Ultimate Picture Palace owner Becky Hallsmith looks at the films making the headlines as Oscar night approaches

We’re now more that halfway through the crazy season, the first three months of the year that is our busiest time. So my focus is very much on operations, operations, and operations. It means extra runs to the wholesaler, extra maintenance, and additional volunteers. As always seems to be the nature of things, it’s when we’re operating at full stretch that something vital breaks and needs fixing. So the box office laptop has been to the doctor. Not once, but twice!

At times we feel we’re on the windiest corner in East Oxford as the chill wind whips around the Methodist Church, in through the box office window, and up the hatch to the projection room. But despite this, the recent wind and rain hasn’t caused too much damage. Only one poster blew away and only a couple of the light fittings on the top of the facade need replacing. So now we’re waiting for the parts, and then we’ll be waiting for a warm, dry, still day — so that poor Adam, our long-suffering electrician, can climb his tallest ladder to do the repair.

Our new seats are now in production, which is very exciting. All being well they should be installed the week before Easter. There’s been a slight delay as the company making them had an unexpected large emergency repair job to do following the collapse of the Apollo Theatre’s balcony! Our final art deco inspired design incorporates seats and backs that will be the same as those being made for the Prince Edward Theatre, but with our own bespoke armrest design.

Our programme continues to be dominated by the various awards as Oscar night approaches. We haven’t yet shown all the films with contenders in the ‘bigger’ categories — with Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club, and Meryl Streep in August: Osage County still to start their runs.

The awards narrative for the last few months has been 12 Years a Slave versus Gravity, but will American Hustle muscle in and steal all the glory?

Will The Great Beauty add the best foreign film Oscar to its already impressive tally of awards? Or will The Broken Circle Breakdown, the UPP team’s second favourite film of 2013, beat it?

The Great Beauty is a truly magnificent film deserving multiple viewings, but I’m hoping for a win for The Broken Circle Breakdown—I missed it first time around and if it wins we get to screen it again!

Oscar night is one of the highlights of my year. I upgrade my cable package for the month so I can record the entire ceremony overnight, as well as the red carpet (with Ryan Seacrest on E! of course). Then on Monday morning I get up, put on my best earrings, and watch it in all its cheesy glory without knowing the results.

So don’t bother to phone or email me until after lunch . . . I’ll be cut off from the world, rooting for the wrong films in blissful ignorance of the results!