Oscar season slowly approaches

It's been sitting in the back of my mind, a subtle knowledge that hasn't quite hit home yet—Oscar season is coming up, and I find myself in a very strange place: I don't have a particular film or actor to cheer for yet.

Usually by this time, I've jumped fully onto the Oscar bandwagon, am keeping tabs on potential nominees, and have found at least one picture or actor to be passionate about. Last year it was Forest Whitaker for Best Actor (Last King of Scotland) and Rinko Kikuchi for Best Supporting Actress (Babel). And the year before that it was either George Clooney (Syriana) or Matt Dillon (Crash) for Best Supporting Actor, and Crash for Best Picture.

But this year? So far, I'm coming up rather empty! Though if I had to pick any worthy contenders for acting, right now I can only think of two: Robert Downey, Jr. for Zodiac, and Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton, both in the Best Supporting Actor column. (And maybe, maybe Mark Ruffalo for Zodiac, also as Best Supporting Actor.) But these are just preferences right now, nothing to feel overly passionate about. Though I'd wholeheartedly champion, of all people, a Best Actor nomination for Adam Sandler for his stunning performance in Reign Over Me, but that's likely a long-shot nomination (even though he'd fully deserve said nomination, in my opinion).

I intend to live-blog the Oscar ceremony much like I did last year, but I can't help but wonder why my reaction to the approaching Oscar season has been somewhat muted. Perhaps it's because the films I've seen gracing the theaters lately haven't really excited me—which is kind of odd, because most films that want to get Oscar attention get released in December or January, thus capitalizing on their freshness at the box office to garner Oscar consideration. But I also wonder if it's because the Oscar campaigning and buzz haven't fully kicked into gear yet—which it ought to, considering that the nominees list is only six weeks away from being released.