My Oscar memories...

I suppose I should probably discuss something that hasn't been nearly as engaging for me as it has in year's past: The Oscars. It seems like every other year has at least had one major nominee that I wanted to root for, including three years of "Lord of the Rings" love. But this year, for the first time in a while, not only have I not seen a single nominee for Best Picture, I have almost no desire to see any of them. That apathy towards the nominees has carried over into my favorite element of the Oscar season...the Oscar Party, which will not take place for the first time in five years. But instead of whining over how corrupt and political Hollywood is, I'd rather reflect on some pleasant Oscar memories of years gone by....

I can't really explain my interest in the Academy Awards--it probably dates back to the year when "Beauty and the Beast" was nominated for Best Picture, and I hoped in vain that it would beat out "The Silence of the Lambs." While I was a teenager, it seemed like the hometeachers always wanted to come on Oscar night, and since the internet and Tivo were still brewing in Al Gore's imagination, I was forced to tape the ceremony and try to catch up what I missed during the commercial breaks.

My first "Oscar Party" took place back in 2001, when my invitees included me, my brother Jon (more interested in his popcorn), and Lindsay Arnett. It was a wild party, and we were sad when our favorite nominee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") had to settle for Best Foreign Film rather than Best Picture (no thanks to "Gladiator"). Lindsay and I sat on my parents' floor downstairs and marked our guesses along with the winners. I can't remember who won, but I know it wasn't Devry....

The following year was a banner year for the Oscar Party: it marked the first year when our guests necessitated a move upstairs where there was more room for visiting, predicting, and watching Devry sweep the game (which she did for the next three years...). Sometimes the party included special visits from Legolas and Gimli, and always included lots of food. They were probably more fun for me to host than for people to attend, but everyone was a good sport and occasionally won a prize (if Devry didn't show up).

I can't say I've ever agreed with a majority of Oscar nominees/winners--so often the Academy honors the political choices (this year being a perfect example) over the actual best films. But yes, I will still be watching, and will still be making predictions as to who I think will win the awards. It will be interesting to see which movies win this year, although I expect that some friendly cowboys and bigmouthed celebrity activists will probably run away with the biggies. So on Sunday when George Clooney decries the war in Iraq and Heath Ledger talks about how stupid Mormons are, we can curse our TVs in the privacy of our own homes and laugh the following day when we find that this year's Oscar telecast was the least watched in recent history. Here's hoping at least...until then, we have one more year to brush up our skills before we're back in competition with Devry all over again.