It's 100 Days until the Oscars! Do you remember your first time watching?
Friday, November 16, 2018 at 9:51AM How will you countdown? This upcoming Oscar ceremony will be the 91st annual event. In just 9 years, if the world survives that long, we'll have the Centennial of the Oscar! Can you imagine?! And do you remember the first ceremony you ever watched?
The first one I ever remember watching was the 56th ceremony...
...though I have one distinct memory of the Oscars (in the abstract) the year before. My only true memory of the night was Shirley Maclaine's speech; an actressexual I was from the very beginning! But that speech is a true marvel, isn't it? So many colors and jokes and tributes (without a boring list of names) and so much passion.
I was an enthusiastic moviegoer when I could get someone to take me for as long as I can remember but I was still two years away from paying attention to the Oscar race as it developed (1985 was the film year for that to which I owe People magazine (I think?) for a two page spread of possible Best Actress contenders that fascinated me). The only nominees in any category that I know I had seen before the 56th annual ceremony were Yentl (my family loved musicals), War Games (popular with kids), Never Cry Wolf (just discussed) and of course Return of the Jedi (with which I was fully obsessed as kids are prone to be with Star Wars). The only one of them that won a competitive prize was Yentl for Best Song Score or Adaptation Score which is a now defunct category.
[Thanks to everyone who responded in the comments here on their first memory and on twitter. So much fun to read!]
One extra bit of trivia from the 1983 Oscar race: Prince of Tides (1991) was not the first time Oscar got press for skipping Barbra Streisand in the Best Director category. She had actually won the Globe for directing Yentl.
But when the Oscar nominations were announced she was the odd woman out in Best Director since the Globes had had six nominees that year -- all five of the others were nominated at the big show.
Reader Comments (54)
First time I got the chance to watch it is via live broadcast in 2008 (for 2007 awards). (I'm from the Philippines, btw).
Loving films during that time, it's just mindblowing to see lots of films. I didn't understand the different categories (I do remember La vie en rose winning Makeup), but it made me want to explore these films since they looked great. And with the "Best _______" category names, I was convinced that these were' great films.I impulsively started listing the nominees and the winners, but of course they flash the names of the nominees too fast I wasn't able to list them all.
Then 2009 changed things for me. For the first time, I was able to watch all the Best Pic nominees. I was able to watch it until halfway. (I think power interruption happened), and then I just saw Slumdog Millionaire win.
I haven't watched the Oscars live since, but the following year, I started predicting the nominees and winners, and I always watch them delayed through different means (delayed broadcasts or download online thru file sharing).
Now, I think the Oscars is not the definitive standard of what's the best in film, but it's a nice springboard for film enthusiasm. Made me explore world cinema and all kinds of films. I'll watch it as long as I can (unless they introduce that freaking Popular Film category).
I was 13 years old when I watched the Oscars for the first time, BTW. Didn't know what happened to me, but I just impulsively started listing the nominees. I still have no idea whatsoever.
I'm 28 and the first ceremony I remember was when Jamie Foxx and Morgan Freeman won. I knew both of them from prior acting, so I was very pleased. I had also seen Hotel Rwanda with my grandparents so seeing Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo was also cool.
The first moment where I remembered watching the Oscars was the 66th (1993). I remember watching Deborah Kerr getting her honorary Oscar, but I was only nine and didn't care to watch the rest because I didn't know the movies. Oh how things would change.
The first ceremony I watched from beginning to end was the 70th (1997). I was supposed to go to bed during the Oscars Family Album, but I got on the TV in my parents' room to watch the rest, even though it was obvious that Titanic was going to sweep.