James Cameron’s “Avatar” inspired several cocktail drinks celebrating this three-time Oscar winning film. “Avatar” won an Academy Award for Cinematography, Art Direction and (no surprise here) visual effects. The movie also received one half-dozen additional Oscar nominations in the categories of directing, film editing, original score, sound editing, sound mixing and the coveted, Best Picture.

No matter whether you enjoyed the 3D blue people and strange love story in “Avatar” or think it’s “a truly horrible movie” like How to Be Black author Baratunde Thurston does, these Oscar nominated cocktail recipes are fit for humanoids on either side of the audience spectrum.

Pandora Elixir
(from Sunset Magazine)

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and then combine ¼ rum, two tablespoons of passion fruit juice, 1 lime leaf torn into small pieces and two teaspoons of fresh lime juice into the shaker. Shake well, strain into martini glasses, top each drink with two tablespoons of club soda and then garnish with a lime wedge. The Sunset Magazine’s “Avatar” cocktail recipe also lists substitutes for the juice (such as guava and orange) and the lime leaf, if you’re interested in learning how to put a spin on this particular one.

Ame Na'vi Cocktail
(by bartender Rafael Jimenez Rivera at the Lobby Bar in San Francisco)

Chill a martini glass while adding 1 ½ oz gin, one teaspoon each of dry vermouth, Parfait Amour and orange juice with no pulp to an ice filled cocktail shaker. Shake it up and then strain the drink into the chilled cocktail glass. Garnish the “Avatar” drink with an orange peel. You can also use blue curacao as a substitute for the Parfait Amour, when making this “Avatar” movie cocktail recipe.

The Avatar
(by Sandra Lee, featured in Entertainment Weekly)

Combine one ounce each of citrus vodka and white cranberry juice, ½ ounce of blue curacao and one squeeze of lime juice into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Cover, shake well and then strain into a cold glass. Lee says that the citrus vodka is used to honor the tree of life in “Avatar,” and also recommends the Ketel One Citroen brand.

Among these Oscar nominated cocktails for "Avatar," which one do YOU plan on drinking?

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