I’m writing this as the red carpet is happening for the event that I have been counting down towards.  I realize that most people in my life don’t give a hoot about the Oscars, but as you may or may not know, I love them.  I love watching all the films – even tracking them down at independent theaters and going to watch them by myself.  I love wondering which ones will win.  I love the history and tradition.  I love the red carpet and all the celebrities.  I don’t care much about the fashion, but I guess I do love the glamour of the whole thing. I know I’m not alone in my love of the Oscars, because approximately a gajillion people watch them every year (that’s an exact figure.)

“Don’t they want to kill themselves doing this?” My sister is saying to me as I type.

“No,” I reply, “I doubt it.”

“I would.” she says, and disinterestedly goes into the other room.  I don’t care if I am alone in this venture.  It makes me happy.

Therefore, I know this post is more for me than my readers.  I have spent the last few months diligently making sure that I saw each and every film that was nominated for Best Picture.  I sort of don’t know why I do this, because I often don’t agree with the award winners that the Academy Chooses. I suppose I just want to be informed and I love films – pretty much everything about them.  So, while I wait for the real show to start, and before the awards are actually given, I am going to do some ranking and rating of my own.  I doubt I’ll be correct in any way.

For me, the best picture nominees are ranked in the following order:

1.  Birdman

2. Whiplash

3. The Grand Budapest Hotel

4. Boyhood

5. The Theory of Everything

6. The Imitation Game

7. American Sniper

8. Selma

It is extremely rare that I would ever put another film over a Wes Anderson film.  He is probably my favorite film maker of all time.  However, Birdman and Whiplash totally blew me away.  They were unbelievably amazing.  If you haven’t seen either one, you should.  I feel as though the Imitation Game looks unfairly low on my list, because it was a tremendous film, but obviously this is some tough competition.  I liked American Sniper and Selma, but I doubt either of them should have been nominated for Best Picture.  They were out of their leaque in this crowd.

Same thing for Best Actor:

1. Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

2. Michael Keaton – Birdman

3. Steve Carell – Foxcatcher

4. Benedict Cumberbatch – the Imitation Game

5. Bradley Cooper – American Sniper

Eddie Redmayne may just be fresh in my mind because I watched The Theory of Everything yesterday, but he was truly outstanding.  Michael Keaton has never been better, so they are almost tied for me.  I love Bradley Cooper, but it wasn’t Oscar-worthy.

Supporting Actor:

1. J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

2. Mark Rufalo – Foxcatcher

3. Edward Norton – Birdman

4. Ethan Hawke – Boyhood

5. Robert Duvall – the Judge

J.K. Simmons was captivating in Whiplash.  I really didn’t like Foxcatcher at all, but Mark Ruffalo was the best part of that whole film.

On the Actress side of things, I didn’t see all the films, much to my own dismay.  I only make sure I see all the best picture nominees, but that usually gets me a long way and covers my bases.  This year, I didn’t see Wild, Into the Woods, or Two Days, One Night. Three films short of perfection.  I wanted to see them all, too.  Damn.  So basically, my rankings will have to exclude those films and will therefore not really be fair.  I’ll just say my favorites.

For Best Actress my favorite was Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Other nominees in that category were: Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One night), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

For Best Supporting Actress my favorite was: Emma Stone – Birdman

Other nominees in that category were: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Laura Dern (Wild), Kiera Knightley (The Imitation Game), Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

I will say that Kiera Knightley’s performance in the Imitation Game must have been amazing, because it’s the first time I haven’t wanted to kill her while watching her in a movie.  I loathe her, but not in this movie.

I realize this blog is sort of a bore-fest, but that’s ok.  I wanted to get my rankings in before the show starts so that I can clearly show that I was totally wrong once the awards start rolling in.  Also, since I’ve binge-watched 8 seasons of How I Met Your Mother recently, I am currently obsessed with Neil Patrick Harris and I’m excited to see how he hosts the show.  It’s going to be an all-around good time.  29 minutes and counting.