Oscar Evaluation: 2006

I have not forgotten that I have to complete my last essay, nor have I decided to ignore that duty. Time and circumstance have, however, considered to make it difficult for me to get down to the task... that and a morbid sense of procrastination coupled with guilt that makes it difficult to start up again.

I think I need a diversion. Fortunately, Oscar season offers me the perfect distraction, and I can even legitimize it by noting that I did capsule reviews of the best picture nominees last year and that I'd like to make it an annual tradition.

That said, this is a very remarkable year. Last year I complained about the presence of undeserving fluff (read: Neverland) whose presence was all the worse because legitimately deserving pictures such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind didn't get nominated. I have no such complaint this year. All of the nominees are deep and serious films. I am, in fact, surprised that there are absolutely no blockbuster nominees -- a situation that I have simply not seen since I've been tracking the nominees. The closet we have to a popular film, this year, is Brokeback Mountain which is a film that most people are aware of but which relatively few people have seen. There are certainly no feel-good movies, and nothing that strikes me as being either lightweight or pretentious.

I am, in fact, so impressed with the nominations that I'm going to be giving each their own individual post over the next several days. Expect the first review by no later than this Friday.

Scout's honor.