Every year when I do the Blitz, I try to think of new and fun ways to break down each category. Sometimes it's by doing some research and finding a few fun facts about the nominees themselves. Sometimes I dig into Oscars history for some juicy tidbits that might be relevant to the discussion. Sometimes … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2026 – Sound
I do my best each year to see as many movies as possible, with a particular igniting of the proverbial afterburners as we get closer to Oscar season. I know I'll never have full feature completion by the time nominations come out and the Blitz begins, but most of the time I come within a … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – So Much Blitzing, Part 1
Ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between, we are about to venture where have never gone before. For the first time since the advent of Animated Feature a quarter-century ago, we have a brand new category for the Academy Awards, and thus, for the Oscar Blitz. Welcome to the first ever breakdown of Best Casting! … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2026 – Casting (VIDEO)
Sometime around 2013, I wrote a short story as a form of creative expression in a time when I was feeling very empty inside. It was about a young man who meets a little girl in a Tokyo train station when she mistakes him for her older brother. I had written shorts before, even entered … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2026 – Adapted Screenplay
If you've followed the Blitz over the years, you know this is NOT my favorite category. I love music, and I love how music is used in film, whether it's a full-blown production number, a nice diegetic catalog track, or even occasionally a thematically appropriate coda during the credits. Also, as I've never been successfully … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2026 – Original Song
Over the last several months, I learned more about interior design than I ever cared to know. Working in door-to-door sales, focusing on windows and entry doors, my job required me to knock on over 100 properties a day in an assigned neighborhood, and attempt to set up appointments for the actual salesmen. While it … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2026 – Production Design
Hello, everybody! Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to the 2026 Oscar Blitz! We have five weeks chock full of analysis as we count down to the 98th Academy Awards, and it's a labor of love every year. However, I do have to open on something of a down note, and admit that … Continue reading Oscar Blitz 2026 – Best Director
In less than 48 hours, I'll begin the Oscar Blitz, and run a gauntlet for five weeks breaking down every category and nominee, as I've done every year that I've kept this blog up. As I write this, I still have 11 films from 2025 on my review backlog, not counting the nine I had … Continue reading DownStream – For Your Consolidation, Part 3: Narrative
A lot of foreign films that compete at the Oscars deal with heavy emotional or political themes, often in the context of world-changing events. Whether they're narrative films or documentaries, there's a ton of high-concept, game-changing ideas out there, which is why the Academy likes to curate them in the specialty feature categories (International, Animated, … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Doing the Work
Every year, no matter how many films I see, there will always be a few that slip through the cracks during their theatrical runs, and inevitably some of them will be nominated for Oscars, including in high-profile categories like Best Picture. I've never had feature completion before nominations come out, though I've gotten close a … Continue reading DownStream – The Pre-Blitz Catch-Up
I Actually Paid To See This 