An Open Letter From The Oscar Buzz

Scene from In the Heat of the Night

With the start of a new month, it only feels right to share a personal update about what's going to be happening at The Oscar Buzz. Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. However, you may have been noticing in recent weeks that the output has been... slow. While this is in part because of Oscar season not really heating up until October, it is also because I have personal obligations that has made upholding this blog a little more difficult. While I intend to continue to provide regular coverage of the important events, I feel the need to share an open letter explaining where I am at the start of this awards season.

If you're a long term reader, you'll have noticed that I forgot to do my annual Oscar predictions at the start of last month. In all honesty, I wanted to do it, but found myself preoccupied. I have returned to school this semester after a two year hiatus, and studying has consumed a portion of my free time. This happened to include the research and drafting that would've gone into my predictions. As it stands, it's still early enough where nothing is set in stone, but I still think that having the various film festivals kick off dampens the clueless decisions (again, I apologize for not covering them). I am sure that I have missed other key points.

My goal is to provide cohesive coverage that includes detailed accounts of Oscar history and future, as well as personal commentary where possible. I admit that my financial and professional standpoint doesn't allow me access to every new release (another long term hurdle), but I do my best to eventually cover every important Oscar movie. I admit that I made a few promises in the past (specifically in reviewing movies) that I failed to keep up. Even then, I wish to be honest with my readers and feel that I have largely produced work that meets my goal. I wish that I could be more dedicated, but life has a funny way of distracting you - as it did this past week when I forgot to publish a Theory Thursday. I intend to keep up the regular schedule and apologize for this one anomaly (especially since Tim Burton's filmography has plenty of Theory Thursday-worthy topics). 

The one bright side is that I should be able to focus better towards the end of the month. Over the past summer, I have been working on my first nonfiction essay that I intend to self-publish on sites like Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble.com for a reasonable price. It is called "From Pee-wee to Peregrine: Why Tim Burton Still Matters." As you can guess, it's a comprehensive analysis of Tim Burton's career. I expect to have it out in 2-3 weeks (depending on editing) and I am nervous as to whether it will actually get a reception. It has been time consuming both in writing and researching. If this takes off, I may take suggestions for other comprehensive essays to write on film. I shall be providing a sample when it is released.

So, what does that mean for The Oscar Buzz? To be honest, not that much. I still will cover the major events, as well as trailer and movie releases. Best Song will continue to ride out its last few weeks before receiving a few weeks of wrap-up (the replacement column will be announced at a later date). The Nothing But the Best column for Spotlight will also be coming this Fall; and Super Delegates and the Bonus spin-off will be released weekly (still need to hit big titles like All the King's Men, All the President's Men, Lincoln and Nixon) leading up to its finale for the American election, held on November 8. There is no expected replacements as of this publication.

With that said, I hope you're excited for another season of Failed Oscar Campaigns. It kicked off two weeks ago with Carol, which ended up being very successful. My planned entry for today is The Hateful Eight, which should be up in a few hours (2015 had quite the line-up for Failed Oscar Campaigns). Other than that, Best Song will run tomorrow as regularly scheduled. I do hope to fit some Super Delegate Bonuses in there (specifically on this year's excellent Weiner), but they will not be relegated to a specific time frame.

I want to thank all of my readers again for being supportive. I know that I haven't been as frequent on here as I have in past years. I wanted to simply share that it wasn't from lack of caring, but more that life got in the way. I hope that school doesn't interfere too much. Just know that if an article's late, it's because of this. I look forward to whatever lies ahead during this Oscar season. I'm looking forward to La La Land, Jackie, Fences, and the simple idea that this awards season will pick up a humdrum movie year in general. Fingers crossed. Thank you, and I'll be talking at everyone very soon.