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The Oscars

Almost every year, I stay home and watch the Oscars.  This year will be no different, I presume.  My love for film holds my interested, although my disdain for Billy Crystal has made it difficult at times.  Billy Crystal is a talented man, but to be completely honest, he's not very funny.  He's likable and that's about it.  That is not the point of this though.  I watch every year, yet rarely have I seen any of the movies.  Last year, I had actually watched Winter's Bone and was distraught when it didn't win anything.  That being said, I still haven't seen all the movies and actors and actresses it was up against.  I have a few at home actually lying in wait.

The real reason the Oscars was always special was because I watched it every year with my mother.  I remember we'd sit every year and cheer on this one or that.  I remember on year, my father decided to sit in.  They were about to announce the Best Actress Award and we all had out choices.  I wanted Joan Allen for the Contender, my dad wanted Ellyn Burstyn for Requiem for a Dream and my mom wanted Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich.  Roberts won and she laughed at us.  Obviously, there was no real anger, but my father walked away, cursed the whole award show nonsense and went into his bedroom.  I was a little more angry, because to this day, I think it's the most brilliant performance I've ever seen.  My mother was just happy, because she was right.

I can't do things with my mother anymore and that pains me.  I think about how she would have probably made a wonderful Sunday dinner.  We'd have coffee and sit in our Pj's and enjoy the festivities.  Many times, especially when she was sick, she'd retire early and ask me for the results in the morning, but most times we'd stay up.  The Oscars are silly and the show rarely lives up to the hype, but there are some traditions that never die.

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