Alyssa Mann, a movie buff from Oklahoma City, has little time to waste, needing to cross just four more films off her Oscar list before Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast: two animated films, one for cinematography. And another for costume design.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Steve Tornello has just one shot left — the latest “Avatar” — before he can objectively judge all 10 Best Picture nominees.
Throughout the multiverse, time will be bent to allow movie fans to watch everything at once, anywhere. But in the real world, not the googly one, time keeps ticking and that gets tougher for movie enthusiasts hoping to fill in every square on their personal Oscar scoresheet.
“Four Oscar movies left in my quest to see everyone nominated for picture/acting/craft etc,” Mann wrote in a tweet, “and it somehow seems insurmountable.”
As it is, the time change to Sunday morning (don’t forget to skip ahead) will mean one less hour to binge.
“I’m a person who thrives under pressure like I need a deadline. So it’s good it’s here,” said Mann, a 31-year-old marketer, during a phone call. “Now I have to see them.”
She’ll watch two or three Saturdays, and save what’s left for the Sunday before the ceremony. Since the new year, she’s seen nearly 30 nominated films, pushing her project forward when the nominations were announced in late January. She acknowledged that there hasn’t been enough time to see the nominees in a handful of categories, including documentaries.
It would take several days without sleep to see every single one of the more than 50 films that received at least one nomination in any of the nearly two dozen categories.
In theory, Academy voters should see every film. But even for professionals, this clearly does not happen. After all, does anyone really have time?
Tornello, a budding screenwriter and creative director for a tech company, is trying to find time this weekend to get out of the movie theater to see “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the last movie on his list.
“I have a lot on my plate right now,” he said. “This is a movie I know I need to see in a theater to get the full experience.”
Most of the rest he watches at home via a streaming service.
Attracted by all the buzz, he saw “Everything Everywhere at Once” shortly after its release last spring. He had seen ‘Women Talking’ earlier this month.
Tornello said, “I try to watch as many movies as possible before Oscar nominations that I think are going to be nominated.” “I just want to get them all in so I can really enjoy the show.”
Like Mann, James Bramble has already seen all the Best Picture nominees and more.
“So I’ve looked at every picture before Sunday night for best international film, best documentary, best animated, and I’ll finish,” he said, adding that he has a few more in the short film categories, which require more time. There should be no need to supervise.
Every year, there are sure to be nominated movies that they feel were a waste of their time. Not this year, he said.
“I really liked, so far, everything I’ve seen. Yeah, it’s been a good year,” said Bramble, an attorney in Salt Lake City.
Mann hopes to beat the clock.
On her watch list this weekend: the animated features “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and “Turning Red,” as well as “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” for costume design and “Bardo, False” for cinematography. Chronicle of a Handful of Truth’.
He should have started sooner, he confessed.
“It’s something I’ve always considered doing, but it seems like too big of a project,” she said. But with the deep winter sadness, she needed an outlet. “I love cinema. And so I thought this would be a fun one.”