Since we’ve finally reached the midway point of 2008, it seemed as good a time as any to post the first “Off the Carpet” column since our year in advance take over four months ago.
First and foremost, I’m in a unique situation this year. Being in London since mid-May, I’ve found myself looking from the outside in on a lot of projects. The UK generally has later release dates, meaning later press screenings. And so, films like “WALL-E” and “The Dark Knight,” I won’t be commenting on them (and, therefore, won’t have an educated viewpoint on their Oscar prospects) until I’m back in the States in three weeks.
In a lot of ways, it’s just like the old days (for those who remember the old, clunky Oscar Central stuff, or perhaps the sporadic columns at Oscarwatch (now Awards Daily). I’m back in the position of fan first, commentator second in some areas, and it’s been a bit of a thrill, I have to say. Especially in a year of Bat-hype nearly approaching the hysteria of the summer of 1989.
But with that in mind, I also humbly recall that my Oscar-guessing mind was in a slightly better place back then, removed from the fray, having the true instincts of an observer on which to depend. But all of that is beside the point. The real question is, right now, half way through the year, which films have even laid a claim for film awards attention in the brutal season that will be here before we know it?