PICAYUNE — I stayed up late. I watched the Oscars again. I can’t help myself. I love the movies.

Everyone has their own taste. Just as there are different people, the movies reflect the variety of the masses. Winning an Oscar does not depend on the type of movie because this year an animation was up against a serious war movie. Throw in everything in the middle and you had 10 very different movies vying for the title of best motion picture.

The Academy votes for the best in the business. Many times this does not reflect the opinion of the millions who go to the movies.

I guess that is why the people’s choice awards were created. Does that mean something other than ‘people’ chose the Academy Awards?

 Going to the movies is a big American past time, but in the South, we call it going to the show. It’s a shortened version of the old term “picture show.” Growing up, we went to the show to see the latest movie. People in other regions may look at you funny, but once a Southerner ventures beyond the borders they must get use to these perplexed stares.

In little towns across the country, in the decades of my youth, going to the movies meant you would head down town to a massive, swanky theater with its lighted marquee sign. In my hometown, we sported two such places, the Pic and the Ritz.

I loved going to the show. I still do, even if it costs a week’s salary! I still want the big picture experience, watching the latest picture, eating a colossal tub of buttered popcorn and drinking a syrupy coca cola with more ice than substance. I have to refuse the four-dollar chocolate candy bar in the concession window. I always sneak in a little bit in my purse to counteract the salty punch.

As for all of you who do sneak in snacks and I know you do, just don’t try the whole combo meal from the Sonic. Its tough to pull off and your clothes smell like fries for days! How would I know? High School, I was a poor teen that was hungry and wanted to eat my sonic burger, fries and coke while watching Flash Gordon.

I’m not saying it’s right. A family of six, like mine, after purchasing tickets, drinks, popcorn, and candy for the two that for some crazy reason don’t like popcorn, can be more expensive than making the movie.

As I watched the award show, I realized that I had seen a few of the nominated movies but only one made me have the satisfied ‘feel good’ feeling as I exited the theater. It was Blindside. The best part was I could take my whole family. Because of its unexpected popularity on opening night, I found myself and my five guys sitting on the first row, looking up and into Sandra Bullock’s nostrils. Uncomfortable, popcorn in hand, I still had an enjoyable movie moment.

That is what going to the movies is all about.

I want to leave the theater with an afterglow feeling like that was a worthy story, or that was visually stunning. You know that sensation. It’s rare these days that I leave thinking, “Man, I want to see that again!”

I can remember being so excited about a movie that I wanted to go back over and over again. My first encounter with this phenomenon was at 13; at the Ritz, or whichever theater was on West Canal Street because I can’t seem to remember which was which. I saw Star Wars or what I call the ‘first’ Star Wars and some call number IV (four).

The problem in those days was that movies played for a couple of weeks and were gone. Your next opportunity to see the movie was its debut on television a couple of years later. But, this was a new time and Star Wars did something no other movie had done. It came back within a few months.

The availability of seeing hit movies has changed so much today. The opportunity to see a movie numerous times with the multiple cinema venues, the near around the clock viewing of shows, and the quick release to DVD for personal ownership allow people to be over saturated with viewing the movie.

In my days, we waited. We had to be patient. We yearned to see the movie again and maybe that made movies seem better.

Do I think movies of old were better? I believe movies technically are better today, but stories are always the same.

Does Hollywood reflect my taste in movies? Has Fred and Ginger been replaced? It seems some of my favorite genres are out dated and old fashion. They rarely make loads of money.

Give me a good Jane Austen novel transferred into a screenplay and now we are talking! As girlie as that makes me sound, I also love a good Tolkien Hobbit and elves battling Orcs.

As the mood strikes, I may need a good cop comedy, romantic comedy hook-up or a creepy freak out flick. I don’t mind ‘thinking movies,’ but I must be in the mood. I rarely like to think and I much prefer a happily-ever-after ending.

Those moments of pure pleasure are rare at the movies. Ahh, but when it happens, its movie magic! Movies like Titanic, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Sense and Sensibility, and yes, even lowly movies like Ladyhawke give me that warm fuzzy deep down to my toes good feeling. It’s so good that its sad it can’t be experienced again because there is only one “first” time, even with movies.

It’s the great movies like those that make all the trips to the picture show worth while. You may see hours and hours of trash, mundane plots, boring love connections, but eventually a rare gem will sift to the top.

That is my award. That is my moment. The discovery of a really great film.

What can I go see this week?

Tracy Williams is a syndicated columnist and can be reached at her website:  myhometowncolumn.com or join My Hometown Column on Face Book.