And the Winner Is...

Its Oscar time!

Since my invitation got lost in the mail I will be oohing, aahing and blaahing the red carpet arrivals from the comfort of my couch while wearing my fanciest fuzzy pajamas.

I’m excited to see Seth MacFarlane host though I don’t know how he’ll top his gig as the Roastmaster of Donald Trump. We’ll see.

Here’s why I love the Oscars. I truly admire a group of people who all made their dreams come true. Hollywood takes its share of criticism but the bottom line is they are one of the only industries that hasn’t tanked with the economy. They have created jobs, made money and entertained us, all while fulfilling dreams. Not so shabby.

Here’s why I hate the Oscars. People like Kathryn Bigelow. I wish I could say I even liked her movies but I would rather the Teletubbies had a comeback than see anything she makes again. The Hurt Locker was a disappointment and she followed it up with Zero Dark Thirty, which told the story of finding Osama Bin Laden.

Kathryn should take a few notes from Ben Affleck, who happened to have been robbed, when it comes to putting a real life event on the big screen. Zero was so long, boring, drawn out, that I wondered how Jessica Chastain managed to stay awake. Many of us knew the story behind Argo or at least that there was a hostage crisis yet the movie was riveting. My stomach was filled with knots rooting for Affleck’s character and the hostages, even that obnoxious one who did everything wrong.

I love the Oscars because there are surprises and I don’t just mean the streaker behind David Niven or when Adrian Brody planted one on Halle Berry. I mean real surprises like when Anne Hathaway had more personality than James Franco. Then there’s drama, real drama like will Jen run into Brad and Angelina and will Angelina vanquish Jen with a vampire-like stare.

I hate the Oscars because as much as I love seeing the dresses, the hair, the make up, the time between the red carpet and Best Picture can drag on for what feels like forever. Those people deserve their awards and should get their dues but I’m guilty of watching to see who gets caught looking bored on camera or even who gets caught glaring at their competition. Don’t believe anyone who uses the old it’s so nice to be honored line. It is nice to be honored but guess what, winning is even better. And they are all there to win.

This may be the first year that I love most of the movies nominated with some exceptions. Lincoln put me to sleep and Daniel Day Lewis does not deserve the Oscar. He looked like Lincoln but not because of his great acting but because his costume people made him look like that. Give them the Oscar.

Django Unchained was the Best Picture. It won’t win but not because it wasn’t best. Quentin Tarantino is a genius. And what happened to Jamie Foxx? Why is his name missing? Leonardo DiCaprio?

Silver Linings Playbook was amazing. The cast was perfect. This movie was perfect. Jennifer Lawrence was so incredible that I was distracted by her incredible.

Les Miserables, what can I say? I hate musicals yet I loved this movie.

Life of Pi was visually one of the most stunning things I have ever watched and it didn’t rest on the visual laurels. It was a great movie.

And of course there was Argo the movie that was responsible for me chewing my freshly manicured nails down to stubs. Ben rocked that beard but he really rocked as a director. So what happened there?  

I love the Oscars because for once, there were many movies that are deserving and I hate the Oscars because it’s impossible to choose unless of course you choose one of those two really bad ones and then it’s more reason to hate the Oscars.

But there I’ll be on Sunday night waiting to see who will be the first to arrive. I’ll ooh and ahh over some gorgeous dress or great hair do and I’ll cringe over some horrendous design that makes me wonder if the actress owns a mirror or a hairbrush. Its part of the fun.

My favorite part of Oscar night is remembering that under the glitter and behind the bad acceptance speeches are real people who made their dreams come true and in the process made us laugh or cry or let us escape our worlds for a few hours while we watched them take us to another place on screen. And they do it again on Oscar night and we all get to celebrate with them.