For, lo, these many moons, Bruce Bratton, Wallace Baine, and I have commandeered the Nicklelodeon about this time every year to hold forth on who we like (or not) in the upcoming Academy Awards showdown.
We'll be at it again this Sunday, February 19, at the ungodly hour of 10 am, in the newly revamped and refurbished Nickelodeon. Admission is FREE! (And while you're there don't forget to check out the new auditorium carpets and newly repainted lobby!)
The whole thing began years ago as an outgrowth of Morton Marcus' bi-monthly Saturday morning film discussion groups at the Nick. Mort attracted such a large, loyal following of passionate local movie fans that one year, he invited Bruce, Wallace, and me to participate in one of his early January discussions to talk about our favorite films of the previous year.
Turned out the audience loved having not one, but four local critics in its collective sites with whom to spar over best and worst movies of the year. Mort invited us all back in March, a week before the Academy Awards broadcast, to talk about all things Oscar, and a tradition was spawned.
Sadly, Mort is no longer here to chime in with his colorful opinions (although his wife, Donna Mekis, tells me she's pretty sure he would have loved Hugo). And now that the Oscar show comes so soon in February, instead of mid-Spring, my fellow filmies and I have downsized to a single free-for-all— oops, I mean event—in which we duke it out over then best and worst films of the year AND the upcoming Oscar contest.
But nobody wants to listen to the critics blather on and on. The success of this event depends on you, The Public, telling us your opinion of the films of 2011. It's always audience participation that makes for a lively discussion, so come join us at the Nick this Sunday, 10 am, and let the critics know what YOU think!
(Big thanks to Maurice Peel at the Nick for mocking up the very cool flyer, above.)
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