The Oscars being a famously moving target is certainly one reason it hasn't yet happened. Let's review Oscar telecasts since my 2013 arrival to see how the stars have never aligned previously. (Oscar dates, like Labour Day dates, are all on Australian time, which means a Monday rather than a Sunday.)
2014 - Labour Day March 10th, Oscars March 3rd
2015 - Labour Day March 9th, Oscars February 23rd
2016 - Labour Day March 14th, Oscars February 29th
2017 - Labour Day March 13th, Oscars February 27th
2018 - Labour Day March 12th, Oscars March 5th
2019 - Labour Day March 11th, Oscars February 25th
2020 - Labour Day March 9th, Oscars February 10th
2021 - Labour Day March 8th, Oscars April 26th
2022 - Labour Day March 14th, Oscars March 28th
2023 - Labour Day March 13th, Oscars March 13th
Ding ding ding ding! We finally have a winner!
Twice they had landed within a week of one another, but never closer until this year.
Incidentally, what the hell happened in 2020 where the Oscars were almost in January?? I guess they lucked out, because if the show had been scheduled for a month later they'd have had to cancel.
The alignment of these events is significant because it means that for the first time that I've been on Australian soil, I get to watch the Oscars live.
Instead of grinding through a Monday in the busy first term of the year -- I work for the department of education, so my busy times are the schools' busy times -- I'll be at home, enjoying the tail end of a three-day weekend. And enjoying an Oscar ceremony that I usually delay until after 9 p.m. Monday night, having dodged spoilers the best I could before then.
Adding to the novelty is that the U.S. has just had daylight savings but Australia hasn't yet, so the ceremony begins at 11 a.m. my time, meaning watching it won't even entirely destroy the day. (Though I've been asked to take my kids out to breakfast before then, to make up for my Oscar viewing, so we better be back in time.)
I don't know that I will make my own live comments on Facebook as the awards get doled out, but it'll be nice to know I don't have to stay off Facebook, and I'll have the option to chime in on other people's witty observations.
Also, when I write my wrap-up post that's dictated by a main storyline, then becomes a long list of peculiar or noteworthy details, I'll have plenty of time to write it up in order to post it after the clock flips over to Tuesday my time. (See, I can't post it straight afterward due to my Audient rule never to post more than once in a day, and you are currently reading the Monday post.) Usually I'm cranking it out after midnight, probably closer to 1 a.m., just so I can get to bed as soon as possible, and just so I can get it online before I'm too late to the party for post-Oscars chatter.
Given how much it would seem I care about this based on what I've written in this post, it's been another lax Oscar season for me. I only watched one movie I hadn't seen by the time the nominations were announced, Sarah Polley's Women Talking last week, meaning at least I've seen all the best picture nominees before the ceremony. There were other titles I toyed with watching, but, for example, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is still at the premium rental price of $19.99. Actually check that, right now you can only purchase it for $19.99, until it becomes available for rental next week.
It's consistent with a steady downslide in my interest in the Oscars themselves, which I find a way to mention every year. I sill view it as a venerable institution, I still enjoy watching the ceremony, and I still use the date the nominations are unveiled to close off my list of the previous year's viewings and post my rankings. But I don't get involved in any of the hype leading up to the awards, I don't do very much if any homework to be better prepared for the ceremony, and there are years when the show actually creeps up on me and I only notice it's going to happen a few days ahead of time. This year, I did know it was happening this weekend, but only a few days ago did I make the connection that I'd actually be in a position to watch it as it was happening.
Which I will do, in about three hours.
In the meantime I have to print out an Oscars prediction bracket, like I always do, though I'm increasingly less likely to spend more than a few minutes on it. I have to take my kids out to a late Labour Day breakfast. And I've already got the projector set up in the garage, ready to connect up my laptop once I return with a belly full of pancakes.
Oscars 95, here I come, live and in stereo.
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