What to expect:

What turns a great movie or performance into an Oscar-winning movie or performance? The answer, to paraphrase the words of a wise man: It’s complicated. You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you’s.

The Gold Standard newsletter aims to steer you through the what-have-you’s of the awards season, highlighting the smiles, the frowns, the ups, the downs on the road to the Academy Awards in February. Don’t worry if you’re not an Oscars fanatic. You only have to care about movies to subscribe. The content highlighted here, written by myself and my colleagues at the Los Angeles Times, will focus on the awards races, yes, but we’ll also give you some behind-the-scenes insight into the great work that’s in the conversation.

So please sign up for the newsletter, which comes out every week during awards season, and join me on this journey to the Dolby Theatre in February. Who knows? You might even win your Oscar pool.