For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved watching awards shows. The Golden Globes and the Oscars are my favorites. The glitz and glamour of broadcasts like these are a huge draw, though I find the statistics and history of the shows the most interesting. Did you know in the Oscars’ 84-year history only four women have been nominated for Best Director? Katherine Bigelow took home the award in 2009 for The Hurt Locker. If you follow the predictions and smaller critics awards as closely as I do, the Oscars are fairly simple to predict. I find the upsets and surprises the most exciting. No Oscar ceremony was more exciting to me than the 2008 awards.

During my senior year of college in the spring of 2008, I interned in the publicity department at Paramount Vantage, a specialty division of Paramount Pictures. Their film, There Will Be Blood was a big winner that year, with Daniel Day Lewis taking home the Best Actor Oscar. Obviously, the office was bustling the next day. I was thrilled to be involved, even from my lowly intern position. Though I did not attend their Oscar party, I was given a party favor: a bowling pin spray-painted gold. For those who haven’t seen the film, I will not ruin its significance. I will say, pay attention to the final scene for its shocking appearance.

This time of year, dubbed “Oscar season,” offers a great selection of the film industry’s best work. I try to see most of the nominated movies each year before the ceremony. This year, I am very much behind. Movies on the top of my to-see list are The Iron Lady and The Artist.

What Oscar-worthy films have you seen this year?

— Katie Skrzek, advertising and editorial coordinator, eFlyer USA editor