I know this is going to seem a little out there to some people but it’s heavy on my mind today, so excuse me. I also feel like I have a little clout on the topic because I used to work at a movie theatre.

Why do “out there” movies always seem to win the most awards? Who is “the academy” anyway? Despite spending four years asking people without thinking “would you like butter on your medium popcorn,” I never did develop that pretension for “artistic” movies that some theater employees do. I’m still going to laugh at the ridiculous high school coming of age movies replicating “American Pie,” I’m going to laugh and cry in a romantic comedy and (using my 4-year-old sister as an excuse) I’ll enjoy a cheesy cartoon. I don’t need the subtitles or the Japanese remakes or the adapted screenplays with so much depth and hidden meanings to say with confidence, “that was a really good movie.” Why does the academy need that?

For example, this past weekend I saw “Definitely, Maybe” with one of my close friends. It was fairly predictable, as in you knew the guy and the girl were going to end up together at the end of the movie, (don’t act like I spoiled the ending, you knew it would happen when you saw the first preview) but still I went home and said bragged about my night out and the good movie I saw. No crazy special effects, mysterious characters or heavy thinking. Where’s the award for “most overall entertaining movie.”

I dunno, this is just a rambling I suppose, but honestly, did anyone else walk out of “No Country for Old Men” and think, “What?!”