Oscar Quest 2011... thanks a lot Julia Roberts

It's that time again... Oscar Quest 2011! Usually marked by a frenzied attempt to see way too many movies in way too short a time. The first year, I think Suzaaku and I finished watching Sense and Sensibility about 45 minutes before the Red Carpet started. Ah, memories.

I decided that the Quest would be different this year. Rather than wait until the nominations were announced and then set off a mad dash to see all of the nominated movies in a month (16 this year, if you see all of the major categories-- picture, acting, director, original and adapted screenplay), I decided to make a spreadsheet based on the Golden Globe nominations and work my way through the most likely overlaps. Full disclosure: I made the spreadsheet, but it is only because of my movie buddy (let's call her Ebert) that we've made any progress.

The noms came out today. We've seen 7 films so far (stay tuned for my upcoming blog: Black Swan, the English Patient of 2011) and successfully avoided watching any nutty GG nominees (read: Burlesque, The Tourist) that didn't have a chance in hell of crossing over to OscarVille. On the flip side, there were only 4 films that scored major nominations despite being snubbed by the Golden Globes (Biutiful, True Grit, Toy Story 3, Another Year).

And that's how we get to Julia Roberts and how her interfering put another film on my list. Julia was afraid that people weren't seeing Biutiful and Javier Bardem wouldn't get recognized (bleak with subtitles? her concern was well placed), so she threw a screening party. And the rest is history.

Never doubt the power of the Pretty Woman.