I Watched The Reader — Alone

When she heard that The Reader was a Holocaust movie, it was all over. Leah had no interest in seeing it. That left me — once again — going to the movie alone, awkwardly hiding in the back of a little artsy DC theater surrounded by couples munching on popcorn and snuggling.

I thought I was seeing a romance, which made it all the more uncomfortable, but it turns out The Reader is a whole lot more complicated than a simple love story. And to be honest, I was just fine once the lights went down and the fifteen previews started.

Seeing this flick, means I’ve now hit all five of the best picture candidates, just in time for Sunday’s big award show. Woo hoo! I gotta tell you there is nothing like recording the Oscars and zooming through the commercials and boring categories. I still don’t get the difference between sound mixing and sound editing, and frankly, I don’t care that much. Here's hoping that Wolverine is a good host.

And here are my picks for the top prizes...

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Why: Well, because her performance was the only one I have seen in this category and she is getting all the buzz so why not jump on the bandwagon.

Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Why: I loved Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler and I was blown away by Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon, but Penn was just a tad bit better.

Best Picture: I don’t know, it’s a toughie.
Why: I really liked the movies this year (Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader, Milk, Frost/Nixon and Benjamin Button), but I didn’t think that one far outshined the others. If I got to pick, I would probably choose between Milk and Frost/Nixon, but looking at the past few award shows I would be totally shocked if Slumdog didn’t come out on top. And if it did, I would be OK with that too.