My Quest to See All 5 Oscar Films in One Day

Confession: I have been watching the Oscars for as long as I can remember but I have never, and I mean ever, managed to see all five best picture contenders before the ceremony. Embarrassing? Maybe. But this year I have made myself a promise. I'm going to see all five films before the winner is announced on Sunday.

Lord knows I watch a lot of movies, so how did these five slip through the cracks? I don't want to point the finger, but I blame the Academy -- wait, hear me out. This was the year that I thought I was on top of my game. So like most of the civilized world I went to see The Dark Knight assuming that it was an Oscar lock (and how wrong I was). Then, I thought, hey, Revolutionary Road is bound for glory, right? I'll catch it early, but nope, other than an acting nod for Michael Shannon, I had managed to pick another dud.

Like most people, I have a job and a life outside of a movie theater (even though it doesn't seem that way sometimes), so there isn't always as many hours in the day to see all the movies I would like. I usually end up seeing the rest of the films after the awards season has long past. I have probably wasted a little more time than I should have watching films that didn't have a chance in hell of making it to the podium -- Thanks a lot Mr. Shyamalan.

So maybe this is an ambitious plan but thanks to AMC's Best Picture Showcase this Saturday in Toronto, I will finally be able to hold my head high. Plus, when I start shouting at the TV when or if I disagree with the winner, I'll actually have something other to go on than "Well I didn't see ____ but ____ was way better" -- not exactly what you would call an informed opinion. But this year, I won't have to slink to the box-office to see the Oscar nominated films long after that little gold man has been handed out -- you know whoever said that confession was good for the soul was really on to something, I feel better already.

So I hand it to you out there...do you try and see all the films before the winners are announced? And when you make those Oscar pool picks, do you vote from the heart, or the head? Leave your picks for Best Picture below...