2008

Best Picture: no country for old men

On November 5, 2007 the Writers Guild of America went on strike, and by the time this year's Oscar nominations were announced in late January there was no indication that the end of the strike was near. With the possibility that the strike might continue on into March and force a postponement of the Oscar ceremony (yes, those remarks by the presenters really are scripted by professionals, all evidence to the contrary) we were faced with a decision: go through all the preparations and planning for a party that might not end up happening, or assume that the worst would happen and skip this year's party. As we had just had our party of the previous year badly scuttled by a snowstorm, we sent a notice around to our guests announcing that, for the first time in fifteen years, we were sitting this one out.

Days later, the strike was called off, and the Oscars went on as scheduled. On the bright side, Adam and Millie come over to keep us company as we watch the ceremony and dream of the Oscar Pool money that we might have won that night.