Couldn’t care less about the Oscars.
I don't care about the Oscars (or other awards) either, in and of themselves. They are primarily a form of advertising. But I do pay attention to the nominations list simply as a screening device.
I started logging my films a couple of years ago. (Letterboxd is good for this.) Over that time, I've averaged just over one movie a week. Since I watch virtually no tv (aside from occasional sporting events), that's pretty much all of my viewing. I think I've only watched two series (both short) through to completion in that time period; I've started a few more, but I rarely last more than a couple or three episodes.
The problem is, more movies are being produced than ever before in order to serve the streamers' 24/7/365 demand for new content. Most of them are mediocre. Some are actively bad. A few are quite good. The question is how to find the good ones. This gets even trickier because, as Hollywood continues to self-destruct, more and more of the good films are coming from abroad. (Korean films especially have quite a following on FR.) And since the big legacy studios have been rolled by the activists and live in fear of the DEI commissars, I find that more and more of the good films that I really like are small indie films. Many of them are surprisingly cheap, and the DEI committees can't touch a writer/director team of one.
I read reviews. I scan the selection lists for major festivals. I pay a bit of attention to the nominations for major awards. They are not important in and of themselves, but at least they are lists prepared by people who watch far more films than I ever will. That's a place to start. I'll scan the list and, if a film catches my eye, I'll read a couple of reviews and watch the trailer.
Once this becomes a habit, it doesn't take long. It's just a matter of building a bit of situational awareness, and I find that with just a bit of due diligence, I rarely sit down to watch a film that I don't enjoy. (If I'm watching at home, I'm quick to turn off the occasional dud.)
So: how do YOU pick a movie or show to watch? I'd rather be an active consumer than default to the streamers' algorithms . How do you do it?