The Oscars - a must-watch this year?

Oscars time again and for the first time in a few years I think the Oscars are going to be interesting to more people than just me!  Why?

* Seth MacFarlane hosting.  Yep, the guy who shocks the world regularly with Family Guy, American Dad and the recent huge hit comedy film Ted which he co-write, directed and acted as/voiced Ted.  Looking comfortable and funny at the nomination announcement, things look promising. 

* A fairly high number of the nominated films have come out here or will before the Oscars are held on Feb 24.  This means you may have seen more than one film and can get right into the water cooler debates over who should win, who will win etc etc.

* A 50 years of James Bond retrospective will be included in this year's ceremony

* The films chosen are largely pretty mainstream compared to other years (except Beasts of the Southern Wild), increasing the chances of seeing more of them and creating more interest to see if your favourite wins.

* There have been a number of high-profile 'snubs' which will make watching the 'reactions' on the night very interesting.  In particular, Ben Affleck is not nominated for Best Director for Argo despite it gaining noms for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.  He'll be there but misses out on a nod for himself.  Same for Kathryn Bigelow, whose 'CIA hunt for Osama bin Laden' pic Zero Dark Thirty is up for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay but no Best Director nod.  Having won for Hurt Locker in vaguely similar territory a few years back, this is a surprise.

* Quentin Tarantino is nominated for Best Original Screenplay and I think has a reasonable chance of winning.  His acceptance speech given the subject matter of Django Unchained is highly anticipated.....

* Will a 9 year old win the Best Actress award?  Would be the youngest winner ever.  And a very strong possibility, the reviews of Beasts of the Southern Wild have been extremely positive.

* Will Adele perform her wonderful Skyfall theme song?  It is nominated....

Here are the 9 movies fighting for the Best Picture gong:

Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Amour, Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director Nominees: Steven Spielberg for Lincoln, Michael Haneke for Amour, David O Russell for Silver Linings Playbook, Behn Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ang Lee for Life of Pi

For a full list of the nominations, go to the Oscars website here
http://oscar.go.com/nominees

The Oscars website also has a fun ballot system where you can lodge your picks and see how you go compared to your friends.

For Aussies reading this blog, Hoyts Rewards has a staggeringly good Oscars competition running - see certain nominated films at Hoyts before Feb 22, flash your Rewards card and you will be given an email to select your picks in 19 categories.  The highest number of points for correct guesses and you win a year's worth of movie tickets (2 tickes per week for 52 weeks).  It's a game of skill!  And in the event of a tie, you have 24 hours to say, in 50 words or less, why you should win the prize!  Join up now people, that's a sweet prize! 

More Oscars related posts to follow as we make our way through Awards Season and I get to see more of the films.