If a film is (a) released to the general public between November and January, and (b) not a festive film, chances are it’s vying for a coveted Academy Award. With the Oscars taking place in February, and nominations being announced a month before, studios tend to release their Oscar bait before the eligibility cutoff, making sure that they remain fresh in the seemingly short memories of Academy members. 

While studios may be unaware, this strategy affects us regular cinemagoers; it means that all the critically-acclaimed, non-guilty pleasure films are released at exactly the same time, triggering a mass epidemic of existential crises whenever the question, ‘What film should we go see this weekend?’ is asked. In a desperate attempt to see everything, the cinema practically becomes our second home as we watch movie after movie, analysing each line of the script, each performance, each camera angle, trying to work out who will win big on Oscar night.

Every film fanatic feels especially lucky when Oscar season rolls around, and with good reason. Finally, we escape the mindlessness of summer blockbusters and are instead treated to films that push cinematic boundaries, telling fulfilling stories with intriguing characters. Instead of going to the cinema to while the hours away, we go to think, be challenged and often (but not always) come out having being profoundly touched or changed. Let’s just say at this time of year, we often want to have some sort of experience beyond entertainment.

But at the same time, we’re also spoiled. We’re given so much quality within such a short span of time that we can become downright snobby about the films that we watch. Films that are objectively solid, strong works that we might enjoy at any other time of the year suddenly become downtrodden and looked down. Films such as Saving Mr Banks, which in any other context would be considered good if not great films, are drowned out because of the sheer volume of fantastic movies released around the same time. Although we complain during the so-called dump months, we fail to fully appreciate the beauty of all the Oscar season releases, simply because there are far too many of them.

It would be ideal if we could watch every film in a sort of vacuum, without comparing it to others released around the same time. It would be wonderful if the best films were spaced throughout the year, instead of being released all together in December and January. But, unfortunately, Oscar season is unlikely to change; Hollywood loves its awards too much to change a successful winning strategy just yet. Instead, we must change our attitudes and learn to appreciate all the wonderful films that we are treated to at this time of the year. After all, we’re not going to be this lucky again until next year.