Every year I make it a personal mission to not just see all of the eventual Oscar nominees in each category, but wherever possible, to clear the entire shortlist of semifinalists. This began several years ago with my first attempt to view all 15 films vying for Documentary Feature, and the goal has remained ever … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Witness to Truth, Part One
Over 150 films were deemed eligible by the Academy to compete for the Oscar for Documentary Feature. Last week, more than 90% of the field was eliminated, whittling the contest down to 15 semifinalists. I had already seen a few of the candidates, and since the announcement, I've ticked a few more off in my … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The Doc is Out
We come to it at long last. Tomorrow the Academy will announce the shortlists in multiple categories, including International Feature. I've done my best to be as comprehensive as possible in watching and analyzing everything I could find, but I didn't accomplish all I wanted to. There were several private screenings that I got invites … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The Gamblers
I've spent a lot of space on this blog over the last year complaining about movies that are just too long. This is mostly because the guilty filmmakers don't use the extra time properly. I don't hate long movies in general. I believe a creator should take all the time that is necessary to tell … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The Long Shots
The steamroll through my backlog of International Feature submissions continues tonight, as there remain about a dozen or so films to analyze, and only five more days until the Academy officially releases the shortlist. I know it feels like I'm just loading up here before the deadline, but I had good reason. Unlike most years, … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Bless the Rains
As of this writing, we are one week from the Academy releasing its shortlists for next year's Oscars. Among the most anticipated categories getting the semifinal news is International Feature, where 88 films were deemed eligible to vie for the prize (of 92 total submissions; apologies to Cuba, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan). By the … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – International Co-operation
One of the more underrated aspects of the International Feature competition is seeing how the rest of the world treats various sectors of their respective populations. Issues like sexual diversity, gender roles, religion, and class hierarchy are given a treatment that is intriguing for those of us watching in America, but in their home countries … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – A Woman’s World
We're less than 72 hours away from this year's Academy Awards, and as happens every year, I didn't get to see everything before nominations were revealed. I did better than I've ever done before, coming up just five shy of pre-announcement totality, and in three of the five cases, the films weren't readily available, with … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The Blitz Campaign
We're officially one week from the 95th Academy Awards, and in these final days, the task falls upon me to begin officially closing the book on 2022 cinema. I was able to clear the vast majority of the Oscar nominees before they were even announced, and in my pursuit of hopefuls and also-rans after the … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Animation Nomination, Part 4
It's weird how things line up every now and then when it comes to cinema. In the late 90s, we had two movies come out within months of each other about meteor strikes (Deep Impact and Armageddon), volcanic eruptions (Volcano and Dante's Peak), ants (Antz and A Bug's Life), and men whose lives were broadcast … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Bear-ly Passable
I Actually Paid To See This 