A few weeks ago, I began my crash course through this year's Documentary Feature shortlist. I make it my mission every year to see all 15 semifinalists, preferably before Oscar nominations are announced. For the past few years, I've succeeded more times than not, and that includes the class of 2024. This is far from … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The True Killers
It's been just over a week since the Oscar nominations were announced, and the annual Blitz is already in progress. The timeline is extremely tight this year, with only five and a half weeks between the nominee release and the ceremony itself, which as I've previously mentioned is the shortest window since the pandemic. Normally … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – A Compressed Blitz
The Oscar Blitz begins proper in 24 hours, people. The annual marathon labor of love is just a day away! I'm so excited I can't sleep! I'm also running myself ragged and begging for sleep! The things we do for our art. HAH! Like what I do is art. Anyway, adjacent to the Blitz coverage … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Jet-Setting, Part Two
The countdown to the 97th Academy Awards is officially underway, and in 48 hours, I'll begin the Oscar Blitz in earnest with the first category breakdown. However, there's still one major block of movies that I haven't really discussed yet, the shortlist for International Feature. Of the 15 films, I've already seen 14, and the … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Jet-Setting, Part One
With just a few days to go until Oscar nominations come out, the great clearing of the backlog continues. I've watched a LOT of movies over the last month, trying to be as thorough in the leadup to the annual Blitz as possible, which sadly necessitated putting reviews on the shelf in order to, you … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Back and Forth
As I'm writing this post, at approximately 8:30pm PST, I have completed one of my annual stretch goals for the Oscar Blitz. The Documentary Feature shortlist has officially been cleared. Earlier this evening, I took in the last of the 15 semifinalists, No Other Land. It was the hardest to seek out, because it did … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The True Artists
Well, folks. I have good news and bad news. The bad news, as was announced today, is that the Oscar Blitz will be somewhat delayed this year. The Academy decided today to postpone the reveal of the nominees, which was supposed to take place this coming Friday, as well as cancelling the annual Nominees' Luncheon, … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The End of the Festivities
I make no secret that I am not a fan of what I refer to as "Best Actor/Actress Showcase" films, movies that only exist to spotlight a particular performer, usually one who has been celebrated but never given any hardware during their career, and use it as a vehicle to get an Oscar nomination or … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Please Give Me an Oscar I Don’t Deserve
We're less than two weeks from Oscar nominations, and I'm doing my level best to clear out as many possible contenders as I can. I'm more than halfway through the Documentary Feature shortlist, and I only have one more International Feature semifinalist that I can watch before the nods are announced (Norway's Armand is gambling … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Animation Circulation
Last week, Oscar completists like myself got the first major announcement about the films vying for next year's prizes, a triad press release from the Academy listing the submissions deemed eligible for Documentary Feature, International Feature, and Animated Feature. As I do every year, I make it my goal to track down and view all … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Animation Destination
I Actually Paid To See This 