The Oscars - Our Annual Tradition!

The Oscars - Our Annual Tradition!

Every year, since we've been together, Mark and I make a point to get to see the Best Picture nominees for the Academy Awards. If we can, we also endeavour to watch the Best Actor and Actress nominees, too.

We make a point to combine a visit to our two nearest major cities so that we can include a visit to one of the movie theatres. Sudbury is just two hours, fifteen minutes to the east, and Sault Ste. Marie (our preference) is two hours and thirty minutes away to the west.

We love both drives through the rocky terrain, punctuated by lakes and surrounded by trees, with the occasional small town or hamlet on the way - especially on the route to the Soo. We have also been able to visit theatres in the Greater Toronto Area to see those movies which weren't on general release. 

As always, we are flummoxed at how comparisons can possibly be made between all the movies nominated. It's like comparing apples with oranges and we are often betwixt and between with our own choices. In the end, it's a matter of opinion - and the actual results are precisely that - a majority vote by those who have that option.

For us, this year, it was a tight decision between The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything, with the latter being our final choice. 

The Enigma Machine

For those of you who have not yet seen either, The Imitation Game is based upon a true story of Alan Turing, who headed up a team to break the Enigma Code created by the Nazis in the 2nd World War, and which threatened to be the downfall of Britain. Through his ingenuity, the code was cracked and experts believe that the war was shortened by at least 2 years because of it - not to mention the millions of lives that were saved. Unfortunately, he died in 1954, just 16 days before his 42nd birthday.

Eddie Redmayne with Stephen Hawkin

The Theory of Everything is the story of Stephen Hawking - a man with a brilliant mind who was diagnosed with A.L.S. (Lou Gehrig's Disease) when he was still a young graduate. He is still alive today, and his story of how he has overcome his challenges to live an amazing life with a stunning career is truly inspirational. Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of Hawking is nothing short of brilliant, and you would be hard pressed to believe that he was not suffering from the disease, himself.

Other movies we liked were: Whiplash, American Sniper, Selma, Still Alice, Gone Girl, Boyhood, The Judge, and Foxcatcher.  Wow - when listed like that, we sure have seen a lot of movies over the last couple of months. Everyone tells us that we should also have seen Into the Woods - but that's something left for the near future!

We thought Julianne Moore's portrayal of a woman undergoing early onset of Alzheimer's Disease was heart-rending and so sensitively handled. We'd love to see her come away with the Best Actress Award for her role in 'Still Alice'. 

Ellen's famous 'selfie' from last year!  Twitter was overloaded!

Of course, we are also intrigued to see what Neil Patrick Harris, this year's host, will do to beat the famous selfie that Ellen pulled off last year! 




Whatever happens, it will be a fun evening - and one that we look forward to every year.