And so we come to the end of the 2010-2011 Oscar season. Like Jerry said, what a long, strange trip it’s been.
Naturally, I want to thank all of the readers who make this an engaging and fun place to come to every day. I’ve received a lot of generous notes, Tweets and comments in recent weeks regarding the overall culture of the site this season, but I really do attribute much of that to the audience.
You’re only as good as your readership in this game, I think, but you do get what you put out there. For our part, we strive to put out a level evaluation of a silly process while infusing it with enough of our own passions and personal considerations to hopefully steer it clear of analytical boredom, all the while refraining from taking any of it too seriously. It’s the only way I know how to do it, frankly. And that’s what we got back from you, as well. So thank you for that.
It was a tough season down the stretch, suffocating rhetoric and snarky negativity leading to an oppressive atmosphere in some quarters. And that is not a shot at any particular entity, but more toward an overall vibe that was established on a number of fronts.
I couldn’t live in that kind of a funk every day. But then again, most of my favorite films in the 10 years I’ve been doing this — “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” “A Serious Man,” “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “The Fountain,” “Inland Empire,” “Last Days,” “Dogville,” “Finding Nemo,” “Punch Drunk Love” — have been anything BUT serious contenders for Best Picture. So I admit I’m predisposed to taking it all with a grain of salt. Still, I’d like to think we’ve been respectful of other perspectives.
The media had a prize pony this year, one that looked like it could go the distance. Not only that, it was a pony that was representative of the media. It was, really and truly, “their film.” But to paraphrase Guy from a recent column, it’s a shame that these delicate things called films have to become the property of ideological parties during an Oscar season, rather than of individual imaginations.
Which is a nice segue to my most important note of closure. The site wouldn’t have been what it was this season without the committed work of Gerard Kennedy, Chad Hartigan and, truly my right hand, Guy Lodge. For years this thing was merely a personal thought process vomited out on HTML. There is no doubt in my mind that this has been a better outlet since the addition of peripheral, dynamic voices, and to see those voices become stronger and help shape the identity of the site over the years has been quite special. I’m biased, but I think we hit a new high mark this year.
These things start to sound like Oscar acceptance speeches, but I want to thank my colleagues, especially Anne Thompson, who always makes a nice counter to my positions. Oscar Talk is doing well two years in and more and more, I’m glad she talked me into doing it.
My fellow Oscar writers are becoming legion at this stage. Once upon a time it was just a few names. Dave Karger, Tom O’Neil, Sasha Stone, David Poland, Pete Hammond, Steve Pond, Jeff Wells, Greg Ellwood, Scott Feinberg, Anthony Breznican, Susan Wloszcyna, Tim Appelo, Rebecca Keegan, Nicole Sperling, Stu VanAirsdale, Melena Ryzik, Ryan Adams, John Lopez — so many names have joined the circus, and I hope I don’t offend by omission. But I appreciate all you do, however you choose to do it. To say nothing of the countless film journo friends and acquaintances who aren’t a part of the awards madness and who assuredly can’t stand to hear another word about it. Thanks for being an oasis.
And with that, I step away. I usually try to get back around to updating after a quick post-Oscars break, but I have a number of projects I’d like to busy myself with and tracking films in release during the spring is nowhere near my list of priorities. Guy will have a few lingering notes over the next few days, however, so the lights won’t go out just yet.
Additionally, I have not done the usual duty of digging into the 2011-2012 awards season because I could never find the head space to go there. So there will be no year-in-advance coverage of any sort. No predictions, no contenders. I don’t even know what is worth keeping an eye on yet. But I’m sure you can busy yourselves with that without my help.
And finally, after this afternoon’s season-ending installment, it looks like Oscar Talk is also going on hiatus. Last year we offered up a few off-season discussions, but at least as of right now, I’m not feeling it. Maybe we’ll do something out of Cannes with Anne and Guy, which would make some sense, given that that’s around the time I expect to come out of hibernation. But we’ll see. The week of August 22 is more likely the starting gun of serious coverage on my end of things.
Hopefully that’s not too disappointing, but hopefully, too, you understand.
Thank you again for getting me through the season. I hope we did the same for you and maybe added to your enjoyment of the circuit in some small way. Thanks for challenging our opinions and perspectives and, in general, keeping us on our toes. It’s a group effort, and we have a hell of a group here each and every day debating and conversing. And I know you’ll be here when I resurface, which is the most heartening thing of all.
Here’s to what’s next.
[Photo: Producers Distribution Agency]
Comments
57 responses to “Gone fishin’”
I just wanted to thank you for your site. I really appreciate it. An Oscar to you. Thanks for all your hard work and giving us a chance to vent.
The site has been a regular stop every day for the last few months, so it’s going to feel odd not visiting.
Here’s LA Times’ in-random-order guesses for BP:
Contagion: Soderbergh, Damon, Winslet, Paltrow, Cotillard, Hawkes
Extremely Loud: Daldry, Bullock, Hanks, Eric Roth, Safran Foer
Descendants: Payne, Clooney
Tree of Life: Malick, Penn, Pitt
Iron Lady: Streep, Broadbent
Dragon Tattoo: Fincher, Larsson
The Help: Stockett, Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard
War Horse: Spielberg, Richard Curtis
Young Adult: Reitman, Theron
One Day: Scherfig, Hathaway
In all honesty, if it weren’t for Dave Karger’s handsome mug, this would probably be the only site I go to for my daily– (Who am I kidding? Hourly, at least.) Oscar fix.
Thanks so much for an awesome site. It’s so fun reading Oscar commentary from guys who just plain LOVE movies and true cinema. I love that it’s about so much more than who ends up with little gold men… It’s also about discussion of quality film-making.
P.S. Any post that reminds me how much you, too, are pro-Dogville… is a good one. :)
Thanks, In Contention!
I’ve mentioned before, this site is like my second home. Every discussion, every article, etc, etc, etc … I’m just so thrilled to have found this place to talk movies, talk with others, learn, listen, and give opinions. It’s a very, very fair site. And I love it. Thanks Kris, team, and everyone else.
Thanks for another great season, Kris, et al. I hope you deserve your well-earned time off, but I really am going to miss you.
Perhaps if you’re bored during the off season and want something to post, I’d love to see a sort of “Film School” column. This site has really helped me understand the technical side of filmmaking, and I’d love to learn more.
Thank you so much for the wonderful year.
It was the first year I’ve followed the season on this blog and it was a daily rendez-vous!
Enjoy the spring and I’m looking forward to follow you the next season!
Thank you for all your passionate hard work Kris and keeping an aura of perspective and wisdom right in the heart of the bitter battles. And above all, for making me win my Oscar Pool every year by calling the Foreign Language Film and letting Guy pick all the shorts (Logorama? Lost Thing? How does he figure it out?). Now, that post makes me want to rediscover the Joe Pesci/Danny Glover comedic classic of the same name.
How you are so endlessly eloquent I’ll never understand.
Thanks again for another year, Kris! Good luck with your off-season projects, we all hope they turn out well!
Until Cannes!
Call me crazy but I really enjoy reading InContention during the Oscar “off-season”.
Oh, and thank you again Kris for plugging my blog for the Inception Soundtrack. It was the highest read post of the year for me. Much appreciated.
Thanks a lot for the site! Totally understand you needing a break – after this intense season I can’t imagine I’ll be back intonir before October. At that point though, look forward to coming back!!
Thanks for all the hard work Kris. Looking forward to the new film season and hearing what you and everyone else has to say!
Joining in the chorus of thanks, Kris! Have fun fishin’.
Many thanks to you, Kris and company, for the excellent site.
Congrats and thanks to the IC crew for all the hard work, have a great time in your time off, and until next time! ☺
JJ1, leading female and animated look competitive too. Cars 2 and Happy feet rematch, unless something comes. I wonder what kind of players will emerge below the line.
DarkLayers, I believe “j” made those 2011 predictions, not me (JJ1). Haha.
But yeah, I agree with you that female & animated are looking good at this point. I seem to be one of few who loved ‘Cars’. So, I’m cautiously optimistic. :)
I am so sorry, i was using incontention on my phone, and didn’t notice as I was moving across screen. I, too, like Cars and as Anne said will follow Pixar many places. I recall that you asked about how substantial the soft lob down the middle factor was. Will be interesting to see if any movie has that…
I for one welcome our new film blog overlord.
All hail Guy Lodge!!
Your site is always the classiest when it comes to coverage. There is never a conspiracy theory presented, or lame attacks if you’re disappointed with an outcome during the season. Not just that, you guys have top notch analysis, and occasional great humor.
I love Incontention, and the sad thing of the end of oscar season is not the site going into semi-hibernation.
Kris: I can’t thank you enough for doing this job as well as you do and with as much passion, while making it look so comfortable and easy, that’s truly a feat and something to be proud of.
I also praise you, as a younger person myself (though much younger than you) for what you’ve been able to accomplish at your age with this site, as places for intelligent film discussion with equally intelligent and passionate people are hard to come by in this mish-mash of loud noise that is the blogosphere.
I don’t know what a film geek like me would do with out this website, so once again, thanks to you, Guy, Anne, Chad, Gerard and everybody else, frequent visitors or first timers, who make this site special.
The site has been my browser homepage for the entire season.
thanks for your exceptional work
and have fun on your time off.
Kris, I’ve been reading you since 2001 (Oscar Central was a huge part of my high school geekdom; of course, I mean that complimentary) and there’s always a bit of sadness at the end of a season, but here’s to hoping for this upcoming year. Thanks sincerely for everything and enjoy your break.
This is the best movie site on the Internet. I can’t wait for Cannes. Thanks for another fantastic year.
I’ve already offered my thanks for all the goodies on In Contention, but here’s one final note:
Those screenplays I won for your limerick contest some weeks back were handed out as prizes last night for my Oscar pool. (I won the pool, with 18 right, so I kept the Inception script for myself.) But three guests walked away with Black Swan, 127 Hours and Toy Story 3. Paying it forward…
Enjoy the time off.
Okay, let me first say that Incontention is by far my favorite Oscar coverage site and well done to another great season but I gotta get this out of my system.
I know that you are just being honest about how you’re feeling but this constant complaining about the difficulties of the season and the need for you to escape it turns me off somewhat.
Many of your readership are die hard oscar/film fans who use sites like this to escape their work and daily lives and to us you are living some kind of dream; you earn a living by watching and discussing films and on top of that you get the added perks of free screeners, meeting your heroes and attending swanky parties, etc. I understand there is much more to the job than what we observe but this attitude that you give off at times makes it seem as though you look
down on those of us who would like to keep the discussion going and who aren’t sick of it. I don’t know, I’m not saying you should just shut up, just letting you know how you can sometimes come across to me at least.
You are your own boss! Do what other bloggers do and cover different things in the off-season, your readership would so clearly love you to.
Easy to say, Michael. Easy to say.
And I don’t look down on anyone. I should think a final piece describing how thankful I am of my readership would make as much crystal clear, but apparently not.
Kris, you’ve been something of a mentor to me, or at least an inspiration, over the last couple of years as I’ve ventured into the world of film journalism myself, and I truly appreciate the discussions we’ve had over the time. Your mellow vibe about all this business is something I really admire, and your hard work, along with the hard work of Guy, Gerard, and Chad has made this fantastic website what it is. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate this website and your coverage of something that I too find enjoyable, yet try to maintain a sense of removal from. I think that’s absolutely the right attitude to take. As with last year, I’ll surely miss the daily coverage of film, first and foremost, as well as the always wonderful podcast. Keep up the hard work, but don’t work yourself too hard. You earned a vacation. Definitely looking forward to engaging you in further discourse down the road as I continue to work on my own career as a fellow journalist. Hopefully one day I’ll be doing coverage on the level of this website. Until then, you know where to find me on twitter :)
Have a great vacation and come back in one piece!
P.S. our discussions of video games on twitter has to be one of my favorite things. Get back on that! :D
Michael,
I’m pretty sure everyone takes vacations. Even people who really like their jobs. ;)
Thank you SO SO MUCH Kris and everyone at InContention. It’s become a daily routine following this site and AwardsDaily over the past few years and I never get tired of your columns.
I just graduated from my university and I’m about to enter the industry, and hopefully.. just hopefully I get to meet you guys in the future. It’s tough being a movie lover here in the Philippines, there aren’t many outlets and opportunities for people like me, and if there are, there’s a tough stigma you have to climb out of.
Again, thank you guys so much! I totally get why you’re going on hiatus, the season just sucks the life out of you. I’ve been trying to maintain a film blog myself (from a Filipino perspective) but I’ve often found myself taking long, unintended breaks. Have fun during your half-year vacation! Hope you get your projects done, and hopefully your absence won’t take too long.
I’m already looking forward to next year.
Take care!
Great Job as always. I look forward to your future posts.
Regards to all!
A thanks to you too. The site has been a regular daily stop for me throughout the year, and even though this hiatus post Oscar are very necessary, still feels awkward not to visit. I’m a bit sad that your not doing the whole year in advance column before your hibernate, i’ve grown into enjoying that column a lot and i was very much looking forward to it. But i’m sure you have your reasons and the wait might make it more interesting. Once again thanks for the site and time you put into it, and as a fellow Londoner i thank Guy as well for doing the other side of the Atlantic perspective. A big cheers to ya all. Hope to hear from You soon.
Regards
Thanks for all the great work. I have been visiting In Contention since the blogspot days and love coming here.
Enjoy the well deserved break. It won’t be long until Cannes and I hope for some great coverage of that.
Thanks for all the great reads over the past few months. I stumbled upon Oscar Talk after TIFF and then found my way onto the site and I haven’t looked back since. This is the first year I’ve followed the awards race this closely, and it’s all due to the fantastic insight I’ve gotten from your site, especially in the crafts categories, which I knew next to nothing about. It was tough for me to keep a healthy distance this year, as I haven’t loved a film as much as I did The Social Network in a long time, but your and Guy’s pieces on the films ultimately belonging to the fans, regardless of the way the Oscar tide was turning, went a long way in putting things in perspective. Thanks for all the great work, and I look forward to Cannes coverage in May!
Another great year, I do love this site, it is my most-viewed movie (and Oscar) related site. I will it in the downtime, hopefully there will be some new stuff to read when Cannes gets closer and Tree of Life comes out!. Thanks for the great work all.
Thank you, Kris, for these words and for your work. And of course thanks to Guy as well.
2010 was my first year of awards coverage that I spent here on a regular basis. I checked in several times a week and loved it, obviously. I loved the festival reports, the reviews in general and I love lists. Chads “Life without Oscar” stuff (many thanks for that) was great. Let’s hope you come up with similar stuff this year, too.
But for now, have fun taking some time off! Cheers.
Oh no, Kris didn’t thank his wife! (a joke, of course)
Enjoy your time off, Mister Tapley and Lodge. And I would’ve said the same for Mister Franco, but he apparently went on vacation on Sunday evening at 5:29PT.
Thanks again Kris and staff. Have a nice, well-deserved rest. And let’s hope the Dolphins draft a quarterback.
Cheers, thanks a lot Kris et al.
Your site rocks especially the weekly Oscartalk podcast with Anne and co.
Enjoy your hiatus/rest and until the next season…stay out of trouble.
Thanks Kris; I may not always (ok I usually never) agree with your opinions but you never let your opinions completely take over your site or Oscar Talk. You maintain a great site for Oscar watching. I along with many others will be here when you get back. Enjoy the time off as I will too as I have become a bit Oscar-saturated.
This is THEE best Oscar prognostication site out. Kris and Guy, you guys have brought me much joy with your columns. Here’s to a great season passed, and the best in the coming season, I know I’ll be here faithfully.
Whenever I fired up my computer in the morning, I always make sure to bring up In Contention first thing.
You and Guy have written some terrific and fun-to-read analyses about the Oscar season, as well as the world of film in general. I’m somewhat dreading the next Oscar season, but I look forward to what In Contention has to offer.
Great work Kris and everyone who helps out on this site. I look forward to next season. Thx.
PS. Kris is there a place where I can e-mail you my personal Film Awards list?
Great season, great coverage, great discussion. In Contention is the best Awards coverage site on the net, and just one of the best sites on the net period. I would take people complaining about your “hibernation” as a compliment. People just want to be engaged in the site year round, at least to some degree. I think it would be nice if we could get some thoughts on films like The Beaver, Hanna and Water for Elephants in terms of pre-Cannes films.
But if not, no worries, I’ll be checking the site on a daily basis next season!
Just want to say thanks for teh coverage this season. I popped in everyonce in a while last year, but following this site daily gave me more insight into the whole process. It is a great place to have a good discussion, and also highly entertaining with all the personal commentary. Enjoy your time off and see you next year (and good luck with all projects)
Will certainly miss you. In this, one of the most annoying awards seasons (at least in terms of those who cover it), your site offered a much welcome sense of perspective on the whole race. Sasha Stone, for one, went so overboard with her cynicism once ‘The Social Network’ lost its front-runner status that her site became unbearable to visit (especially when her and Ryan began attacking anyone responding to their posts that dared question ‘The Social Network’s status as the greatest film to come along in years- yeah, outright ATTACKING)… I hope the hiatus isn’t too long, as that perspective is sorely lacking elsewhere…
Agrees with #48.
Kudos to you Kris! As well as to Guy, Chad and Gerard….
Till next awards season… Here’s looking forward to Cannes Film Festival!
Keep us updated in anything and everything!
Now enjoy your well deserved vacation…