IT'S THE PICTURES THAT GOT SMALL - Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard

Ah yes - truer words were never spoken.

What happened to movies?

Best picture nominees used to be Casablanca, Rebecca, Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane, Double Indemnity, Mash, The French Connection, The Last Picture Show,  Chinatown, The Conversation, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Network, Taxi Driver, Annie Hall, The Deerhunter, Coming Home, Raging Bull, Gandhi, Tootsie, Terms of Endearment,  The Killing Fields,  Moonstruck, Mississippi Burning, Dances With Wolves, Unforgiven, Schindler's List, Fargo, L.A. Confidential, American Beauty, Traffic, Moulin Rouge, Million Dollar Baby, Crash, No Country for Old Men, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds,

It's a long list but it's the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  Movies used to really be "Best Pictures" - worthy of being nominated for any number of reasons, chief among them being that they would be remembered and re-watched.

No More.

2015 was another year of forcing myself to watch films seeking to be nominated, many of which were good, some of which were dull, and a few of which made me wonder why or how they got made to begin with.

It has been awhile since any film in that category was one that I would seek out to watch a second time.

As for last year's winner Birdman - I barely got through it the first time.

My most controversial opinion will probably be this one - I really enjoyed Argo.  I thought it was an entertaining, well made, well acted movie.  But BEST PICTURE????  Once was enough.  It used to be that movies like Argo got made every year - quite a few of them, in fact.  And very few of them even got a nomination.

So here we go again.  Another year of major disappointments.

It used to be that Oscar Night was so special, I told people do not call us.  We will not answer the phone.  We will stay up no matter how long the show runs.  We were excited.  We had our favorites.
They did not always win but we could see why the movie that got the award deserved it.

Now I can barely garner enough enthusiasm to turn on the show.  I will read while I wait to see who won what - although I find I don't really care anymore.

All I can say is Thank You Netflix - Showtime - HBO -Starz for giving us the entertainment of a lifetime.  There is so much great product that we don't have time to watch it all.  Too bad we can't nominate your shows for an Oscar.  Keep up the good work.

At last - finished The San Pedro Blues and published - available in soft cover or Kindle edition on Amazon - here's a taste:

Thirteen young women from Ukraine are smuggled into Port of Los Angeles inside a cargo container, victims of human trafficking, destined for a life of sexual slavery. Twelve of them will die at the hands of a machete wielding murderer. Only one will survive. Anichka Markovich who burns with a fierce hatred and desire for revenge. 

Rick Sandler and John Cameron, detectives in LAPD's elite Robbery-Homicide division are assigned to the case. Working with U.S. Attorney Ray Manzarek and Vice Officers Angel Estrada and Roy Cooper, they search the streets of San Pedro and North Hollywood determined to find the people behind the trafficking operation, in hopes it will lead them to the killer. 

On the personal side, Katie O'Hara is now a graduate of the police academy, working as a patrol officer under the tutelage of her training officer. When she discovers that Rick has used his influence to gain her a relatively safe assignment, she puts in for a transfer and finds herself in San Pedro, a move that will irrevocably change her life. 

Katie soon falls in love with San Pedro, a very different beach town than Marina del Rey, a working class community that is home to Port of Los Angeles. After an act of heroism, she is accepted into The San Pedro Blues - a unique group of police officers - who take pride in their town and their way of policing it. 

In this case, The Blues has a deeper meaning. In referencing music, B B King says The Blues is rage and anger. 

Idiomatically, when someone experiences intense emotions, feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty, we say that person has 'The Blues'.  

In this story, almost all of the major characters, have 'The Blues' hence the title.