Someone should make an app for Oscar marathoners

The Washington Post does a pretty good job rounding up locations for me — despite the fact its redesigned print movie grid is utterly unreadable.

I’ll bet there are a lot of us out there: movie die-hards who cram to see all of the Oscar-nominated films in the six weeks between January announcements and the gala February date — the same time period when nominees are getting fitted for gowns and tuxes and writing and rehearsing and rewriting their ad-libbed reactions to their awards.

Does anyone else appreciate how hard it is to plan out the times and routes to various theaters, often in other states, working around one’s work and social obligations?!?!?!? Not to mention incorporating On Demand and other avenues of scoring. Fandango and MovieFone are of no use when all you have is an iPhone 3, one tiny screen on which to map both showtimes and compass points, and you’re in a strange city (Chicago, for me), and half the phone numbers listed for theaters are disconnected or centralized at Regal headquarters, and you aren’t sure which theaters are worth their salt in concessions.

I spent a few hours last week in Chicago literally chasing movies — first figuring out which theaters were showing multiple titles that I still needed to see, so I could squeeze in a double feature on my one night free, then figuring out if it was close enough in rush-hour traffic, then trying to determine parking and how far I needed to walk. I missed several start times literally by 10 minutes, trudging through snow, and had to start again from square one, Googling and mapping. By the time I made it to a legit theater for a legit movie, I had time for only “Skyfall,” scratch the double feature.

We’d pay good money for such an app.

My old-school app that I keep folded up in my purse. Requires a peripheral called a “pen.”

Today, my plan is to see “The Master” and “The Impossible” — thus completing the “Top 6” categories that most movie fans aim for. Of course, I aim for more — 37 feature-film nominees, in every category, excluding “Ted,” which I refuse to see. Tomorrow it’s “Anna Karenina.” I’ve heard that one’s just as bad as “Ted.” Perhaps there’s time also for foreign film nominee “A Royal Affair,” playing at the same theater.

Would be heaven if I could just type these titles into an app and see ALL my options in the D.C. metro area. I also want to plug in my work schedule, commuting times and other commitments to block out the entire next week, fitting them in like puzzle pieces to ensure I can make it from one theater to the next in time for previews, and also know which theaters are changing up their shows next Friday, and to what. Like an old-fashioned newspaper grid. Plus a score card showing what I’ve seen and what’s left to see. Plus reminders on what awards the movies are up for before the titles begin. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

App-arently.

My status, with checkmarks on what I’ve seen, as of this moment: 16, not even halfway, but I got a really really late start. How is your score card / dance card filling up?

1. Amour √
2. Argo √
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild √
4. Django Unchained √
5. Les Misérables √
6. Life of Pi √
7. Lincoln √
8. Silver Linings Playbook √
9. Zero Dark Thirty √
10. The Master
11. Flight √
12. The Impossible
13. The Sessions √
14. Brave √
15. Frankenweenie √
16. ParaNorman √
17. The Pirates! Band of Misfits
18. Wreck-It Ralph
19. Anna Karenina
20. Skyfall √
21. Mirror Mirror
22. 5 Broken Cameras
23. The Gatekeepers
24. How to Survive a Plague
25. The Invisible War
26. Searching for Sugar Man
27. Hitchcock
28. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
29. Chasing Ice
30. Ted
31. Kon-Tiki (Norway)
32. No (Chile)
33. A Royal Affair (Denmark)
34. War Witch (Canada)
35. Marvel’s The Avengers
36. Prometheus
37. Snow White and the Huntsman √
38. Moonrise Kingdom

And I am “done” (fit to judge) these categories:

Best Picture

Directing

Film Editing

Sound Editing

Sound Mixing (same thing? c’mon.)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Seeing three more movies mentioned will give me seven more categories by tomorrow.

Actor in a Leading Role

Actor in a Supporting Role

Actress in a Leading Role

Actress in a Supporting Role

Cinematography

Costume Design

Music (Original Score)

Still not good enough, not until I get Writing (Original Screenplay). My kingdom for a “Moonrise Kingdom” showing!!!

Related articles

• 38 Oscar movie contenders: How many have you seen? (mommytongue.com)
• Do you try to see every Oscar-nominated movie? (timesunion.com)