An Open Letter from The Oscar Buzz

Scene from Terms of Endearment

Hello everyone. I wish to apologize for my extended absence. I usually post an open letter detailing why I'm going away, but plum forgot to do so this time. As long time readers know, I like to take a break after each Oscar season. This involves stopping the blog for about a month (in this case, a little over one) to focus on other endeavors. While it will be awhile until The Oscar Buzz is back up in top form for Oscar Season 2017, I hope to have a fun way to pass the time until the big hits start rolling in and we're forced to prognosticate what the big players will be. For now, I'll run down what to expect for the next few months as well as my intentions on ways to improve the blog.

As most of you recognize, this past Oscar Season wasn't my most prolific. I apologize for all of my delays and insufficient work. This was in part because I have returned to college and have been taking it seriously, which takes away free time from the urgent matters of writing about every movie trailer, breaking news piece, and small events that make up this wonderful tapestry. There are plenty who do it better, but I found that the balance between school and movies was a little much. I worry that this will continue to be an issue going forward, but I will be open and honest if any major change happens.

There is no way for me to properly cover any significant Oscar-related news story from the past few weeks. However, my motivation to return this weekend was in part because of crucial news regarding upcoming Oscar dates as well as a change to the Best Documentary category. Those will be reported on in subsequent entries. I do hope to have pieces on every small change that happens, and will hopefully be chronicling the trailers that look promising. I'm personally rooting for Dunkirk to be a major player in this awards season (it's been seven years since Inception got Christopher Nolan in the Best Picture race, and that's bothersome). Beyond that, it's going to be a whole lot of wait and see. Since Moonlight won Best Picture (deservedly so), it feels like 2017 is going to be one of the most gratifying and exciting years yet.

To start with, I will share a list of what recurring columns will be returning starting next week. While it has been infrequent and underused, I do intend to get back to doing Birthday Take columns when appropriate. I also intend to do Theory Thursday on a weekly basis, which should be easier now that new movies are providing interesting conversation points. I will also be returning to my off-season column The Runner-Ups, which I may bump back to every other week for the sake of posterity. Beyond that, there will be plenty of news, reviews, and looks at any valuable information that comes this way. While I apologize that the immediate updates will not be daily, I do hope to keep this blog afloat with regular coverage that is up a few times a week at minimum. If you're seriously looking for more of my work, please visit Optigrab for a broader look at pop culture.

While I do intend to find new and exciting columns to fill up free time, there is only one that I am proud to immediately announce. Starting in May, I will be doing a Best Song-style dissection of John Williams' entire nomination history. It's a list almost as long as the Best Original Song category. I will have details available very soon about the column (name TBD) and am looking forward to hearing all of the works of one of the greatest living composers. Beyond this, I do not have any major columns to announce. If I do come up with one, I will write up a post on it then.

Again, I apologize for going on hiatus without warning. Time constraints have really faltered my communication with you. I hope that this will not be so much of an issue in the months going forward. I also hope that this will be an exciting chance to explore Oscar History while giving you a better sense of who I am as a movie fan. There's a lot to look forward to, so let's make the most of it. Here's to another great Oscar Season, and to movies in general. May they continue to be great and entertaining.