The Oscar Narrative: The End

There were so few surprises at this year's Oscars. The winners were predictable. Jimmy Kimmel landed some jokes, and missed some. Some of the banter and gags worked, some of them didn't. Across the board, the winners were worthy, even if one of my favorites lost. The In Memoriam segment was awful, but the song performances were fun. The five previous winners was cool, but it felt like they didn't play it up enough. That is the Oscars! It is too long, and not everything works. But, I enjoyed it as always. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches. It was so good to see veterans like Nolan, Downey Jr., Randolph, and Murphy win their first Oscars. For me, Emma Stone's win will always be personal. I was in college, when my roommates and I fell in love with Easy A, her truly breakout role. To see her evolve into a two-time Oscar winner is truly awesome. To see a first-timer like Cord Jefferson get recognition is special, and I can't wait to see what he does next. The voters spread the love, with so many Best Picture nominees winning at least one Oscar. Oppenheimer truly is a great film, and will be remembered as a great Best Picture winner. I really believe that, even though we all know that hindsight really is 20/20. Overall, this was a great year for film, and I think the Oscars did a relatively good job of recognizing that excellence. Complaints will always be there, but the haters have less to complain about than some years, and for The Academy, that is a win. 

15 years ago, I started The Awards Psychic. I was a college freshman movie buff who had an affinity for awards, particularly The Oscars. I often think about why I became so obsessed with awards, not just film, television, music, etc., but the ceremonies that reward. I cannot pinpoint the exact moment, but for some reason I was always drawn to awards shows. I remember watching the Oscars for the first time in 1998, I was only seven years old. I got to see Robin Williams win an Oscar. He was the Genie in Aladdin and Mrs. Doubtfire. One of my childhood icons gave an emotional speech being rewarded with his profession's highest honor. In 2002, at age 11, I saw Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, and Sidney Poitier all win on the same night. One of the idols of my high school years was the great Philip Seymour Hoffman. In 2006, at age 15, I saw him win an Oscar. We lost Robin and Philip within months of each other. In 2009, right as this blog started, I remember the emotional feeling of Heath Ledger winning his posthumous Oscar. I remember the feeling I had when I saw Meryl Streep win an Oscar, and Frances McDormand, Daniel Day-Lewis, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, just to name a few. This is the longest thing in my life I have ever stuck with, and it has been so much more than just a blog. This has been the worst year of my professional life. It has made me rethink everything I thought I knew. I no longer want the same things I wanted when I started this job 11 years ago. Four promotions later, and so much stress and heartache, I now am looking into jumping into a leap of faith and trying something new. It is the scariest thing when your long term plan gets thrown off the tracks. But it is also the possibility of something new and exciting. We'll see how it goes. But no matter what, year 16 will go on here at The Awards Psychic. We still have a lot of stories to write, and a lot of Oscar narratives to see unfold. Oppenheimer reminds us that the world is a big, scary place, and in one moment, it all can be taken away. We have to live our lives, no matter what. I'm gonna take that advice. Thank you again to all of the readers who make this worthwhile. Cheers to Year 16.