Can Twitter predict the Oscars?

I was going to do a Golden Globes recap but I had a crazy work week and moved into NYC! If you want some quick and dirty recaps, see here for how AMAZING Tina and Amy did, here for how awkwardly awesome Jennifer Lawrence is and here for the overall fashion of the night (my favs were Michelle Dockery and Claire Danes).

  

 

While I haven't completed any categories to guess the winners yet, my wonderful boyfriend Ben sent me a very interesting social media find. Topsy's Twitter Oscar Index is using social analytics to predict the winners of the five major categories. You can see the impact of specific days such as the Golden Globes or the Oscar nominations themselves through the timeline and sort by specific films. Looking at the current predictions though, I'm not necessarily sure its accurate but it is an intriguing idea.

18 down, 34 to go!

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

It's that most wonderful time of year again! The Golden Globes are on Sunday and the Oscar nominations came out on Thursday morning. I will begin once again my feeble attempt to watch all the nominated movies. You and Albert Einstein must be thinking, fat chance but I think, despite my lack of attendance at Telluride this year, I will be victorious. Here is my statistical breakdown of the nominees and what I hope will spell success for me this year:

• When I first looked at the entire list of nominees, it seemed that this year, more than any year prior, a fewer variety of films. It turns out I was right (virtual high five!). There are only 52 different films nominated, including short films, compared to 60 in 2012 and 58 in 2011. This may not seem like much but when each film could mean on average about 2 hours of my time, 6-8 films means 12-14 hours or about five nights of film watching.
• In past years, I saw 11 in 2011 and 19 in 2012 before the nominations came out and started my challenge. This year I've seen 10 so it would seem that I am likely to fare the same as previous years. Wrong again! 
• I'm moving to the Big Apple where I will have access to limited releases and Oscar Shorts' day-long experience of all 15 nominated short films. 
• There are also two films on Netflix streaming and six on DVD already.
• The majority of the films remaining are still in theaters.
• The one caveat and what I find to be most difficult every year without fail are the full-length documentary and foreign film categories. Crossing my fingers that I can find them illegally.

To keep up your excitement for the season, read this hilarious interview with two of my idols and Globes hosts, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. I worried about having such high expectations for their hosting abilities but after this, they were eased a bit. I'll be tweeting during the show on Sunday night, inputting snarky comments, mostly retweeting those from my friend Kerry. Love to hear everyone's comments on the "booziest" award show!

I'll also be posting about snubs and surprises within the next few days, anyone you were disappointed or delighted to see?

10 down, 42 to go!