Failure is the New Success!

 

Credit: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.*

Well folks, we’ve reached the end of Oscar Season.

We here at Nerdonomy would like to extend our congratulations to all winners of Academy Awards this year; your achievements were well recognized.  I also want to take a moment to sincerely thank all those who listened to our live Oscar podcast: it was a lot of fun, and we look forward to our next live episode in the not-too-distant future.

For those of you who remember, I placed a challenge on our blog befitting of only the most astute filmgoer, someone who has ample amounts of time on their hands. Someone who would rather spend free time in a movie theatre or at home in front of their TV set playing catch-up than interacting with human beings; a Howard Hughes of cinephiles, if you will.  If you don’t know who Howard Hughes is, watch Martin Scorcese’s The Aviator; it’ll give you everything you need to know.

The 3-Level Nerdonomy Challenge was an intense, 19 film challenge for seeing ALL nominations related to Best Picture, Best Supporting/Lead Actor, Best Supporting/Lead Actress, Directing, and Original/Adapted Screenplays, in addition to one full set from another Best Feature category (i.e. Documentary, Foreign, Animated).

If someone could complete this challenge, they would be heralded by The Nerds as one of the Biggest Movie Nerds in Existence and would be offered a pitch for an episode of Nerds on Film, as well as a cameo, and a free Nerdonomy T-Shirt. Sounds pretty sweet, right?

There’s only one problem: The challenge was set to fail from the beginning.

As I stated in my challenge update, it would have required seeing Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master to accurately complete the challenge.  Unless you saw the film during it’s very limited release, you would have been shit out of luck come February 24; ironically, The Master came out on Home Video yesterday.

I offered a dispensation for those willing to complete the challenge by seeing all the nominations for Best Short Film: Live Action, and Best Short Film: Animated, preferably in one sitting, but would be acceptable if one had downloaded and watched them through iTunes.

What I did not realize, however, is that seeing the nominated shorts alone accounts for THREE AND A HALF HOURS of sitting time. God Damn!  Even The Hobbit was only 2 hours and 46 minutes long!  Unless you wanted to rekindle the same feelings of dehydration and ass-numbness from sitting and staring at a screen for nearly half a work day that you got from seeingany of the Lord of the Rings movies, I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to see the shorts in one sitting, or to go through inconvenient lengths to prove that you had legitimately purchased and viewed said films.

From the beginning, I intended this challenge to be HARD to complete; but there was one person whom I never thought would fail the challenge: myself.

Even I, the host of a movie podcast, and a lifelong movie junkie, could not complete the challenge in time for the 85th Academy Awards.

I did, however, get DAMN close.  Of the possible 19 films on the list, I saw 16.  I fell short by missing The MasterThe Sessions, and by complete miscalculation, forgot that Moonrise Kingdom was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and completely neglected to see it.

With a full-time work schedule, finishing my bachelor’s degree, recording two weekly podcasts, and planning a live broadcasting event, I ran out of time.  Frankly, I’m amazed I had time to see 14 films in 6 weeks.

I tip my proverbial hat to my frequent Nerds on Film guest host and fellow Nerdonomy blogger Kevin Sutorius, who came within 1 film of completing the challenge (Amour) and CHOSE not to complete the challenge for the sake of his emotional well-being.  He deserves a Crown of Golden Popcorn, studded with fruit candies, and the Horned-Rimmed Spectacles of Glory.

If any of you nerds out there didn’t complete the challenge: I say FAIR ENOUGH!  If you managed to see all the Best Picture nominations, however, show us pictures your ticket stubs or DVD/Blu-Rays and email to [email protected].  You will get a shout out on our next episode of NoF, and I will still give you the Nerdonomy T-Shirt of your choosing.

In the meantime, Nerds, we at Nerdonomy are moving onward into 2013 with anticipation for the slew of films that we are excited about, and hope that when Fall arrives, we will go Howard Hughes and start watching Oscar contenders like crazy.

Stay Nerdy, my friends.

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*The featured photo is actually from the set-up for the Oscars, not the implied cleanup suggested from the photo.

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