Eclipsed by the Oscars

Another total lunar eclipse came and went last Wednesday and, luckily, we here in Albany, NY, had a perfectly clear night for the viewing. Rocco (my obedient Golden) and I gathered under the stars for 15 minutes, freezing but focused on taking the perfect photo of the spectacle. Still, my shots didn't materialize anywhere near this amazing snap found online.

Eclipses are the perfect astronomical phenomenon for profound realizations. Mine came just as the Earth was casting its outer shadow called the penumbra (I looked that up) in front of the moon, effectively blocking the Sun from reaching it.

"Good grief, I have yet to see most of the films nominated for Academy Awards this year", I thought to myself.

It's Oscar night Sunday, cinema's Superbowl, televised on ABC and seen by tens of millions of people around the world. The only two recent flicks I've seen are "There Will Be Blood" and "Atonement". In the dead of winter, I usually just hunker down with TCM (Turner Classic Movies). All are uninterrupted and free of charge with 31 days of Oscar picks every night. That's great tv!

But, missing out on the modern stuff doesn't bode well when striking up a conversation with friends. Most are feature film fanatics, some that wouldn't miss a documentary if their life depended on it. In the documentary category are nominations for 4 out of 5 films focused on torture, war and illness: "No End in Sight", "Operation Homecoming", "Taxi to the Dark Side" and "War/Dance". I saw "Sicko" three times so I'm prepared to applaud Michael Moore's acceptance speech should he win.

I'm also at a loss in the foreign film category. The nominations are "Beaufort" "The Counterfeiters", "Katyn", "Mongol" and "12". If any of my readers (Jay Bobbin) can advise me on which to spend a couple precious hours watching this weekend, reply to this blog asap. Thanks!