34 years ago, a beautiful and fabulous woman gave birth to a sweet and perfect child who grew up and one day decided to become a writer at Awards Daily—still sweet and still perfect all these years later. I kid, of course…well, at least about the perfect part. I am a very flawed human; I’m sure I could line the block with people who have stories to roast me. A long time ago, I made the decision to “live out loud,” which basically means not shying away from being truthful, not hiding myself or my thoughts and opinions, and being real. Life is too short to live it for others or for things that don’t bring you some form of joy.
Back in July, while I was talking with my young children about making dreams and chasing after them, I realized that I had somehow stopped making dreams for myself. When did I stop dreaming? Why did I stop dreaming? It was a huge gut punch, and I was so sad and depressed for a few days. One night, I finally decided to catch up with the latest season of Welcome to Wrexham—HIGHLY RECOMMEND—and I didn’t expect what I saw and heard. In the last episode (which I won’t spoil too much), there was this beautiful, impassioned speech about dreams, and I. WAS. WRECKED. I couldn’t stop crying. I’ve followed the story of Wrexham since the beginning of the series. I’ve been cheering and watching these men who had dreams of becoming “soccer” stars, and watching the people of the town dream about their team’s future… and now it’s all going so beautifully. But what about me—what about my dreams?
Well, I woke up the next day emotionally wrecked. I called a friend, vented, and then on a whim said screw it—I’m going to message Sasha Stone because I love Awards Daily and I want to write about movies. I love the Oscars and all the other major awards shows, and I love predicting the current season—but my heart is in talking about movies, past and present, and the impact they have. Outside of God, my family, and my friends, movies have been the most consistent, inspiring, and life-giving thing in my life. I don’t have any aspiration to be the next great predictor or to have some voice in the “trades” promoting and campaigning for studios to win awards. I want to write words that have meaning—words that stir up discussion, words that stay with you. I’m not chasing fame; I’m just here to write about a love I’ve had for many years.
34 years of life, 30 years since cinema magic transfixed me, almost 20 years since the Oscars found me, 17 years since Awards Daily changed the course of my life, and 4 months since I started dreaming again…and somehow my love for cinema, the Oscars, and Awards Daily continues to grow! I’ve only been writing here for a few short months, and I’m excited about what the future holds for me at Awards Daily, and for AD in general. I feel like good things are ahead! I am so thankful for this opportunity—for Sasha and Scott and their friendship, for those of you reading who have become friends, and for the many readers who have been nothing short of encouraging and supportive. Onwards and upwards, my friends!
For our assignment this week, we’re going to skip the 90s discussion, and I’m going to leave you with the lists I made for the podcast the last few weeks. In case you haven’t tuned in, at the end of the podcast we’ve been sharing our top 20 favorite Oscar winners in Picture, Actress, and Actor. So today, I’m going to post my lists—but in honor of turning 34 today, the 18th as I write, I will add 14 more to the list! But for you—What are your top 10(or 34) in Picture, Actress, and Actor!?
Jerm’s Top 34 Oscar Winners
Picture:
34. Casablanca
33. It Happened One Night
32. Spotlight
31. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
30. Schindler’s List
29. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
28. Ordinary People
27. Gladiator
26. Moonlight
25. Oppenheimer
24.Unforgiven
23. The Sound of Music
22. West Side Story
21. The Godfather Part II
20. From Here to Eternity
19. Amadeus
18. Annie Hall
17. Kramer vs. Kramer
16. Titanic
15. The Sting
14. My Fair Lady
13. The Departed
12. Chicago
11. Forrest Gump
10.Parasite
9. Terms of Endearment
8. Rebecca
7. No Country for Old Men
6. The Godfather
5. All About Eve
4. Shakespeare in Love
3. Ben-Hur
2. Gone With the Wind
1. American Beauty
Actress:
34. Claudette Colbert — It Happened One Night
33. Barbra Streisand — Funny Girl
32. Anne Bancroft — The Miracle Worker
31. Bette Davis — Jezebel
30. Frances McDormand — Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
29. Halle Berry — Monster’s Ball
28. Nicole Kidman — The Hours
27. Vivien Leigh — A Streetcar Named Desire
26. Kate Winslet — The Reader
25. Jane Fonda — Coming Home
24. Cate Blanchett — Blue Jasmine
23. Joanne Woodward — The Three Faces of Eve
22. Helen Mirren — The Queen
21. Maggie Smith — The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
20. Audrey Hepburn — Roman Holiday
19. Judy Holliday — Born Yesterday
18. Emma Stone — La La Land
17. Julie Andrews — Mary Poppins
16. Julia Roberts — Erin Brockovich
15. Olivia de Havilland — The Heiress
14. Natalie Portman — Black Swan
13. Jodie Foster — The Silence of the Lambs
12. Diane Keaton — Annie Hall
11. Ingrid Bergman — Gaslight
10. Gwyneth Paltrow — Shakespeare in Love
9. Charlize Theron — Monster
8. Shirley MacLaine — Terms of Endearment
7. Cher — Moonstruck
6. Joan Crawford — Mildred Pierce
5. Frances McDormand — Fargo
4. Marion Cotillard — La Vie en Rose
3. Vivien Leigh — Gone with the Wind
2. Kathy Bates — Misery
1. Meryl Streep — Sophie’s Choice
Actor:
34. Clark Gable — It Happened One Night
33. Daniel Day-Lewis — Lincoln
32. Rex Harrison — My Fair Lady
31. Richard Dreyfuss — The Goodbye Girl
30. Joaquin Phoenix — Joker
29. Colin Firth — The King’s Speech
28. Maximilian Schell — Judgment at Nuremberg
27. Sean Penn — Mystic River
26. Russell Crowe — Gladiator
25. Jon Voight — Coming Home
24. José Ferrer — Cyrano de Bergerac
23. Daniel Day-Lewis — My Left Foot
22. Jack Nicholson — As Good as It Gets
21. Gary Oldman — Darkest Hour
20. Robert Donat — Goodbye, Mr. Chips
19. Bing Crosby — Going My Way
18. William Holden — Stalag 17
17. F. Murray Abraham — Amadeus
16. Tom Hanks — Forrest Gump
15. Sidney Poitier — Lilies of the Field
14. Dustin Hoffman — Rain Man
13. Peter Finch — Network
12. Roberto Benigni — Life Is Beautiful
11. Gregory Peck — To Kill a Mockingbird
10. Dustin Hoffman — Kramer vs. Kramer
9. Anthony Hopkins — The Silence of the Lambs
8. Adrien Brody — The Pianist
7. Charlton Heston — Ben-Hur
6. Philip Seymour Hoffman — Capote
5. Jack Nicholson — One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
4. Kevin Spacey — American Beauty
3. Daniel Day-Lewis — There Will Be Blood
2. Marlon Brando — The Godfather
1. Casey Affleck — Manchester by the Sea
I love the subjectivity of winners and seeing how everyone ranks things based on their preferences and reactions—it always makes for fun discussions. In full honesty, the rankings of these lists can change from week to week—though my top 10’s usually stay the same. A lot of these films and performances change over time depending on how I feel and what is going on in my life—like the seasons. Sometimes time brings new perspective—and I love that!
Now it is your turn—Share your lists!!! Also don’t miss our podcasts where we have been ranking our favorite Oscar winners!
Have fun, be kind, be respectful, and of course—Let’s Talk Cinema!
