Escape - Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014

ESCAPEsmile. EXPLORE. relax. / Jan. 16 / weekend

+more online @oudaily.com/escape

THE MIND OF A FILM CRITIC

EXPLORE

3FILMS TO SEE BEFORE THE

OSCARS follow the pathTo your perfect

awards show

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ESCAPEcontents

Jan. 16 4 Something local

5 life of a film critic

6 award show breakdown

7 awards show drinking game

8 find your perfect show

9 sugar bowl should win best picture

10 greek row

10 professor’s picks

11 one game to rule them all

12 movies to watch before the awards

Escape is a student-produced publication of OU Student Media, a department in the Division of Student Affairs. Copyright 2013 OU Student Media.

on the coverSuit and Tiephoto by taylor bolton

Winter Break is over, but that doesn’t mean

the fun has to stop. This semester at ESCAPE, we are dedicated to filling your weekends and free time with activities you can find here in Norman. From dinner parties to local concerts, you should never have a dull moment.

The Awards Season issue comes at the perfect time. The Golden Globes just passed, but more awards are on the way. See our preview of the shows (pg. 6) and find out which show is perfect for you (pg. 7).

As a self-proclaimed cat lady, I understand the in-clination to stay in on the weekends snuggling with my cat Twix and watching

“How I Met Your Mother” reruns. If that’s your style, we’ve got a list of movies for you to watch before the awards season truly kicks in (pg. 12).

Of course, we also con-sulted the experts. OU’s very own film and media studies professor Andrew Hor-ton gave us his picks as an award-winning screenwriter for the films most likely to win awards at the Oscars (pg. 10).

Maybe you’re just getting back to Norman, and you’re eager to get out on the town. Be sure to check out the lo-cal music scene, with Chris-tian Wargo of Poor Moon and Fleet Foxes playing at Opolis this weekend (pg. 4). Whatever your choice, we hope to have something

contact us!Let us know what you think. We really want your feedback. Seriously.email: [email protected]

twitter: @OU_Escape

The Oklahoma Daily EditorKyle Margerum

Editorial AdviserJudy Gibbs Robinson

Advertising ManagerKearsten Howland

Advertising AdviserAnne Richard

contributors

conner golden

Copy Chief

@hoonthatsc

Miranda sanchez

@chicadelamusica

Patrick McSweeney

@pmcsweenz

Graham Dudley

@danger_dudley

kate mcpherson

assistant editor

@katemcp92

hannah norton

@hmnorton

3

We Can’t Stop

Megan Deaton, editor-in chief

@meggiejennie

for everyone. It is our mis-sion to include your voices and events in ESCAPE this semester, so throw us a tweet if you have an idea you want to share.

taylor bolton/the daily

5things to do this

weekend1.

what: wrestling

when: 2 p.m. Sunday

where: mccasland field house

The wrestling team faces Northern Iowa in the first home match of the semester. Tickets are free for students.

what: ice skating

when: 2 to 9 p.m. tomorrow

where: oklahoma memorial union courtyard

Campus Activities Council’s last event of Winter Welcome Week is a free ice rink near the Union.

what: art and art history student exhibition

when: opens tomorrow

where: fred jones jr. museum of art

The hundredth-annual student exhibition runs all weekend. Check out the other art in the museum too after you make the trek to the north part of campus.

what: mike hosty concert

when: 11 p.m. Sunday

where: the deli

Norman musician Mike Hosty plays this Campus Corner haunt every Sunday. Take advantage of your Monday off to see this local legend.

what: women’s gymnastics

when: 6:45 p.m. tomorrow

where: Lloyd Noble Center

The women’s gymnastics team takes on Iowa State in the first conference game of the year. Our program had the highest preseason rank-ing in its history, so this ought to be good.

4

2 .

3 .

4 .

5 .

Something localMegan Deaton | Q&A

A man of many talents, Chris-tian Wargo has been involved in numerous musical projects including the popular Fleet Foxes, Crystal Skulls and now Poor Moon. I sat down with Wargo to

discuss his music and his upcoming concert opening for indie pop band Tennis at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Opolis.

Q: How did Poor Moon form? Did it

come from your other work or was it com-

pletely separate?

A: Crystal Skulls broke up. Well, I guess.

I don’t know if we’re officially broken up.

Maybe we’ll make another record, but we

stopped touring together, and people kind of

went to do different projects.

Eventually, you know [Fleet Foxes] had

some harmony parts that they couldn’t really

perform live because they didn’t really have

anyone that could sing that high, so I started

playing live with them. And that became

pretty much all that I was doing ...

... I guess Poor Moon really came out

of just those years on the road of writing

songs on my own, not knowing what to do

with them and then just having friends that

wanted to have a project.

Q: How would you describe your music?

A: I don’t know. I don’t know if I would.

Umm, yeah.

Q: Indescribable?

A: No, definitely not. Just not by me. I

just make it, and it’s up for other people to

decide what it means to them. I think that’s

sort of what’s cool about music. It’s funny

to read reviews because people have totally

different takes on it, but that’s sort of the

point.

Q: What can audience members expect

from the show you have coming up?

A: Um, well this is going to be just me,

solo, so it’ll be a chance for people to hear

the new stuff that I’m working on. We’re

pretty much just bringing the stuff that I

have in my eight by eight practice room in

my garage and I’m just going to do what I

do when I write songs up on stage.

Q: I have to ask, is there anything coming

up for Poor Moon and also, Fleet Foxes?

A: Well, Poor Moon is going to start

recording “LP 2,” hopefully soon after I get

back. I just moved down to L.A., so it’s a

little bit of transition time, but I’m ready to

go into the studio.

Really I don’t know if I can comment on

Foxes. I don’t actually, honestly, know what’s

happening. We’re not in the best commu-

nication right now. We’re just kind of living

our lives a little bit. You know, it was a very

condensed, nonstop chunk of years where

we didn’t get to think about anything else, so

it’s been nice, not having to think about it a

little bit.

see the full interview

online at OUdaily.com

phot

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ovided

5

exploring the mind of a Film CriticAn OU alumna is chasing her dream of being a film critic as the

head critic at “LA Weekly.” Amy Nicholson is combining her love of both film and anthropology into one dream job.

megan deaton | feature

For a person who spends a large chunk of time sitting in dark rooms watching films about the way other people live, OU alumna Amy Nicholson has a surprisingly compre-hensive view of the world around her.

Nicholson will be returning home to a film and media studies class at OU on Feb. 21 as “Professor For A Day.”

After entering OU as a psychology major, Nicholson eventually settled on a double major in anthropology and film studies — majors that you might not think fit together very well.

“I was interested in the same thing,” Nicholson said. “I just didn’t know what it was. And then when I start-ed studying antrhopology my second semester, I saw that I was always really interested in the way people think about culture.”

After taking a film class, Nicholson said she realized film could be used as a guage for the culture of a certain time.

“When a Hollywood exec-utive green lights a movie, they’re thinking, ‘How can I make people buy a ticket to this?’ So they’re thinking about us like it’s anthropolo-gy,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson laughed as she explained how the 1990s provide the per-fect example for her mixture of film and anthropology.

“I always joke about how in the ’90s they made all these films about the Internet and rollerblading because they thought it was cool,” Nicholson said.

OU alumnus Earnest Pettie moved to Los Angeles with Nicholson when they both graduated. While Nicholson ended up with her dream job at “LA Weekly,” Pettie went

on to become successful at making videos go viral. Pettie only gave glowing reviews of his former roommates qualifications.

“ ... I think her ability to write about how film impacts our culture (and vice versa) allows her to enjoy her job as a film critic,” Pettie said. “Though I think calling her a film critic misses the point. She’s not just writing reviews. She’s expressing a point of view about the world through writing about film, and that’s what I think Amy enjoys.”

Nicholson said reviewing a film requires so much more than just subjective opinion or judgement.

“I tell people who want to be film critics, one of the best things you can do is stop watching movies at least every day and try to go read books and newspapers,” Nicholson said. “Try to talk to people that you don’t know because it’s the experiences that you bring into the theater that make you a better critic.”

So what makes a good film?“When people ask me how

I judge a film, I tend to say I judge a film based on what it wanted to do,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson said that is what she loves about her favor-ite film of all time, “Pennies From Heaven,” starring Steve

Martin.“It was a total failure when it came out,

but I think it’s the most perfect film ever made,” Nicholson said.

She said her favorite category of films is “ambitious failures.”

“They’re films that really, really try to do something, and even if they don’t make it, what they try to achieve is really amazing,” Nicholson said.

Speaking of ambitious, Nicholson is

“She’s not just writing reviews.

She’s expressing

a point-of-view

about the world

through writing

about film, and

that’s what I

think Amy enjoys.”

earnest pettie, close

friend of nicholson

about to release her first book, “Anatomy of an Actor: Tom Cruise,” which will be published this spring.

“I wish I can say it was a long and ardu-ous process but my publisher only gave me two and a half months,” Nicholson said.

She said she spent those months watch-ing every single one of Cruise’s movies, but made some time to make a “Top Gun” jacket.

“It’s not really a biography,” Nicholson said. “I take 10 of his films and analyze them to show his growth as an actor.”

But why did Nicholson choose Cruise of all people?

“He’s an actor who so famous, but I feel like he’s hiding in plain sight,” she said. “Everybody knows who he is but no one really takes him as a serious actor. I really

like taking someone that everybody thinks they know and making the argument that he’s even more than we think.”

As for the upcoming awards shows, Nicholson said she’s excited because there does not seem to be any clear winner this year.

“I predict it’s going to be at least less boring than years before,” Nicholson said.

Though Nicholson mainly discussed her life as a film critic, Pettie said her real per-sonality lies in the smaller details of her life.

“If you really want to know about Amy Nicholson, ask her about the OKC Thunder, soccer, nail art, karaoke, R. Kelly, her oil paining of her cat,” Pettie said. “When you get down to that level, that’s when you begin to see why people love her.”

photo provided

Amy Nicholson is the head film critic for “LA Weekly” and will soon release her first book, “Anatomy of an Actor: Tom Cruise.” Nicholson will visit OU in February as “Professor For A Day.”

for the show...

76

before the show... What do the Grammys, Oscars, Golden Globes and all those other random awards things that you don’t care about have in common? Um, hello — they are obvious excuses to drink.

It’s no fun to sit in front of your TV drinking alone, so invite a few friends over to play this simple drinking game. Cut out the provided card and take a drink every time you witness one of the things listed. Get fi ve in a row? Take two drinks. Feel free to play any variation of elementary-school bingo: four corners, Texas “T”, roving L … just be careful when playing blackout.

cut out and collect

awards show drinking game

phot

os p

rov

ided

kate mcpherson I games

b i n g oWardrobe

malfunction

Someone starts singing

Host makes an unfunny

joke

Taylor Swift looks shocked

A nominee you’ve never

heard of wins

Orchestra starts up

during speech

Someone trips

Show’s hashtag

promoted

Winner thanks God

Kanye shows up on stage

Winner thanks Harvey

Weinstein

Benedict Cumberbatch

Free space (just drink)

Winner starts crying

“The Hunger Games”

Tap dancing

Celebrity is insulted

Ron Burgundy

Someone gets

‘bleeped’

Obvious political

statement

Uncomfortable audience member

Twerking

“I didn’t prepare

anything!”

Meryl Streep wins anything

Winner pulls speech out

of bra

Burgundy

up on stage

Cumberbatch

Someone

audience member

graham dudley | film

Winter is an exciting time for lovers of American

entertainment, as the so-called awards season

is already well underway. Culminating with March’s

Academy Awards, the awards season recognizes the best

in American television, music and especially movies.

Many know and love shows like the GRAMMYs and

Golden Globes, but there are plenty of smaller awards

shows to satisfy any viewer waiting for their favorite to

arrive. Here’s what you should expect from the major

awards shows, as well as a few not-so-major ones:

know what to expect

from the awards

Awards Season BREAKDOWN

Screen Actors Guild Awards7 p.m. Friday on TNT and TBS The Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards have come and gone, but the SAG Awards have yet to weigh in on the year’s best in film and television. The SAG Awards began in 1995 and is the only televised awards show that rec-ognizes performers exclusively — after all, they’re for the actors. The show is also unique for its ensemble awards, given to the best cumulative casts in movies and TV. So if you’re dying to see the “Downton Abbey” ensemble get the recognition it deserves, you should tune in tomorrow night.

The Producers Guild AwardsJan. 19, not televised The PGA recognizes the producers who make the movies go. While this show has television and animation categories, its major function is as a momentum-builder for the upcoming Academy Awards, whose nominees were just announced. Unfortunately, this ceremony isn’t TV-worthy, but it’s always interesting to see which film the industry insiders like.

inter is an exciting time for lovers of American

entertainment, as the so-called awards season

is already well underway. Culminating with March’s

Academy Awards, the awards season recognizes the best

in American television, music and especially movies.

Many know and love shows like the GRAMMYs and

Golden Globes, but there are plenty of smaller awards

shows to satisfy any viewer waiting for their favorite to

arrive. Here’s what you should expect from the major

awards shows, as well as a few not-so-major ones:

The Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards have come and gone, but the SAG Awards have yet to weigh in on the year’s best in film and television. The SAG Awards began in 1995 and is the only televised awards show that rec-ognizes performers exclusively — after all, they’re for the actors. The show is also unique for its ensemble awards, given to the best cumulative casts in movies and TV. So if you’re dying to see the “Downton Abbey” ensemble get

The GRAMMYs7 p.m. Jan. 26 on CBS Live from the Staples Center, the GRAMMY Awards are undoubtedly, as they say, music’s biggest night. Despite the underwhelming critical recep-tion for his “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” rapper Jay-Z’s nine nominations are the most of any artist this year. Because of a somewhat delayed eligibil-ity period, Taylor Swift’s “Red” will be competing for “Album of the Year”, and because of who-knows-what, James Blake is nominated as a “Best ‘New’ Artist.” Regardless of its flaws, the GRAMMYs are always an entertaining event, and this year will be no different. Look for performances from Jay-Z and Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Daft Punk, Imagine Dragons and more.

The Academy Awards (Oscars)6 p.m. March 2 on ABC The nominees were announced just yesterday, so commence the debate and get ready to do some serious movie watching. This year’s “Best Picture” race figures to include a few titles you haven’t caught just yet. 2013 was a great year for film, and choosing the best won’t be easy. Look for this year’s Oscars to include some old standbys (Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock) and fresh faces (Oscar Isaac, Chiwetel Ojiofor, Matthew McConaughey) in the “Best Actor” and “Actress” races, and if you really want a good predictor of the winners, try the Golden Globes — just not for the ‘Best Picture.”

golden globes

Quick Facts

critics’choice

Website claims it is the “most accurate pre-dictor of Academy Award nominations”Sponsored by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA)

on some other awards shows

Has successfully chosen the Academy’s Best Picture win-ner only twice in the last nine yearsSponsored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA)

photo provided

picking the perfect show

Trying to decide which awards show to watch this season? Follow this helpful fl ow chart and fi nd the perfect match for you...

hannah norton I games

StartHere

Do you like music/movies/musicals/television series?

yes

no

Do you have no soul? Borrow someone’s Netfl ix. Lose multiple hours to “Parks and Recreation,” “The West Wing,” “The King’s Speech,” or ask your friends what they spend hours binge watching. Then come back and try again.

Good! You came to the right fl ow chart. Actors or musicians?

The Tony Awards is likely the show for you. Tune in June 8 on CBS to see acts from the biggest shows on Broadway. You’ll be singing show tunes in no time.

act

ors

musicians

Neil Patrick Harris or George Clooney?

neil

patri

ck

harri

s

Broadway Harris or “How I Met Your Mother” Harris?

broa

dway

george clooney

Pop or country? country

For those who tend to listen to more Miranda Lambert than Jay-Z, the Academy of Country Music Awards is the show for you. Look for it on CBS in April.

pop

Beyoncé or Idina Menzel?

“ER” or “The Descendents? “The

Descendents”

“ER”

Do you prefer TV shows over movies?

yes

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards represent all of movies and television. If you want a preview of who the big Oscar winners could be, tune in Jan. 18 on TNT.

Coming to ABC on March 2, the Academy Awards (Oscars) is probably the most important awards show for many of the actors, directors and producers nominated.

no

idin

a m

enzel

“HIM

YM”

beyonce Adele or Justin Timberlake?

ade

le

Try to catch the British Academy Film Awards in February if you have access to BBC. It has a very distinctive British fl air!

jt

’N Sync or Solo?

‘N S

ync

That’s a blast from the past, but if you like the pop sound, then The Billboard Music Awards sound like your scene. Look for it on in May on ABC.

solo

The Grammy Awards is the show for you. Huge musical acts like Adele, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Macklemore and many others perform at a show that hands out awards to some of the best talent in the music industry. Tune in to CBS on Jan. 26.

Pop or country? country

beyonce

“The

8

photos provided

and the

award for

best picture

goes to...

9

the sugar bowl?

Everyone loves a good underdog story, and this season our university’s football team played a starring role in one of the best. Due to

our great history, it is hard to ever consider OU as an underdog, but against this Alabama team that is unlucky not to be in the “big game,” underdog is a fitting title.

Originally, I was reluctant to buy a ticket to the game. I figured the $160 could be better spent on Bourbon Street. However, I knew that if we did win it, would be a piece of history I wanted to be involved in.

A lot of people complained about how arrogant and loud the Alabama fans were, but with the team and record they have had over the last couple of years this should be expected and perhaps even allowed. This was not helped by their quick touchdown and intercep-tion that left the Alabama side of the stadium to start chanting “SEC.” Despite this adversity, OU fought back and found that the “SEC” chant was just as fun when we used it sarcastically. OU took control of the game, and apparently, control of the music as Owen Field favorites “Jump Around” and “Seven Nation Army” ensured our crowd dominance.

This clearly made the Bama fans uncomfortable, resulting in mothers literally kicking and screaming in an attempt to regain control. This mother’s per-

formance was memorable and if the Alabama kicker could kick like she does, the game would have been a little closer. See her full performance by searching “crazy alabama fan” on YouTube.

Just like any good movie, the tension lasted right to the end and the antagonist (AJ McCArron) proved unable to handle the pressure during the film’s climax, and the hero prevailed. Bama fans turned against their stars with many hoping Nick Saban might actually take the job at Texas.

I was once taught that a story should have an expo-sition, rising action, a climax, falling action and a res-olution. This game followed this well until it failed to fall. The energy on Bourbon Street after the game was electric, and it was a pleasant change from the scream-ing of “Roll Tide” that constantly echoed before the game.

This has been a rollercoaster year for OU. We were lucky to make it to this game, but that is a thing of the past. We just beat the mighty Alabama and had an amazing time doing it. If you are anything like me, you have been pinching yourself every morning to ensure it wasn’t a dream.

In this spirit, the best performance of the awards season might just be OU’s amazing show at the Sugar Bowl.

patrick mcsweeney | sports

quick facts

final score:

45-31 OU45 points:

the most a team has scored against

alabama while under nick saban

trevor knight:

named game’s most

valuable player

bob stoops:

only coach ever to

win all bowls in

the bcs era

chris james/the daily

10

Greek��w Professor ’s picks2013 was an amazing cinematic year, and I agree with

many critics who say it was really the best year in many years for films in general but especially for showing once more that fine independent films and smaller than “Big Budget” films can do well on all levels.

Thus, we had the surprise once more of films like “12 Years a Slave” and “The Dallas Buyers Club” catching everyone’s attention as did, for instance, “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” a few years ago.

In this spirit, my top 10 are:

“12 Years a Slave”

“American Hustle”

“The Dallas Buyers Club”

“August: Osage County”

“Frances Ha”

“Captain Phillips”

“Filomena”

“Saving Mr Banks”

“Gravity”

“About Time”

Runner’s Up:

“Grudge Match”

“The Hunger Games”

Then the good films I haven’t seen yet include those much talked about:

“Her”

Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska”

Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis”

To all of this, I add how important “Top 10 Lists” and the upcoming Oscar nominations are, for they help us all see films we haven’t seen yet.

Movie taste can be subjective, so we consulted an

expert. The Jeanne H. Smith Professor of Film and

Media Studies Andrew Horton gave us his predic-

tions for this season’s award-winning films. Horton

is not only a film studies professor but also an

award-winning screenwriter. Here are his picks:

andrew horton | Guest columnist

megan deaton | editor’s note

The “Greek Row” segment is usually dedicated to focusing on some aspect of greek life we think could be helpful to members of the greek com-

munity. However, we are starting the semester without a greek writer. That’s where you come in.

We’re looking for someone to write our weekly “Greek Row” bit. If you’re plugged in to the greek community, and have information that you think could be useful to your fel-low brothers and sisters, then we want you on our team.

If you’re not looking for a big commitment, we’re also looking for bloggers from the greek community to update OU about the philanthropies and other happenings in the greek community. We think you’re doing great work, so let us help you get the word out.

Interested in being our greek writer? If you’d like to write for ESCAPE or be a blogger for The Daily, contact me at [email protected].

jessica woods/ou daily

Jeanne H. Smith Professor of Film and Media Studies Andrew Horton poses in his office for a photo. Horton is also an award-winning screenwriter, for his work on Brad Pitt’s first movie, “The Dark Side of the Sun.”

?

We Want You

this could

be you

Got

Textbooks?

Visit Bizzell Memorial Library, OU Libraries’ website at http://libraries.ou.edu/textbooks or call (405) 325-4142

University of Oklahoma Libraries

provides selected textbooks on reserve in Bizzell Memorial

Library

1 1

Every year, video game publications award one game the ultimate title of “Game of the Year.” Each publication’s choice

varies, especially in years that are treated to the release of many great video games. 2013 was one of those years, but instead of the expected diversity among a majority of the video game publications, one game has been topping lists and stealing the award.

Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us” has already been named “Game of the Year” by “Giant Bomb,” “Kotaku,” “GamesRadar,” “Destructoid,” “USA Today” and many other video game publications. Other major publications, such as “IGN,” “Game Informer” and “Polygon,” have yet to crown their game of the year, so “The Last of Us” may take more awards. After playing Naughty Dog’s latest game, it’s difficult not to root for it. “The Last of Us” is a beautiful, story driven experience that left me in tears.

The game features Joel, a rough and pained man who smuggles goods in and out of quarantine zones for a living, and Ellie, a spunky 14-year-old who knows her way around a gun. Tasked with smuggling Ellie to another zone, the pair journeys into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Rampant with Clickers — zombie-like humans who are the result of a pandemic that destroyed civilization — and other potentially dangerous survivors, the two are forced to rely on each other for survival as they cross the U.S.

As expected of a Naughty Dog game, the characters will feel like your close friends. All of Ellie and Joel’s man-nerisms and conversations feel genuine, resulting in two of the strongest and well developed video game characters in 2013, not to mention one of the most touching relationships of the year. Even some of the unseen characters that live in notes and journal entries scattered throughout the world are compelling and lively, and one of them ended up being my favorite character of the game. Yeah, the writing is that strong.

Aside from the brilliant characters, the writing and design

of the game excels in creating an oppressive atmosphere that can’t be experienced in most games. “The Last of Us” is difficult, but not in the way you’d expect. Its difficulty stems from your realistic lack of power and resources, which helps Naughty Dog to further it’s game’s tense tone. Unless you’re playing on easy, don’t expect to find much ammo, health or supplies — this is a post-apocalyptic environment, after all. Though many publications gave the award to “The Last of Us,” those that didn’t helped to prove how great of a year 2013 was for video games. “The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds,” “Super Mario 3D World” and “Grand Theft Auto V” have been given the award at least once from other publications, but haven’t come close to touching the amount of awards “The Last of Us” has received. They’re all fantastic games, but “The Last of Us” has that extra something that puts it on another level.

One Game To Rule Them Allmiranda sanchez | gaming

past popular game of the year winners:

2012 — thatgamecompany’s “Journey” and Telltale Games’ “The Walking Dead”

2011 — Valve’s “Portal 2” and Bethesda’s “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”

2010 — Rockstar San Diego’s “Red Dead Redemption” and Bioware’s “Mass Effect 2”

Though each of these games came from different size studios, had different budgets and are in completely different genres, there are a few unifying factors between all of these games. They all innovate, have an impact on the video game community and create an immersive experience for the player.

phot

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tony Beaulieu | film

The Grumpycouch Potato

Every once and a while, a dark horse rides in to dazzle and shake everyone from our collective Oscar coma (seriously, “Lincoln” was boring). Here are the movies with the most award buzz this season we think actually, probably deserve it.

“The Wolf of Wall Street”Martin Scorsese could straight-up

direct two hours of an unwavering shot on a dog turd and it would probably get nominated for Best Cinematography. Some say he deserves it for being snubbed on “Goodfellas” back in the day. I bet “The Wolf of Wall Street” will win Best Special Effects for Jonah Hill’s horse dentures.

“Her”Break out your knee pads,

because everyone who has seen this contemplative, sci-fi -romance tear jerker has immediately fallen down in worship of writer/director Spike Jonze. Yep, the guy who directed The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” music video and helped make “Jackass” a thing is probably going to be nominated for an Oscar.

“American hustle”Incidentally, David O. Russell

directed Spike Jonze in his 1999 fi lm “Three Kings.” David O. Russell’s “American Hustle” (say that fi ve times fast) is also likely to be a strong contender at the 2013 Oscars. Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams both won Golden Globes for their performances in “American Hustle,” so an Oscar win could be next.

Movies you should watch before the awards: