Today is the first day of a challenge that will consume 95% of my free time for the next month and a half. Today is also the day that I have been anxiously waiting for with growing anticipation and excitement. Today is the day that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released their nominations for this year’s Academy Awards.

Many of you know that I am a total movie fanatic and that I absolutely LOVE watching films of all different genres, formats, and subject matter. Finding new movies to discuss and analyze is one of my favorite pastimes, which is why I have always found awards season to be a little slice of heaven.

While my favorite awards show to actually watch is easily the Golden Globes broadcast (Who doesn’t love watching a bunch of drunk celebrities get onstage and make fun of each other?!!), I think everyone can all agree that the most revered film awards show is the Academy Awards, or what is more popularly known as “The Oscars.”

For the last few years, Rob and I have taken it upon ourselves to watch all of the movies nominated for the major Academy Awards categories. This originally started out as a goal to finish throughout the year, but has more recently morphed into an all out, full on, no holds barred challenge. More recently, we have set ourselves the goal of seeing all of the movies nominated in the 6 most high-profile categories BEFORE the actual awards broadcast occurs. These categories include: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. Yes folks, we have somehow miraculously attained that goal for three years in a row and are hoping to make this year our fourth. As you can imagine, we view a lot of movies in a very short period of time! (It is typically only 1 ½ months between when nominations are announced and when the actual broadcast occurs.)

Why do I do this challenge? Well, it actually forces me (and Rob, by association) to watch some superb movies that I probably never would have chosen to watch if left to my own devices, much less known about in the first place. For example, I probably never would have known about Philomena or Nebraska a few years back, and those ended up being two of my favorites in the 2014 awards season. A more recent example that I probably would have unintentionally overlooked last year is Whiplash, probably one of the best movies and performances by a supporting actor that I have seen in a long time. I will be honest though, we have also had to sit through a few movies that I think were waaaaaaaaaay overhyped and not deserving of a nomination (cough, cough – “Boyhood”cough, cough), but the tradeoff has definitely been worth it, in my opinion.

So without further ado, the 2016 Mixed and Mashed Oscar Movie Challenge includes:

 

Best Picture:

Directing:

Best Actor:

Best Actress:

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

 

As we view the films over the next 6 weeks, Rob and I will be posting little tidbits here and there about our thoughts on the movies. Don’t worry – we will always warn you in advance if there are spoilers so we don’t ruin your own experience!  Also, I hope to post a food or drink recipe in honor of each movie nominated for Best Picture, but that is a lofty goal…

Wish us luck as we head off to the theaters – we have our work cut out for us before the awards show is broadcast on Sunday, February 28th!

 

Please note – The image used in this post is copied from 2015 Oscar Predix.