My only statement on the Academy Awards

Is thank goodness we just have to endure this circus once a year. Anyone who believes that the Academy really cares about film has been seriously deluded. The Academy Awards are politically motivated, sexist (a long tradition of screwing over women in the way the Best Supporting Actress category is handled is the overwhelming example), and generally tied to the box office (which is why the awards were created). Though worthy actors, directors and others sometimes win Oscars, many worthy ones are not even so much as nominated, and many really mediocre ones win. There is a long, heartbreaking list of artists who have been denied Oscars because of politics, pettiness and bad taste.

The New York Film Critics Circle has traditionally presented the most authentic awards, though--in the last decade or so--some of their choices have been very peculiar. The Film Independent Spirit Awards are notable, also, but the list of eligible films is, by definition, limited.