One of the things I don’t think I ever gave too much thought to, as a parent, was how my traditions and ideas would influence my daughter. I’m not talking about the big stuff like how we celebrate major holidays or where we go on vacation, I’m talking about the smaller stuff . . . like celebrating all kinds of love on Valentine’s Day or volunteering in the community or (here comes the actual point of today’s post) making a big deal about the Oscars.

Seeing all of the Best Picture nominees is something I started doing before Hannah was born. It was a quest I shared with a very dear friend and then it became a quest that Dale and I took on as well. The pandemic changed a lot of it for me and, in some weird way that I can’t exactly explain, I don’t really . . . care . . . about this particular achievement any longer. It’s not that I’ve lost interest in it completely, but I’m definitely no longer a completist when it comes to seeing all these movies before the Oscar awards are given out. I’m so out of touch with the process that the announcement about the nominees, something I always made a point of watching, was completely off my radar until after it happened.

Apparently, though, my love for the movies and the Oscar show is something that is ingrained in Hannah. She has seen most (or maybe even all at this point) of the Best Picture nominees and several of the movies nominated in other categories. She’s been giving me nudges to watch some of the ones she thinks are particularly swell (and I’ve managed to watch and enjoy several now) and the other day asked me . . . what are we doing for our Oscar party this year?

Blink. Blink.

I hadn’t even considered that she’d want to come over and watch with her two movie luddite parents this year but traditions hold strong in my girlie and her excitement about watching with us is perpetual. For many years we actually dressed up to watch the show, donning dresses and heels and bling while Dale wore his tuxedo. I know that Hannah has really fond memories of those days and, while we don’t dress up anymore, we do still try and tailor our menu to fit or represent the nominated films.

Our menu for Sunday included many small plates, including potato skins (Belfast), shrimp cocktail (CODA), empanadas (West Side Story and Encanto), pizza with black olives (Licorice Pizza), KFC chicken (Spencer), grapes (Being the Ricardos), and store bought apple pie (Don’t Look Up). It was fun to come up with these ideas and even better is that Hannah now helps with the food.

Even though my priorities about all of this have changed, I truly love that it’s something Hannah is carrying on. A mother’s influence on her daughter is definitely not something to discount!

Ooof. The Monday morning after the Oscars. It sure comes early. But it’s worth it to stay up and see the show through to the end. (I think.)

All in all I thought the show was a good one. There were some poignant moments (Hello, Joaquin Phoenix), some very funny moments (Thank you, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig), some terrific performances (Love you, Elton John and Cynthia Erivo and Idina Menzel), and plenty of pushback on the lack of inclusion for women and the lack of diversity overall.

I saw all of the Best Picture nominated films and thought they were all worthy of the honor. My personal favorite was JoJo Rabbit but I also loved Once Upon A Time . . . in Hollywood, Little Women, and the Irishman. I’m not surprised that Parasite won, it was always in the running despite the predictions that 1917 would take home the big honor. I think it’s terrific that the movie got so much recognition and made Oscar history, too.

For us the most fun is just being together to watch the show; it’s a long time tradition for Dale and I to watch with Hannah and now Mikey joins us as well. We filled out our ballots before the show started, we ate food based on the Best Picture nominees, and we enjoyed the spectacle of it all.

And tonight? We’re going to bed early.

You know what’s a great distraction from the stuff of every day life? Movies. Oh boy do I love the movies! Yesterday the nominees for the 92nd Oscars were announced and I watched it live with pencil and paper in hand, ready to update the list of movies I need to see.

Now. I’ve been doing this whole see-all-the-best-picture-nominees for many many years and I already had a pretty exhaustive list of potential nominees (courtesy of Kym this year since my head wasn’t in the game last month) but it’s so exciting to create the actual list of nominated films. It’s also exciting to know that I’ve already seen several and I’ve got a plan of attack for seeing (most) of the rest.

Of the Best Picture nominated movies I have seen four total: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, A Marriage Story, Little Women, and 1917. I have also seen Bombshell, which was not nominated in the Best Picture category but Charlize Theron was nominated in the Best Actress Category, Margot Robbie was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress Category and the movie also received a nomination for Makeup and Hairstyling. The Best Picture nominated movies also received nominations in other categories. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was nominated in ten categories total, A Marriage Story received six nominations, Little Women had a total of six nominations and 1917 came in with ten nominations.

It should be easy enough to see the other Best Picture nominees except for one. The Irishman is on Netflix, JoJo Rabbit, Joker and Parasite are already (or will be) on Amazon before the Oscar show. Ford v. Ferrari will be trickier. It’s currently in the theater but it’s not playing near me. And by near me I mean somewhere less than 45 minutes away and other than Boston because parking. Sometimes when a movie is nominated for Best Picture the release becomes wider and I’m hoping that will be the case with this movie. (Cross your fingers for me please.) I’d also like to see some of the other movies that have been nominated for various categories and are available for watching at home like Harriet, The Two Popes, Judy, The Lighthouse, and Pain and Glory. I’m hoping to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood but, like Ford v. Ferrari it’s not playing near me so we shall see on that one.

I don’t have any predictions yet since I haven’t seen all of the movies but I will say that I have enjoyed the 4 that I have seen and think they are all worthy of being in this group. We just saw 1917 on Sunday and wooo boy is it intense! Little Women is charming and although I’ve heard some people don’t like what they did with the timeline I have to say that for me it kept it fresh and I enjoyed it immensely. A Marriage Story is an utterly realistic portrayal of the disintegration of a relationship. Finally, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is fascinating and an incredible blend of fantasy and history.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this years race to the Oscars!

How ’bout that Oscar show?! I have some random thoughts I’d love to share with you . . .

• I did not miss having a host . . . much. I’m always going to miss Billy Crystal as host so without him I’m actually okay with no one.
• Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper were fabulous. I loved that they walked up to the stage from their seats and the chemistry between them is smokin.
• Spike Lee . . . it’s about time he won, that’s awesome. His temper tantrum, though? Understandable but maybe not so cool.
• Olivia Colman was clearly not expecting to win and that made her speech so utterly genuine and bumbling and wonderful.
• Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry in those elaborate gowns complete with stuffed bunnies was hilarious.
• There was diversity and that was great. More women, more POC, but clearly there’s still a long way to go. I loved Green Book and it’s great that it won but really, it’s another movie about a white person helping a black person and then they all live happily ever after. Truthfully, I’d have much rather seen BlackKlansman or Black Panther or even Roma (which I thought was dullsville but I recognize is A Film) have won the big award of the evening.
• Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are just awesome. Perhaps the 3 of them could host next year.
• And, finally, one of my favorite lines of the entire evening: A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education. Preach, Melissa Berton.

Here’s the food we served:

You get extra credit if you can figure out how we came up with our menu.

And that’s a wrap on the Oscars of 2019.