“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
-Lao Tzu
Everyone, no matter where they find themselves in life, is on a journey. Where to? How long? That’s for each of us to discover. As I sit down to write my very first article for Awards Daily, I find myself at 33, married to my wonderful wife of nearly nine years, navigating the beautiful chaos of parenthood with our two wildlings—ages 7 and 5—and thinking: How on earth did I get here? Well, like every journey, it began with a single step.
I grew up in a household that loved movies. Friday nights meant begging to go to the local video store—it was the place to be. The first movies I watched on repeat until the VHS wore out were The Wizard of Oz, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and (somewhat embarrassingly) The Mask with Jim Carrey. Those films were my entry point into a lifelong love of cinema. If we couldn’t rent something, my brother and I would beg our parents to take us to the theater. The first movie I ever saw on the big screen was Toy Story—and, fittingly, I graduated high school, with Andy, the same year Toy Story 3 came out in 2010. I realize now how lucky I was to have grown up with movies as such a constant presence in my life.
Despite that cinematic upbringing, I had never heard of the Oscars—or any film awards, for that matter. My parents never mentioned them, and neither did anyone else in my world. That changed in February 2007. I had just spent a miserable week out of school with a stomach bug. Feeling better, I dragged myself downstairs on a Sunday night just as my dad flipped to a channel showing the Oscars. I caught Dame Helen Mirren accepting her award for The Queen, and I was mesmerized. I didn’t know who Martin Scorsese was, but I watched him win an Oscar that night too. I quickly forgot about that night for an entire year and went on with my life… until someone mentioned a film called No Country for Old Men—“It won Best Picture—you have to watch it!” That triggered the memory: the golden statues, Dame Helen saluting QEII and a bushy eyebrowed man everyone gave a rapturous applause for. That was The Academy Awards, and those were Oscars. From then on, I was hooked.
In 2008, I made it my mission to see as many Oscar buzzed films as I could. My dad took my brother and me (after we dipped out of a family Christmas party) to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I bought tickets for me and some underage friends to sneak into The Reader (I was the only one old enough to buy the tickets). I saw Slumdog Millionaire three times in theaters. I went to my first IMAX screening with my cousins for The Dark Knight. I secretly rented Milk while my parents were out of town, because they wouldn’t approve of the subject matter. My uncle took me to see Frost/Nixon. I cried watching Angelina Jolie in her misery and heartbreak, sitting next to my dad, during Changeling. I was blown away by Doubt, an absolute masterclass of acting. To this day I am still haunted by Michael Shannon’s performance in Revolutionary Road. The films of 2008 were unforgettable, and wildly underrated in my opinion. But that’s what great cinema does—it lingers. It moves you. It teaches, distracts, heals, and transforms. The fact that I can so vividly recall those moviegoing experiences is proof of art’s power. I’m not the same person I was before those films. They rewired my brain.
And then came what I still consider the greatest Oscar ceremony of all time. It was magical. My favorite film that year—Slumdog Millionaire—won Best Picture. At the time, I was thrilled. Now, looking back, I wish Benjamin Button had taken the crown. But the real magic came from the ceremony’s format. Past winners paying tribute to nominees, which opened the door to a new world of films and performances I’d never heard of—each one immediately added to my must-watch list. Looking back, I would rewrite a few wins—Queen Meryl should have taken home her third, Brad should have gotten his first, and Amy Adams would not be Oscar-less. But no other Oscar ceremony has impacted me the way 2008 did. It marked the beginning of a new way of life for me: Oscar-watching.
And then—enter Sasha Stone, stage right. I devoured everything she wrote. I watched every film she recommended. She taught me how to “read the tea leaves” of awards season, how to analyze the different voting bodies, and how to predict the unpredictable. Ironically, she also opened my mind politically. I came from a conservative Christian family, and Sasha’s writing helped me see the world through a different lens. I also must acknowledge Ryan, who also helped shape me into the person I am today, though it took a lot of his “thumping’s” to get there! While Sasha has moved from the left toward the center, I moved from the right—and somehow, we met in the middle. As a longtime commenter on Awards Daily, I’ve tried to be a voice of peace in the chaos. We’re all here for the same reason (well, maybe not Sasha’s haters): the love of cinema—and yes, all the bright, shiny gold that sometimes comes with it. This year has been turbulent, but this community is something I will always treasure. At times it feels like a dysfunctional family, but it’s my dysfunctional family. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. This is home.
I’m now in my Sweet 16th year with Awards Daily. And like all great stories, this journey has written itself. My love of movies began with steps to the video store and theater. My love of the Oscars began with the fated steps to the living room at just the right moment to watch the accidental click from a different channel to the Oscars, and of course the discovery of AD. All my years of being a commentor lead to a snap decision one night, to take a risky step and approach Sasha to write here at AD—I don’t usually take steps without thinking, but it was now or never. Hands down, it was the best step I’ve taken this year. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m happy to be here as long as Sasha will have me. So, with that my friends, welcome to my journey, it has been a lot of steps to get here, so as I try to catch my breath, let’s enjoy our time together as we talk more about movies!
