There’s always this feeling I have about the academy awards.

A strange, grumpy, bitter feeling towards those awards.

It’s always the morning after, rising at sunrise, bubbling around mid-morning, peaking around lunchtime, before eventually fading mid-afternoon, and puffing away like a swot of smoke as night falls.

‘Why?’ I always ponder.

Is it the speeches?

Yes, Joaquin Phoenix loves to moan about the environment and animals and discrediting his own talents, whilst circling the award circuit. Yes, that same award circuit he once criticised many years ago.

Is it the duration?

Three hours to watch rich people award themselves for work that feels unearned or unworthy of such high an achievement, in an industry becoming more and more exclusive.

Is it the politics?

It’s getting worse, or at least more smug. This past decade has seen this pushed idea that people in the film business are people too, and are on your side in the war against corruption, war, violence, injustice and anything that makes them look good in the press.

Or, is it a combination of all the above?

The fact that Hollywood has for so long patted itself on the back for other people’s successes, and painted this idea that opportunities are open for everyone, is very insulting and down right negative to the rest of American audiences.

It’s only become apparent more and more so after the ratings for the Oscars reached plummeting lows in 2018, due to many of the reasons I’ve just pointed out.

Unpopular films, liberal politics, smutty sex scandals, predictable wins and increasing woke wins of films no massive populace is planning to see.

Sorry Parasite.

Maybe one day the Oscars will stagger out of its mid life crisis and focus on being something more low key. A event all in good fun, and praising proper talent for pushing the boundary both on and off camera.

Yet now, all I can do is groan and turn over. 2020 Cinema everyone.

The world of cinema just feels very different to what it was ten years ago. Films bleaker, cinemas fancier, prices higher, and the audience snobbier. It just dawned on me at the end of 2019 just how far a decade has taken the community into an whole other direction. Since when did cinema become high class entertainment that required two weekly earnings to meet the criteria, and the selection of choice so plain and vanilla that you often question what even is the point of going these days.

The main player of the game is of course Hollywood (from a western perspective) and within a decade, we’ve seen more reboots of existing franchises that the concept of originality may soon become alien to business suits in the movie studio offices. Because of so many sequels, the excitement of a future instalment just doesn’t feel me with the same enthusiasm anymore than it did in 2010. It just becomes expected. Or to put it in a better word: tolerated.

Case in example: Star Wars Episode 7.

A film long anticipated within the movie community as a worldwide event. A history and lore built over so many decades, with multiple generations of fans all coming together for a new trilogy with an equal combination of old and new in many factors. Yet when December 1^st rolled around, with still a few weeks left before the film hit our screens, it wasn’t fever pitch anticipation building within my psyche, more like irritation and the doubling down of boredom. Odd. So odd. For a film franchise that has clutched my heart strings since I was a boy, yet here I was at the end of 2015, pig sick of every Star Wars related advertisement I could see.

From there, I’ve never really been excited about a film coming out since.

Ok, some films I’m feeling happy about seeing. Rogue One. Marvel films. A few French films perhaps. Maybe the odd indie. But never excited. Never counting down the days. And that says a lot about Hollywood’s state right now: No excitement. Nothing really to feel heavily enthusiastic about. Just the same stuff but just recycled and reused.

No don’t cry over me. I’ll be fine. Because much like a rookie traveller, I’m venturing to new horizons. New films world that have something to showcase and share with new audiences. Over the last few years, I’ve grown comfortable with the cinema of France. A country that treats cinema as it’s supposed to. An art form. Treasuring all films with a sense of respect. I’ve seen so many over the years and I get a feeling that I understand the country just that little bit more. Only a little, but still something.

And soon, I’ll branch further out. To the Asian markets. I’m curious as to what India, Italy, Pakistan & Japan had to offer. Rich cinematic histories with new filmographies to discover, and iconography to unearth. Because the more exploring you do cinema wise, the more you learn and understand the tastes and ideas of the world around you. Old films. New films. Character films. Story films. Experimental films. Short films. Documentary films. Music films. I could go on, but it just goes to show what more there is still to discover, and what countries may rise up and emerge, as well as unfortunately watching other countries decline in the world of cinema.

This decade is one of discovery. One of appreciation to cinema as an art form. And this blog is where those experiences will drop down. For you to read and think. Posts could be about talent, films, history, ideas, genres and many more. It’s my personal place to reflect, to react, to think and to learn. And if you want to join, you are welcome to sit right beside me.