I never watch the Academy Awards. This surprises some of my friends because I'm such a movie nut, but I always quote Bill Murray from an old SNL skit, "The Oscars are always wrong, and when they're right, it's for the wrong reasons." These are wise words coming from the man who has never won an Academy Award despite great performances in such movies as Groundhog Day, Rushmore, and Lost in Translation.

There are plenty of times when the Academy choices are debatable. Did The Best Years of Our Lives deserve the 1947 Best Picture nod over It's a Wonderful Life? I happen to think they got it right that time, but I can certainly see merit in the opposing view. Other times there is no room for debate. There is no way that Shakespeare in Love was a better movie than Saving Private Ryan or Out of Sight. In 1976 Rocky won Best Picture. Rocky is a lot of fun. It's a rousing feel good story, and in 1976 there was no way of knowing that it would produce five sequels, each worse than the last.  Of course it was up against All the President's Men, Bound For Glory, Network, and Taxi Driver, all of which were more ambitious, more nuanced and more original. It seems impossible that John Ford's masterpiece The Searchers, consistently listed as one of the greatest films of all time, failed to receive a single Oscar nomination in 1956. Speaking of my all-time favorite moviemaker, one of my least favorite Ford films is How Green Was My Valley. It's a slow paced slog through sentiment and platitudes that somehow beat Citizen Kane for Best Picture.

My favorite movie last year was Boyhood. If Richard Linklater's bold journey through the life of a middle-class American family wins any awards, I'll be happy for him. If the big prize goes to American Sniper, Birdman, or Transformers vs Marky Mark, it won't change my opinion a bit.