I'm Confused on Why I Love the Oscars

As the title says, I'm a bit confused as to why I love the Oscars, or cinema for that matter. I mean, I've been blogging for about four months, and I haven't given any background on myself as a lover of all things cinematical.

Well, it all started in 2007. What a weird year for film. The eventual Best Picture winner was, to put it nicely, crap that the Coen Brothers could have directed in their sleep, and almost nothing from that year (at least nothing that pops into my head immediately) will go on to be an instant classic. These were the first Academy Awards I watched. They sucked. Jon Stewart was given about 3 days to prepare and the films (besides Juno) were all meh. I also missed out on good awards shows like The Golden Globes (writer's strike) and the SAG Awards (not knowing these existed-ignorance). So why do I like film and awards season so much? Okay I'm going to try to remember what exactly turned me onto film now. This is going to be hard.

The name Salma Hayek keeps ringing a bell. All that is really coming back to me is this hate I had for not knowing who celebrities were. I think I lived under a rock. Before 2007, you could have asked me who Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Katharine Hepburn, or Halle Berry was and I wouldn't have had an answer. Now I can't even imagine not knowing Katharine Hepburn or Leo; oh how times have changed. So from there I started Wikipedia'ing. I found out that you could click the name of somebody, and find out a whole lot out about that person. I was intriguied, and this is when my obsession with film came about. Once I started Wikipedia'ing the Oscars I was hooked.

The first Oscar film that I watched that year was Juno. I loved it. Still do. It's an ode to a pregnant teen backed by a smart (and hated by many) screenplay. I became obsessed with Oscar chances of this film, but didn't have much of an outlet until I eventually discovered Entertainment Weekly. Then I discovered film blogs. How I exactly came across "The Film Experience" I'll never know. I think I typed in "Oscars 2007 Predictions" and lo and behold the "Film Bitch Awards" came up. It took me awhile (a long while) to realize that the two blogs were written by Nathaniel. I mean, I knew they were connected, but how they were connected I wasn't sure. I was new to the game. Eventually I became obsessed with EW's Oscar watch, The Film Experience Blog, and had been dabbling in other blogs like Encore Entertainment until I finally realized "Hey, I want in on this." I had been writing for the school newspaper, and even the local newspaper, and thought "I can find another place to write: the web!" Even though I know most of my thoughts go out into cyberspace finding one reader if I'm lucky.

All throughout this process I slowly took over my dad's Netflix cue and added some delightfully old movies. I also discovered TCM and Netflix on demand available through my Xbox. I knew it had more of a purpose than just blowing people up 3 million times on Call of Duty 4. Katharine Hepburn was my first love. Even though the first film I saw of her (I think Woman of the Year) is not one of my favorites, she peaked my interest and remains my favorite actress to this very day. Still to this day I've been slowly discovering other greats (like Lauren Bacall and Greta Garbo) because I got a pretty late start in the game. I didn't come into this blog having seen a single Bacall or Garbo film and I'm still learning a ton about film, and it's more exciting than ever. It's a great escape from the mundane school work that 95% of school is comprised of (Proving AB is perpendicular to CQ? Really?)

As for awards season, who knows? Maybe it was the thrill that Diablo Cody, an ex-stripper, could win an Oscar for a film she decided to write one day. I think that that's it. I mean, that's a pretty good rags to riches story, and who doesn't love a good one of those?

I'm still learning so be patient. I mean, I still haven't seen a movie with Carole Lombard or Sophia Loren, but give me time. I'm getting there! Thanks for reading! Comment!