There is a classic Saturday Night Live skit where Bill Murray picks the 1978 Oscar winner for best picture. He settles on "The Goodbye Girl" because it was the only nominated movie he had seen.
I love to watch the Academy Awards, but only once have I seen all the movies nominated for Best Picture prior to the ceremony. I'm sure it will be the last. I have never liked the fact that the Academy changed their nominating procedure to include as many as ten movies. Five seemed to be the perfect number for a movie buff like me. At least I could form an educated opinion on who I thought would win. And, now my Oscars go to…
Best Picture: Argo
I saw five of the nine movies in this category. The story of six Americans rescued from Iran was the best movie I saw this year. It's really a shame that Ben Afleck was snubbed for a Best Director nomination. Maybe the Academy doesn't like Afleck. In that case they may snub "Argo" too.
Best Director: Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Spielberg has won for "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan." When it comes to making movies of a historical nature nobody does it better than him, except for maybe Ron Howard.
Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln)
I only saw two of the nominated performances, but it's hard for me to believe that anyone had a better performance than Daniel Day Lewis as Abraham Lincoln. Lewis is a 2-time Best Actor winner so the Academy may reward someone else.
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Her portrayal of the CIA officer who helped track down Osama bin Laden was very good. Although the performance from Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild" was truly amazing. I just don't see the Academy giving the Oscar to a nine-year old.
…And now my worst of the best awards…
Worst Best Picture:
Of the 65 Best Picture winners I have seen, the worst movie would have to be "The English Patient." I guess I can't claim to have seen this movie all the way through since I turned it off about 45 minutes into it.
Worst Best Actor: Paul Newman "The Color of Money" This category was tough. I enjoyed Newman's performance as Fast Eddie Felson, I just think he has given the award for all the times he didn't win. If you haven't seen them, be sure to check out Newman's performances in "Hud" and "Cool Hand Luke."
Worst Best Actress: Helen Hunt "As good as it Gets" Hunt was fine as the love interest to Jack Nicholson, but if it wasn't for Jack, I probably would have skipped this movie.
Worst Oscar Host: James Franco and Anne Hathaway. It's too bad they can't talk Billy Crystal into hosting the Oscars every year.
Pop up some popcorn Sunday night, get comfortable and get ready for another unpredictable Academy Awards show.
