It’s here, movie fans. The Oscar nominations have been released, and the rush to see all the Best Picture nominees has officially begun.
Of course, this year’s award season has brought with it conversations that go well beyond the films themselves, and it will be interesting (to say the least) to see what else this award season brings. But for now, I say congratulations to the nominees.
To the forgotten many, aka the long list of extraordinary movies not included in this small sample of an enormous universe of storytelling, remember it’s an honor to be considered an Oscar snub too (seriously).To the Academy, for the first time in several years, I’m going to ignore the number of Best Picture nominees because it’s of little consequence when considering the bigger picture. I know you see what’s going on in the world right now. I know that it’s easy to say that they’re just movies, what does it matter? It does matter. It matters what stories we tell. It matters whose stories we tell. It matters who we allow to tell them. It matters which ones you recognize.
Finally, to the movie lovers, who in some ways, matter most of all. This is the exciting time of the year we all get to step out of our cinematic comfort zones to see the films and experience the stories we may have otherwise ignored. It’s quite the opportunity.
Hopefully, your regular viewing habits got you a bit of a headstart, but if you’re behind, remember you still have 5 (and some change) weeks to fix that. And though I relish the challenge, there’s no shame in waiting to do your viewing until after the winners have been announced. You’ll get no judgment from me.
Here’s to a month of movies, may we learn from the stories they tell. Happy viewing!
…bi-daily smile…
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