As you are presumably aware, the 2013-14 awards season -- the longest and most competitive in the 13 years I've been covering this stuff -- came to an end Sunday night at the 86th Academy Awards in Hollywood. Because I've been spouting Oscar opinions, analysis and predictions on this blog ever since the Cannes Film Festival in May, I think that it's only right to now provide you with a full and candid postmortem of the results, my predictions and the show itself. And to share a few thank-yous.

This is the eighth of eight "brutally honest" Oscar ballots shared with THR by Academy members, one of which will post each day leading up to the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 2. (Also available for you to review: the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and the seventh.) Beware of spoilers. And remember, these voters' views are not necessarily endorsed by Scott Feinberg or THR.

PHOTOS: OSCARS 2014 Red-Carpet Arrivals

VOTER PROFILE: This Oscar voter is a member of the Academy's 377-member directors branch.

This is the seventh of eight "brutally honest" Oscar ballots shared with THR by Academy members, one of which will post each day leading up to the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 2. (Also available for you to review: the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth and the sixth.) Beware of spoilers. And remember: these voters' views are not necessarily endorsed by Scott Feinberg or THR.

PHOTOS: Oscars 2014 Red-Carpet Arrivals 

VOTER PROFILE: This Oscar voter is a longtime member of the Academy's 450-member executives branch.

This is the sixth of eight "brutally honest" Oscar ballots shared with THR by Academy members, two of which will post each day leading up to the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 2. (Also available for you to review: the first, the second, the third, the fourth and the fifth.) Beware of spoilers. And remember, these voters' views are not necessarily endorsed by Scott Feinberg or THR.

STORY: Todd McCarthy on Who Should Win at Oscars

VOTER PROFILE: This Oscar voter is a longtime member of the Academy's 450-member executives branch.

The 29th annual Independent Spirit Awards, which were voted upon and presented by Film Independent, were held this afternoon in a tent by the beach in Santa Monica as the rain poured down outside. Every year, the Spirit Awards -- which were hosted this year by Patton Oswalt, to lukewarm reviews in the room -- bring together the best and brightest of the indie film community on the day before the Academy Awards. The ceremony is always lots of fun -- what's better than day drinking? -- but it is decidedly not known for picking winners who go on to win again on Sunday.

PHOTOS: Independent Spirit Awards Blue-Carpet Arrivals

Indeed, over the past 28 years, only two winners of the Spirit Awards' top prize, best feature, have gone on to win the best picture Oscar: Platoon (1986) and The Artist (2011). Only 14 of the 108 performances that have been rewarded with Spirit Awards were subsequently recognized with Oscars. And only six Spirit Award-winning screenplays went on to win in either of the Academy's two screenplay categories. Moreover, in the 13 years in which there has been a Spirit Award for best documentary, only three of its winners went on to Oscar glory.

This year, however, could prove to be an historic exception to that rule, as virtually all of the frontrunners for the major-category Oscars took home prizes. (The Spirit Awards' and Academy Awards' four acting winners have never matched perfectly, but many oddsmakers, including this one, believe that will change this year.)

There are many wonderful things about writing for an outlet that has both a print edition and a website, as I do. One of them is not, however, having to lock in one's Oscar predictions before voting is even over in order to make the deadline for the print edition, as I have to do each year, since voter preferences -- and/or my read of them -- can change during the period between my deadline and theirs. (I know that writers at other outlets who hold the same position that I hold at THR feel the same way.)

STORY: Oscar Voter Reveals Brutally Honest Ballot 

This has never really caused a problem for me in the past because I always felt confident enough in my print edition picks to stand by them all the way to the big night. This year, though, that is not the case, at least as pertains to one category. So, in a year in which the Academy rescinded an Oscar nomination, I am going to rescind an Oscar projection, with apologies to anyone who may have already plagiarized my picks for their own Oscar pool entry. (Sorry to go all Election 2000 on you, guys.)

This is the fourth of five "brutally honest" Oscar ballots shared with THR by Academy members, one of which will post each day leading up to the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 2. (Also available for you to review: the first, the second and the third.) Needless to say, these voters' views are not necessarily endorsed by Scott Feinberg or THR.

VOTER PROFILE: This Oscar voter is a longtime member of the Academy's 377-member public relations branch.

This is the third of five "brutally honest" Oscar ballots shared with THR by Academy members, one of which will post each day leading up to the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 2. (Also available for you to review: the first and the second.) Needless to say, these voters' views are not necessarily endorsed by Scott Feinberg or THR.

VOTER PROFILE: This Oscar voter is a longtime member of the Academy's 450-member executives branch.

This is the second of five "brutally honest" Oscar ballots shared with THR by Academy members, one of which will post each day leading up to the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 2. (Also available for you to review: the first.) Needless to say, these voters' views are not necessarily endorsed by Scott Feinberg or THR.

VOTER PROFILE: This Oscar voter is a longtime member of the Academy's 418-member sound branch.

The 86th Academy Awards ceremony will take place in Hollywood on Sunday night, and it will be a -- if not the -- high point in the lives of many of the acting nominees, just as Oscar night has been for the last 85 years.

Many of these 20 individuals will go on to even greater fame and fortune, but, inevitably, some will go on to experience hardships, disappointments and perhaps even a return to anonymity that will make them pine for that one night on which they stood firmly in the spotlight, with a sense of love and appreciation from their colleagues and indeed much of the world.

Sadly, for one reason or another, nine people who received acting Oscar nominations in years past, but then fell upon hard times, took an irreversible course of action to deal with their problems: they deliberately ended their own lives. In an effort to ensure that they are not forgotten -- and at the risk of being a little bit of a downer -- here is a recap of each of their stories, high points and low.