The Edge of the Frame

This is the kind of news that means absolutely nothing to the average person who doesn’t understand the ins-and-outs of the Oscar race. However, for someone like me, and hopefully many of you, this is some exciting and somewhat outrageous news. The New York Film Critics Circle has been bumping up its awards announcement gradually over the last decade. The event used to not occur until late January, around the time the Oscar nominations were announced. Later, as critics began to take a more influential role in the race, they were bumped up to a mid-December date.

This year, however, the Circle is really going to shake things up by announcing their choices on November 29th, far before anyone else. For sure, this news is bound to ruffle the feathers of other organizations who will now be stuck next in line. In particular, the National Board of Review must be fuming out of their ears in response. Not only was the NBR the very first critics organization to come into existence (founded in New York in 1909 and presenting awards since 1930), but is also traditionally the first group to name the best of each year, usually in the first week of December. They wear that badge of honor like New Hampshire flaunts being the first presidential primary and I cannot believe that they’ll give it up that easily.

While not admitted, there is a clear reason for this shift in the NYFCC’s policy and it comes in the form of my (and many others’) choice for Best Picture last year: “The Social Network.” The groundbreaking film was a unanimously named darling by nearly every critics group in the entire country. Despite believing the obvious (that the film really is that good, which it is), some viewers and pundits lashed out at the critics by calling them sheep and questioning their singularity and individual distinction.

It’s because of this that New York has decided to separate itself from the pack. Now, in case there was any confusion, there is nothing that makes the NYFCC more prestigious or knowledgeable than any of the other major critics’ groups in the country such as Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco or Chicago. In the case that another film comes along and gains a monopoly on the cinema press, New York will probably be on board. It will just appear that they came up with the idea first. So there’s a chance that their egos might be a little fatter than the rest of the country’s.

Stay tuned for more news at The Edge of the Frame as the awards race begins to rear its head.