I suppose you would have to be hiding under a rock to not know that each February or March the movie industry gathers for its biggest night of the year. My family and I are huge film buffs and have been following the Oscars for years. I have been watching all the Best Picture nominated films all the way back to the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929 at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard.

Every year since 2007 we have made the trek from my cold northern Utah home to Southern California in order to experience Tinseltown during its greatest weekend. I was led to believe that I soak up the warm sunshine and bask in the glow of the beaches. The truth is that California is almost always experiencing a cold spell when I vacate there. Luckily, this year it was beautiful, though a little cool.

That wasn’t the case at all during the drive from Logan, Utah to Los Angeles. We stayed in Las Vegas at the Luxor. A rare and powerful snowstorm hit. I’ve been to Las Vegas dozens of times and have never experienced anything like this. The snow fell heavily for hours cause a threat to close all schools. I had to laugh a little since it took several feet of snow on the roads to even cause a whisper about closing schools where I am from.

Arriving in Los Angeles

Despite some scary roads covered in snow around Baker, California, the next day arriving in L.A. the weather cleared and I welcomed the rays of the sun. It was like California should be.

The first night I spent some at The Grove, a sleek outdoor shopping center next to the Farmer’s Market. I enjoyed a nice meal at the outdoor eating area in the market. I recommend stopping by the market on Fairfax Avenue to anyone visiting Hollywood for the first time.

I should mention that for the last several years I have found the best place to stay is the Sunset Plaza Hotel at 8400 West Sunset Blvd. Though still a little pricey, it offers the best deal for the weekend. It’s central location makes it easy to drive to the Dolby Theatre, or just as quickly to Beverly Hills. The traffic is always a pain, but I’ve gotten quite used to it.

Our third floor room had a nice view of the courtyard where the pool is surrounded by pots and awnings covered with roses. It’s quite delightful and honey. This time I had a nice straight shot view of

The J. Paul Getty Museum

I always try and do something new each year during Oscar Weekend. This time we decided to venture to the J. Paul Getty Museum. I almost went before but last years movie, All the Money in the World about Getty motivated me to seek out the fine art showcase. I am so glad I did. It is a stunning, multi-building showcasing one of the finest art collections in the world. It sets high on the hills overlooking downtown L.A. and a wonderful view of the Pacific Ocean.

What a thrill to view original works by Monet, Renoir, Pissaro, Gauguin. I was especially interested in seeing work by Vincent Van Gogh since Willem Dafoe received an Oscar nomination for portraying the tortured artist in At Eternity’s Gate.

It’s scary to think about how close the horrible fires last year came to this museum and the destruction of people’s homes and property. We should do more as a nation to help all those people affected by these disasters. That is a true national emergency.

The Independent Spirit Awards

Along with the Oscars, I have had an interest in Independent films. Having working for the past twenty years at the Sundance Film Festival, I feel it is the heart of the film industry. While Hollywood is touting their teen oriented blockbusters that will play well in the nation’s heartland, the true inspiration and thoughtful filmmaking comes from those with small budgets who risk much to make a work of art. I truly appreciate this and am glad that awards are still given out for quality rather than rewarding publicity machines.

A couple of years ago I joined Film Independent. It helps advance and support those independent minded filmmakers who give us movies with a point of view, and movies that inspire real emotions. When I joined that allows me to be a voter in the awards. It’s nice to know that true film lovers are allowed help in choosing the winners. I didn’t attend the ceremony but was able to watch the Red Carpet Arrivals.

Most of the nominees were in attendance. Best Actress nominee Glenn Close arrived with her dog in tow. Her fellow nominee Toni Collette hurried into the tent shortly later. They were nominated for The Wife and Hereditary, respectively. Both were fantastic, though I leaned to Ms. Collette, personally.

Also on the carpet were: Armie Hammer, Joaquin Phoenix, Molly Shannon, Amanda Seyfried, Richard E. Grant, Alfonso Cuaron, Marissa Tomei, Adam Diver…just to name a few. Luckily, the day at the beach was beautiful and sunny. The high was in the mid 60’s. A far cry from the 20’s back in Logan!

I won’t go into all the winners and losers and nominations on this blog. You can read a complete list of the victors here.

Oscar Night

I must say that my trip to Los Angeles isn’t entirely about the Oscars. It is about the experience of being in Hollywood and enjoying the movie industry’s biggest night. The energy and the atmosphere of the town is very exciting. I don’t attend the Oscars. I watch them comfortably in my hotel room. I think I have the best seat in the house. I like to cheer on my favorite films. I don’t need my picks to win. It’s would be nice, but generally the winner is not my choice. That’s fine. I don’t need any validation for my opinions.

I was happy to see Regina King win the Best Supporting Actress for If Beale Street Could Talk. She seems like a nice lady and has paid her dues for years. My choice to win was actually Rachel Weisz for The Favourite.

I did agree with the Best Supporting Actor winner, though he should have been in the Best Actor race. Mahershala Ali was fantastic in Green Book. I also would have been happy with Adam Driver winning for BlacKkKlansman. I did like the Driver’s film better than Ali’s.

Rami Malek did a fantastic job as Freddie Mercury in the good, but flawed Bohemian Rhapsody. I did think that Christian Bale should have been the winner, however, for Vice. He really became the part of Dick Cheney, though Vice was also a bit flawed. Bradley Cooper would have been my second choice for A Star is Born.

Everyone thought that Glenn Close was going to be the winner for her performance as the suffering woman who stands by her man in The Wife. Her acting is top notch, but the film isn’t Oscar worthy. I wish she had won years ago for Dangerous Liaisons. My choice for Best Actress actually did win. Olivia Colman was spellbinding as Queen Anne in The Favourite.

I was totally in line with the Academy when they awarded the Best Director trophy to Alfonso Cuaron for his exceptional film Roma. Quite simply: He deserved it. It is a wonderfully realized, stunning work of art. I can’t praise it enough in showing a film about people we generally look through. Rarely does a movie give us a moment that feels this authentic.

Needless to say, I wanted Roma to win the Best Picture Award. I was shocked that it didn’t, even though I have reservations about a streaming film winning. Quite simply, Roma was the best film of the year. Green Book is a good movie, but mostly a film that voters likely felt good about voting for.

I am a bit troubled by the emergence of Netflix as an Oscar contender. Where is the separation of television movies and theatrical movies? Where does streaming fit in to this? I think it is a dangerous trend that needs to be addressed. I’m not saying that streaming companies are not eligible for consideration, but some adjustments need to me made. As it stands now, Netflix needs hardly any theater exposure. Plus they will hold onto that film and never allow true movie collectors to buy a blu ray or DVD of the film. Should the company decide to pull the film off their site, it is gone until they bring it back. This is a very bad and poor trend in filmmaking. For that reason alone I am considering cancelling my membership.

I believe that the Academy should take steps in remedying this issue. I believe that a film should have a two or three month theatrical run before it is streamed to be considered for awards. It should also be under contract to be released on DVD or Blu Ray within a year of its streaming.

When a director makes a movie they are intending it to be seen on a large screen. That is the hope for any filmmaker. It is possible that Roma lost the Oscar to Green Book because of this. Voters, hopefully, are not ready to give their highest award to a film that only made a brief, week-long showing in a theater house.

Nothing Lasts

Like any good thing, a vacation must come to an end. If it didn’t, it would no ,longer be a vacation. Though it is still over 50 weeks away, I am already trying to think of places to visit in Southern California during next year’s Oscar Weekend. Thanks for coming along with me on trip.