous thank-you to everyone who braved the nonexistent snowpocalypse to be present.

Pure trivia joy with Oscar Nominee Rebus-O-Rama, the Losing Nominee Movie Quote Thesaurus, and buckets of great Smart-Ass Points. Winner by acclaim for best SAP of the evening: "That guy who’s nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for 12 Years a Slave? Correctly spell either his first name or his last name." The answer: "His first name." I also particularly liked when a team guessed that the item being held by the Academy Awards figurine is another Academy Award (meta!), that the other ex–married couple both nominated for Best Director were Penny Marshall and her vibrator (EdP did point out that the vibrator has a great visual aesthetic), and that the 12 Years a Slave guy's name is spelled "Not Idris Elba." Also, hey, lots of people guessed (for real? jokingly?) that the movie nominated for Best Hairstyling because a lead character spends the film with a dead animal attached to his head was American Hustle.

A few reiterations: Happy birthday to Jen, who spent (the day after) her birthday with us, bringing a large contingent. I discovered that Best Supporting Actress winner Lupita Nyong'o…

…shares her March 1 birthday (although Jen is way, way younger, of course). And fare thee well to Incontinental Congress member Matt; after years of dedicated fandom (and more than victories than nearly any other team), he will be departing for the new-employment-filled pastures of Dallas, Texas. (Alas, the BQT is making its first Texas appearance in April, but in Austin.)

Also thanks to the panoply of fine prize sponsors last evening: On Location Tours, Buyer & Cellar, iLuminate, BAM's The World Is Round, Thumbs Cookies, Pogo Events, Quiet Events, and our excellent hosts for the evening, Le Poisson Rouge.

The finale: We had Matt from IC; Brandon from perpetual BQT comers but rare winners Oh Noah You Didn't; and another Matt, from an entirely new team, Put Your Man of Steel in My Pacific Rim. All three players made it to one point each, but a race to the buzzer resulted in Brandon claiming victory by knowing the title of the only Hitchcock film to earn Best Picture. And thus…

1. Oh Noah Red Carpet Edition
2. Incontinental Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
3. Put Your Man of Steel in My Pacific Rim
4. Dancing with Hollywood
5. We Know Where You Live
6. Paquin's Gap
7. And the Losers Aren't…/Jon Solo (tie)
9. The Matthew McConaughey Naked Bongo Memorial Society
10. Laura and the 9-Inch Males

Another big thanks to all the new faces tonight. Remember: The BQT is at least once a month here in NYC—two big shows coming up in Brooklyn, at Littlefield: the Big Muppets Quiz Thing (with ToughPigs.com) on March 19, and the All-Time Top 40 Music Trivia Questions Countdown (with live band karaoke) on April 1. Plus we're (mostly) monthly in Boston (next date May 5), semiregularly in Philadelphia (comin' up March 16), and hopefully returning to L.A. later in '14. Plus, private and corporate trivia events left and right. Makin' quiz magic happen.