9TH ANNUAL OSCARS CHALLENGE (2017-2018)

Nine years have come and gone since I started this Oscar Challenge. Its inception came from missing most of the major movies of 2009 that got nominated. A friend and I decided to take it upon ourselves to watch all the films nominated, most of which we had not seen. This included what are now some of my favorite films to this day, like “Crazy Heart”, “Up In The Air”, “The Hurt Locker”, and “Fantastic Mr. Fox”. But along the way, I saw films like “The Young Victoria” and “The Last Station” which opened my eyes to the truly great films that I might not otherwise give a chance. Now we’re nine years down the line. A few of the challenges I completed 100% in the allotted time (from the day the films are nominated until the day of the Oscars broadcast) while others I missed just a few films that either didn’t get released after being nominated or because of my busy schedule. Regardless, this is one of my favorite times of the year.

Even if I have seen them, I will watch them again, all before the Awards ceremony in the following months. Through this challenge, I get a better understanding of what the Academy sees in certain films and ultimately I just have fun trying to get through all the films in the short amount of time, and forming my own opinions in the process. If you are so inclined to follow along or challenge yourself to join, below is the calendar of my progress.

DATEFILMS WATCHEDFILMS LEFTDAYS LEFT
Day #1
(Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018)
  • [1] “Abacus: Small Enough To Jail”  (1 nomination)

43

41

Day #2
(Wednesday, January 24th, 2018)
  • [2] “The Florida Project” (1 nomination)

42

40

Day #3
(Thursday, January 25th, 2018)
  • [3] “Lady Bird” (5 nominations)

41

39

Day #4
(Friday, January 26th, 2018)
  • [4] “War For The Planet Of The Apes (1 nomination)

40

38

Day #5
(Saturday, January 27th, 2018)
  • [5] “The Post” (2 nominations)
  • [6] “The Insult” (1 nomination)

38

37

Day #6
(Sunday, January 28th, 2018)
  • [7] “The Boss Baby” (1 nomination)
  • [8] “I, Tonya” (3 nominations)

36

36

Day #7
(Monday, January 29th, 2018)
  • [9] “Icarus” (1 nomination)

35

35

Day #8
(Tuesday, January 3oth, 2018)
  • [10] “The Disaster Artist” (1 nomination)

34

34

Day #9
(Wednesday, January 31st, 2018)
  • [11] “Last Men In Aleppo” (1 nomination)

33

33

Day #10
(Thursday, February 1st, 2018)
  • [12] “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (1 nomination)

32

32

Day #11
(Friday, February 2nd, 2018)
  • [13] “Molly’s Game” (1 nomination)

31

31

Day #12
(Saturday, February 3rd, 2018)
  • [14] “Strong Island” (1 nomination)

30

30

Day #13
(Sunday, February 4th, 2018)
  • [15] “On Body And Soul” (1 nomination)

29

29

Day #14
(Monday, February 5th, 2018)
  • [16] “Marshall” (1 nomination)

28

28

Day #15
(Tuesday, February 6th, 2018)
  • [17] “Beauty and the Beast” (2 nominations)

27

27

Day #16
(Wednesday, February 7th, 2018)
  • [18] “The Big Sick” (1 nomination)

26

26

Day #17
(Thursday, February 8th, 2018)
  • [19] “Get Out” (4 nominations)

25

25

Day #18
(Friday, February 9th, 2018)
  • [20] “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” (1 nomination)

24

24

Day #19
(Saturday, February 10th, 2018)
  • [21] “Phantom Thread” (6 nominations)

23

23

Day #20
(Sunday, February 11th, 2018)
  • [22] “Faces Places” (1 nomination)
  • [23] “Kong: Skull Island” (1 nomination)

21

22

Day #21
(Monday, February 12th, 2018)
  • [24] “A Fantastic Woman” (1 nomination)

20

21

Day #22
(Tuesday, February 13th, 2018)
  • [25] “Loving Vincent” (1 nomination)

19

20

Day #23
(Wednesday, February 14th, 2018)
  • [26] “Wonder” (1 nomination)

18

19

Day #24
(Thursday, February 15th, 2018)
  • [27] “Victoria & Abdul” (2 nominations)

17

18

Day #25
(Friday, February 16th, 2018)
  • [28] “The Square” (1 nomination)

16

17

Day #26
(Saturday, February 17th, 2018)
  • NONE

16

16

Day #27
(Sunday, February 18th, 2018)
  • [29] “Logan” (1 nomination)

15

15

Day #28
(Monday, February 19th, 2018)
  • [30] “Mudbound” (4 nominations)
  • [31] “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (4 nominations)

13

14

Day #29
(Tuesday, February 2oth, 2018)
  • [32] “The Breadwinner” (1 nomination)

12

13

Day #30
(Wednesday, February 21st, 2018)
  • [33] “Baby Driver” (3 nominations)

11

12

Day #31
(Thursday, February 22nd, 2018)
  • [34] “The Greatest Showman” (1 nomination)

10

11

Day #32
(Friday, February 23rd, 2018)
  • [35] “Blade Runner 2049” (5 nominations)

9

10

Day #33
(Saturday, February 24th, 2018)
  • [36] “All The Money In The World” (1 nomination)

8

9

Day #34
(Sunday, February 25th, 2018)
  • [37] “Loveless” (1 nomination)

7

8

Day #35
(Monday, February 26th, 2018)
  • [38] “Dunkirk” (8 nominations)

6

7

Day #36
(Tuesday, February 27th, 2018)
  • [39] “The Shape Of Water” (13 nominations)

5

6

Day #37
(Wednesday, February 28th, 2018)
  • Short #1 of 15: “Dear Basketball” (animated)
  • Short #2 of 15:“Garden Party” (animated)
  • Short #3 of 15: “Negative Space” (animated)
  • Short #4 of 15: “DeKalb Elementary” (live action)
  • Short #5 of 15: “The Silent Child” (live action)
  • Short #6 of 15: “My Nephew Emmett (live action)
  • [40] “Ferdinand” (1 nomination)

4

5

Day #38
(Thursday, March 1st, 2018)
  • Short #7 of 15: “Lou” (animated)
  • Short #8 of 15: “The Eleven O’Clock” (live action)
  • [41] “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (7 nominations)
  • Short #9 of 15: “Watu Wote / All Of Us” (live action)
  • Short #10 of 15: “Revolting Rhymes: Part One” (animated)

3

4

Day #39
(Friday, March 2nd, 2018)
  • [42] “Darkest Hour” (6 nominations)
  • Short #11 of 15: “Traffic Stop” (doc)
  • Short #12 of 15: “Heroin(e)” (doc)

2

3

Day #40
(Saturday, March 3rd, 2018)
  • Short #13 of 15: “Knife Skills” (doc)
  • Short #14 of 15: “Heaven Is A Traffic Jam on the 405” (doc)
  • Short #15 of 15: “Edith + Eddie” (doc)
  • [43] “Call Me By Your Name” (4 nominations)

1

2

Day #41
(Sunday, March 4th, 2018)
  • [44] “Coco” (2 nominations)

0

1