An Open Letter From The Oscar Buzz

Scene from Million Dollar Baby

Hey everyone. I'm taking this opportunity to give a quick update on my future with The Oscar Buzz. I know that I generally take a month off, but this year has been a little hectic between personal affairs, including college. You've probably also noticed that I haven't exactly been quiet either, choosing to release columns for A24 A-to-Z and Composing Greatness with some regularity. Well, I am proud to say that I am planning on coming back gradually as the summer approaches with regular coverage, reviews, and all things that are fun about film. I have a few changes as well in store, all of which I will get into after the jump.

For starters, I apologize again for the extended absence. In that time, there has likely been interesting news that has broken, or could've produced thought-provoking writing for me. Part of it is an extension of the Me Too movement, but there's also the general release of trailers and news of upcoming releases. I admit that it was tough to ignore the passing of Milos Forman - one of my personal favorite directors - so I made an exception in returning to the blog with a few pieces on him. Still, I think with awards season starting to become more diverse, with many nominees coming out sooner than later, I figured that it would be of some disservice to not at least try to prognosticate once again.

Before I do that, I figured that I would begin by announcing the general roll call of columns. A24 A-to-Z will continue to be released every 10 days, at least through the end of 2018 (unless otherwise specified). Composing Greatness is also approaching the end of the John Williams series in less than 10 weeks, and I am trying to determine the next step: do I do a shorter series, or go for another iconic director? As it stands, I'm thinking of either going with the most nominated woman (Rachel Portman), or other iconic composers, whether it be Hans Zimmer, James Horner, James Newton Howard, or other. If you have any input on who would be a fun subject please let me know. Due to my failing releases of Birthday Take, I will unfortunately be cancelling the column for the near future. Theory Thursday is set to return as regularly scheduled, and I hope to get it back in shape after a tough run last season.

I am also proud to announce that I will soon be launching a monthly column. It has been ruminating for some time, but I have never felt comfortable launching it in the various forms. It's not necessarily an Oscars-centric column necessarily, but I do think that it could help to expand the focus of this website. Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to launch The Best of Both Worlds, which is a column dedicated to exploring Broadway productions adapted from films. I hope to explore one title every month and understand what works about the translation. I want to note that it's not intended to be a comparison to the film itself, but an understanding of why this trend is so popular. As one can guess, I am planning on starting big with The Producers and working through other shows, like maybe: Waitress, Amelie, Anastasia, Sunset Blvd., The Lion King, and many others. I'll confess that I don't feel experienced enough to critique Broadway culture in general, but I think this will help me branch out and explore aspects in ways that could be interesting to readers. I will have a future post with more details, though expect the column to run the third Wednesday of each month.

The rest of the protocol is going to be similar. I plan to post reviews (including sharing my review of Isle of Dogs, which I have published on Optigrab), including You Were Never Really Here later this week. I also will be writing up pieces on new trailers and news, which has already been mentioned. I hope to continue to make The Oscar Buzz into something greater and more interesting as time goes on. While I unfortunately admit faults due to a busy personal schedule, I do intend to at least produce quality work when I can. I am not yet back to releasing new content every day, though I intend to make it more frequently, and possibly workshop new columns as time goes on. For now, look forward to what's ahead. Composing Greatness continues next Sunday with another John Williams score, and A24 A-to-Z is about to cover one of the studio's best movies, The Lobster. It'll be fun. 

I want to thank all of you for being patient and loyal during this time. I hope you continue to enjoy my work and that this website continues to be an exploration of entertainment through awards season and beyond. I'm happy to be back.