Here come the freaks.

Let’s face it, a lot of people think ‘Oscar watchers’ are freaks. Sure the awards mean a lot to the movers and shakers in Hollywood, and can launch some actors career into the stratosphere, but why do they matter to us?
For me it all comes down to ego. Every year I try and see as many of the buzzed films I can, and make up my mind as to their merits. More often than not, as Oscar season approaches, I see the over blown and over hyped films (I am talking to you Million Dollar Baby, A Beautiful Mind, Crash) and brush them aside. This leaves, what I consider to be, a few gems. Last year it was Brokeback Mountain, the previous year it was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Aside from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Silence of the Lambs, I have been disappointed by every eventual winner of the main award and swear every time “This is the last year I will follow these bloody awards!!!!”
This is why I love them. They give me a sense of superiority. In my own little world I have the best taste in film, performance, and music. No one can equal it. Not even the collective body of the Academy.
I first get the first rush on nomination day. Madly writing the nominees down on a scrap of paper while listening to the announcement through my phone as my loving partner holds the hand set up to the television. Squeeling, crouched at my desk, in my cubicle at work, “Jim Carey wasn’t nominated???!! Those idiots! Where was Uma Thurmans name!!?? YAY Samantha Morton got a nom!”
Then there is the build up until the big day. Frantically seeing movies that got in. Predicting who will win, or what front runner will trip up for what media malfunction. Frantically looking at various websites to see who is predicting who, and hopefully seeing randomness.
Then there is the big night. Filling in my prediction sheets, stupidly voting with my heart over my head and going for the long shot and trying to reason with those around me why Heath Ledger or Shohreh Aghdashloo will win over the general consensus.
And finally the telecast starts. So boring, so long. Hardly any surprises happen (aside Jack Nicolson getting drunk and reading out Crash instead of Brokeback Mountain last year) and it is all over.
And usually I am left only feeling this….I have better taste than the Academy.