Hooray for Hollywood

Tonight I will be watching the Oscars with my best friends Obsessive and Compulsive. I am joined by these friends quite frequently, but on Oscar night we share a special bond. Do not call me during the Oscars, do not stop over unannounced. I will accept questions during commercials only and God help you if you forget and ask me a for a snack during an emotional acceptance speech. I will have you listed on ebay faster than you can say, "And the Oscar goes to..." and shipping will be free.

My love story with Oscar began in 1986. It was the year that William Hurt won for Kiss of the Spiderwoman. I don't think I watched closely that year, it was more of an introduction to the Academy Awards, a taste, of course I wasn't quite 14 at the time.

In 1987 the Oscars were hosted by Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan. Along with knowing the work of the actors hosting I had also seen many of the nominated films. I had seen Platoon and The Color of Money. I had even watched Children of a Lesser God simply because I had become enamored with William Hurt after seeing him win the year before. I was learning statistics about the Oscars and seeing the irony involved. Who could have guessed that Paul Newman and Michael Caine had never won an Oscar before? How ironic that the year they both win they had decided not to attend? I had favorites I was hoping for and I was disappointed that Tom Berenger didn't win for Platoon, at least he was in the building.

Watching the Oscars became a whole new ballgame for me in 1988. There was no question that I would watch, and watch I did, complete with clipboard, paper and pen. I wrote out the list of nominees by hand. I marked the winners with the excitement of someone who had an actual stake in the outcome. I wrote down interesting tidbits as they came to me, and my Oscar issue of Premiere magazine was at my side. I wanted William Hurt to win Best Actor. This was his third nomination in a row and I thought Broadcast News was fantastic. I was baffled that the Academy had decided to nominate Michael Douglas for Wall Street instead of Fatal Attraction and I never thought Cher was going to win wearing that dress.

Year after year my love affair with the Oscars continues. No, it's not a perfect relationship, it is as flawed as any. Once I became a Mom my chances to see movies in the theater were few and far between. I believe 1998, or the year of Titanic, was the last time I had actually seen all of the Best Picture nominees prior to Oscar night. But regardless of how prepared I am or how aware I am of who is nominated I never miss the Oscars. I gave birth to my youngest daughter on February 27, 2004. That year the Oscars were on February 29th, the day I came home from the hospital. I saw the supporting awards at the beginning and fell asleep not long after, but I woke up just in time to see Sean Penn win for Mystic River. Ok, so I did miss them in their entirety once, in 2006. But I was in Mexico and we couldn't get the channel, I tried, and I did record them and watch when we returned a week later.

This year I am as unprepared as ever. I had hoped to see Juno before the awards, especially since it's written by Diablo Cody and l loved her book Candy Girl so much, but today is my daughter's birthday party so chances are slim. The only best picture nominee I have seen is Michael Clayton. I watched it last night and was completely entranced the whole time. George Clooney has finally become more than Dr. Doug to me and Tom Wilkinson deserves to win for his performance. Friday night I watched Gone Baby Gone, which was directed by Ben Affleck. I swore I would see this film in the theater so that I could honor Mr. Affleck, the former object of my affection, but alas it was not meant to be. Amy Ryan who appears in this film as a mother who's daughter is abducted was phenomenal and has won many critics' awards this season. As the sole nomination for this fine film I would love to see her win.

Despite my unpreparedness I will still be glued to the tv with Obsession to my right and Compulsive to my left. I won't write anything down this year, but I will use the commercial breaks to relay tidbits I found fascinating to my husband. He will either be in the bedroom or in the basement, probably watching hockey and trying to explain to our daughters why tonight is the one night of the year that they can't disturb Mommy while she is watching TV, because ebay lowered their listing fees and it's just not a good idea.