Five people are lined up waiting for the starting bell. When it goes off they race as fast as they can to the finish line. It seems as if the race was over just as fast as when it started. Under these circumstances I agree on naming one of the contestants the”winner.” The person was the fastest human on the planet. You see all five people ran their hearts out to get to the finish line first; but they were timed, so one came in first, the next one second and so on. Truthfully I have no issue with this type of contest because it seems more like physics to me. The Oscars on the other hand are different; how does one judge art? It is that time of year that everyone (that is right I am pointing my finger at you) is all abuzz about who will get an Oscar award. I do not know what methods other people use to decide who deserves the award (notice we no longer use the words win or winner, example: …and the Oscar goes to ___), but this is how I choose the acting roles: the actor who is the most convincing and totally becomes the character, where I no longer see them as “so and so” portraying a character, they are the character; they get my vote. My bottom line for how I choose in the other categories is how much did that nominee or aspect contribute to the entire film watching experience and teleport me from my theater seat into the picture and story.

With no further ado I present to you my choices on who I would like to see get the Oscar award and who will probably receive it.

MY PICKS                                                                                            THEIR PICKS

BEST PICTURE:

SPOTLIGHT                                                                                           THE BIG SHORT

BEST DIRECTOR:

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU                                               ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU

BEST ACTOR:

LEONARDO DICAPRIO                                                                        LEONARDO DICAPRIO

BEST ACTRESS:

BRIE LARSON                                                                                      CHARLOTTE RAMPLING

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

SYLVESTER STALLONE                                                                      MARK RYLANCE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

ALICIA VIKANDER                                                                               KATE WINSLET

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

SPOTLIGHT                                                                                            SPOTLIGHT

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

THE BIG SHORT                                                                                    THE MARTIAN

BEST FOREIGN FILM:  (I DID NOT SEE ALL THE NOMINEES)

SON OF SAUL

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:  (I DID NOT SEE ALL THE NOMINEES)

INSIDE OUT

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

THE HATEFUL EIGHT                                                                           THE HATEFUL EIGHT

As the past Oscar season is about to come to a close, I want to wish all of you an Oscar day filled with unexpected joy, happy surprises and as always good health. Thank you for joining me on this journey to discover that elusive 4 star movie.

Let the show begin!