Considering that on Jan. 24, the day the 2012 Oscar nominations were announced, I had seen only two of the 46 nominated movies and 15 shorts, I’m not in bad shape. As of today, I’ve seen 24 of the full-length features and four shorts, with plans by the weekend to reach a total of 31 features and 14 shorts. That’s an average of six movies and three shorts a week. To see them all would take about 125 hours.
I don’t HAVE 125 hours.
You don’t wanna be married to me this time of year unless you’re also a movie junkie. My husband loves movies but refuses to see the “junk” (although “The Tree of Life,” tops on his list, we later trashed; it helps to watch it while trashed, actually).
Colleague Jim Cheng shares my passion — his record is 209 movies during the 1996-97 Oscar season. Of this year’s nominees, his tally is 24 features, 0 shorts. I’d say “I win,” except he saw all of his at the actual theater. He considers my necessary “On Demand” viewing cheating, even if I am equipped at home with a 60-inch screen, which I am.
I try to see them in the theater, but fewer theaters are bringing nominees back in February, probably because they can’t compete with the on-demand services. So demanding. Typically I go it alone, a solo endurance test, but my equally insuppressible friend Ellen Stucker and her teenage son went a few paces with me this month, joining a smattering of buffs pumped with caffeine at early-bird shows. (I work nights. … I do manage to hold down a full-time job even during Oscar season.)
Still, 31 out of 46. It takes commitment. Another friend, who sees a movie religiously almost every Friday night with his spouse, managed to catch only 13 of this year’s nominees. Focus, people!
How many have YOU seen?
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The Artist
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The Descendants
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Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
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The Help
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Hugo
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Midnight in Paris
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Moneyball
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The Tree of Life
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War Horse
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A Better Life
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
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My Week With Marilyn
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Warrior
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Beginners
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Albert Nobbs
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
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The Iron Lady
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Bridesmaids
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A Cat in Paris
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Chico & Rita
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Kung Fu Panda 2
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Puss in Boots
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Rango
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
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Anonymous
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Jane Eyre
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W.E.
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Hell and Back Again
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If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
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Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
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Pina
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Undefeated
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Bullhead
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Footnote
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In Darkness
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Monsieur Lazhar
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A Separation
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The Adventures of Tintin
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The Muppets
- Rio
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Drive
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Transformers: Dark of the Moon
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Real Steel
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Rise of the Planet of the Apes
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The Ides of March
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Margin Call
(SHORTS)
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The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
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God Is the Bigger Elvis
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Incident in New Baghdad
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Saving Face
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The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
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Dimanche/Sunday
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The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
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La Luna
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A Morning Stroll
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Wild Life
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Pentecost
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Raju
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The Shore
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Time Freak
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Tuba Atlantic
Related articles
- My Final Oscar Predictions (the170.com)
- Oscars 2011: Final Winner Predictions (cinematicheavenandhell.wordpress.com)