An Open Letter From The Oscar Buzz

Scene from Tom Jones

Hello everyone. As I feel the need to do every now and then, I am here to share a quick update of everything that's going on over at The Oscar Buzz. I do apologize if it does seem like I am not producing as much work as I normally do, as I am currently juggling this blog (as well as Optigrab) with school. However, I have noticed that we have entered September, and it's time to get serious about all things Oscar. It has been a fun summer with plenty of great movies. But what is going to stick around and make a difference? The following is a quick rundown of ideas that I hope to get around to as this Oscar season rolls on and things become much clearer. 

As is always the case, one of my biggest concerns is keeping up to date on every potential Oscar nominee. I admit that the 2016 season wasn't my best year, in large part because I was also busy with school. While I don't think that I will be producing as many additional essays, I do think that I will be staying true to covering the news that matters, as well as reviews for each and every film that could wind up in the conversation. As it stands, I am wanting to get a piece up by next week about random summer movies that have legitimate Oscar campaigns going. I don't see War for the Planet of the Apes or Wonder Woman standing much of a chance, but you never know.

I am also proud to announce that this Saturday marks the return of Failed Oscar Campaigns. It is probably my favorite column that I continue to do on the site. It will run every other week as normal (unless I specify otherwise), and I hope to have a great list of movies to choose from. What I can say is that the inaugural entry will be the hotly contented La La Land, which has unfortunately fallen into notoriety in the months since that infamous Moonlight upset. With that said, Moonlight's Nothing But the Best will be coming in November, as per usual (I do the entries roughly around their original release date). I also hope to keep Birthday Take as a thing, though it has been admittedly difficult given all that I have said before.

I also intend to do something that I forgot to do last year. I hope, by the end of this week, to have my official pre-season Oscar predictions in the major categories. The fun part is that nobody knows what the big movies will be, as I'm sure nobody in August 2016 knew that Moonlight stood half a chance. It's a point where we can guess what's to come and then laugh at ourselves later. I don't know what I'll pick yet, but it's definitely too interesting of a year so far not to put some big votes in early. 

As usual, I intend to keep releasing entries on A24 A-to-Z. My one hesitancy is that I may be a day or two late on certain entries, given my busy schedule. I am also entering the period where I haven't seen a handful of the selections. That may take up some time as well. Unless I say otherwise, the schedule will remain at 10 day intervals, though I may boost it up to two weeks if things get too bad. Likewise, you can expect Composing Greatness to continue through the works of John Williams (I just did Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi). There's a lot to keep you entertained, and I hope to keep it that way. I don't know what I'll do for Mother! next week, but I have plenty of thoughts on Daren Aronofsky and Jennifer Lawrence to come up with *something*. Also, this week's Theory Thursday is a bit o a cheat, as I will be dedicating it to the original TV miniseries of IT in honor of the new movie (which I hope to have a review of on Optigrab by the end of next week). 

So while there's no radical changes yet, I figured that it would be right to give an update of what's to come in the months ahead. As some of you know, September 14 is the fifth anniversary of The Oscar Buzz, so I'm busy planning something for that day. However, there's nothing at the moment to really share. For now, just enjoy the content that I have up, and feel free to comment on whatever you like, share opinions and ways to improve the site. I apologize if I'm late on details, but this is a one man operation and is sometimes hard to dedicate enough time to making this as strong as it once was. Still, I love to think it produces solid work. I hope that you have been enjoying it and I hope that this only continues to be true during one of the most exciting Oscar seasons in recent years.