Summer is a time of transition and growth. The days of action packed summer blockbusters come to an end as trailers and clips from upcoming Oscar contenders start to float out on the internet. A maturing process takes place where I stop getting excited about robots and apes and superheroes and start getting excited about character development and insight into the human role. I feel more sophisticated, more adult.

I find myself searching the web, looking for hints and guesses as to which films might top the awards list at the end of the year.

…but why?

Looking back at the past couple years at my highest rated films, and comparing those to which ones actually won awards, I really shouldn’t be that excited. 3 or 4 Best Picture nominees being in my top 10 would be above average.

Don’t get me wrong, my favourite films are not the cheesy summer blockbusters either, I just usually end up liking independent films, foreign films, and other such quirky movies that don’t end up getting a lot of traction in awards season.

Why then do I get excited about who will win Golden Globes and Oscars?

I really should get more excited about the Cannes, TIFF, Sundance, and so on…but I never do.

There’s just something about the glamour and ‘legitimacy’ of the Oscars that I find myself getting wrapped up in. I’ll disagree with the selections but at least I’ll be disagreeing with the ‘recognized’ selections. I’ll be able to start a conversation at work about the Oscars because everyone pays attention to them. For once the water cooler conversation will be about MY world.

Even now, I see the trailers and the Oscar predictions and I find myself agreeing with who the contenders should be even though I haven’t even seen these films yet and even though I KNOW I’ll disagree with them later. I’ll be disappointed by a few of them. I’m very much just setting myself up for this disappointment.

It’s not about these films though.

It’s not about the winners.

It’s about passion.

I’m excited about excitement. I’m excited that movies are about to be analyzed and compared. I’m excited about competition.

I love movies and I love that movies are going to get a stage to help everyone love them as much as I do.

…and that’s why I will always be excited about awards season.