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As far as Sundays go, the next big one drops Feb. 24. Oscar day. The day all those little-golden-statue-grubbers have been losing sleep over. You want to watch, you know you do. But. You are cool. You are hip. You are in. And, in your crowd, you do not watch the Oscars. It is not done. But, oh, how you want to.

The Grand Cinema's Academy Awards Party will include a fundraiser element this year, raising funds to help the movie theater convert to digital and continue to bring first-run independent films to Tacoma. Your ticket helps keep The Grand alive, and you will get to alleviate your social conscience while maintaining your coolness, as well as enjoy tasty food, beer and wine, participate in a costume contest and win prizes for guessing winners.

We threw a couple questions at Grand Cinema's Market Director Zach Powers, a hip guy in his own right, regarding the upcoming Academy Awards Party & Fundraiser.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: Anything new at this year's Oscars Party?

ZACH POWERS: Yes, there is an entire new VIP viewing area and buffet dinner provided by our friends at Maxwell's Restaurant. We are selling two types of tickets - general admission, which is basically everything the event has always included such as snacks, open seating in the theater and access to all the event activities - and VIP tickets, which grants event goers access to the second viewing area, the full dinner buffet and two complimentary drinks.

VOLCANO: Please say there's still dessert.

POWERS: hello cupcake and Corina Bakery will be there.

VOLCANO: Is the costume contest based on characters from this year's films?

POWERS: The costume contest is always film related, and mostly has to do with the past year's films, but sometimes the costumes can be film related - folks dressing up as iconic characters or film personalities.

VOLCANO: So, 60 percent of the total films nominated for Academy Awards were screened at The Grand this past year. Can you name them?

POWERS: Amour, Bests of the Southern Wild, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, The Sessions, The Master, Anna Karenina, 5 Broken Cameras, The Gate Keepers, The Invisible War, Searching for Sugar Man, Inocente, Kings Point, Mondays at Racine, ...

VOLCANO: You're going to name them all, aren't you?

POWERS: You asked. Open Heart, Redemption, Kon-Tiki, NO, A Royal Affair, Hitchcock, Chasing Ice, Adam and Dog, Fresh Guacamole, Head Over Heels, ...

VOLCANO: You are reading this off a list.

POWERS: No, I memorized it. Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare, Paperman, Asad, Buzkashi Boys, Curfew, Dood Van Een Schaduw, Henry and Moonrise Kingdom.

VOLCANO: Nice work Zach. What film does the Grand staff think will win best picture?

POWERS: Thanks. That's a tough question. We root for films that screened at The Grand against the rest of the field. The two films that most are predicting to win are Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln - both of which are currently playing at The Grand.

THEATRE ON THE SQUARE, SUNDAY, FEB. 24, 5 P.M., DOORS AT 4 P.M., $30-$80 ADVANCE, 915 BROADWAY, TACOMA, 253.593.4474