Tomorrow's the Big Day! (and Oscar Legacy Project)

Well, tomorrow is Oscar Day!

I believe Robyn and I are adequately prepared for the occasion... we haven't seen ALL of the nominated films, but between us I think we've done better than in past years. It can be hard to squeeze in viewings of all the nominated films between the announcement of nominations and the awards show. And there's always some random out-of-nowhere nomination like Melissa Leo in Frozen River. Not that she doesn't deserve a nomination, but how and where would we have a chance to see that?

Oscar day for us is a fairly informal ritual. There is always the pre-show discussion and debate of the nominations and completing the ballot with our official predictions (we always separate our prediction of who will win from our personal vote of who should win). There is always food - snacks and dinner - but tending much more towards informal than formal. Occasionally we will watch one of the nominated films in the afternoon - if there's something conveniently available that we haven't yet seen. But this practice is intended to add to our annual celebration and has backfired more than once... Once we tried watching two movies but the day was too long and we didn't get all the way through the second movie (Sherry Baby, which wasn't actually nominated) and then we were rushed to get through our discussion and voting. And once we painfully suffered through a stupid movie about a camel - nothing like a bad movie to put a damper on the day!

This year it's a fairly long all-day plan... we hope to view Vicky Cristina Barcelona if there's time but we decided to do a long-term reflection on Oscar wins in the past 10+ years and revisit which ones were (in retrospect) Gross Miscarriages of Justice. There are some well-known burs under my saddle. (Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream, and Annette Bening in Being Julia, for starters...) I expect there will be many interesting topics to debate - such as when a sentimental win is ok and when it isn't. And what exactly makes a "best movie" anyway? Groundbreaking achievement in storytelling or effects? A movie that remains a favourite many years later? An overall combination of excellent performances and outstanding production? Some of my all-time favourite movies wouldn't necessarily meet those criteria, so what gives? Can a movie be a Best Movie if it didn't really qualify for Best anything else? Can a movie be Best everything else and yet not be a Best Movie? Hmmmm...... We shall discuss at length...

As part of this we'll be looking at groups of years, instead of just year-by-year (though we'll be doing that too), because some years have very strong contests and so perhaps the awards would be better if they were more like Olympics - a top 3 every 4 years? Again, we shall discuss at length...

Reviewing these many years of past Oscar nominations and wins, I was immediately struck by the fact that if I hadn't seen a nominated film by Oscar time, I rarely saw it later, even if it won (like The Insider, and Unforgiven). And there were movies in the not-too-distant past that I recall loving and supporting in the Oscars - but which I never watched again and had even quite forgot them until this exercise (like The Hours, and Affliction). This disturbs me and makes me almost contemplate whether these awards mean anything. (emphasis on almost, I'm re-watching The Hours, and Affliction tonight).

As for the actual show tomorrow - I'm most excited about Hugh Jackman as host! Billy Crystal was my favourite host, and think Hugh Jackman will have the same kind of spirit and style. (One Oscar time-waster that I hope disappears is "introducing the presenters." When Julia Roberts struts onstage to give an award, I don't need a voiceover reminding me about her upcoming film or her undeserved win for Erin Brockovich! (meow! hiss!)

Revelling in movie geekness,
Surely much much more to report after tomorrow,

JODI (& Robyn)


I might have exaggerated the lack of fomality in our Oscar-day ritual. One of the reasons we often watch the show without other people is because we're very intolerant of chatter during the important moments of the show! Most family and friends know not to try calling because we won't answer the phone or we'll answer with 'Why are you calling?? The Oscars are on!" We have had a friend or two join us and it has always been fine, but there was one tragic year long ago when Robyn's husband kept stealing the remote and changing the channel in the middle of speeches (while laughing hysterically at our indignation and outrage). Ever since then we've been pretty uptight about the whole thing...