#FF Defending the Oscars, James Franco and more...

I had fully intended to write an article about some of the condescencion directed towards Oscar bloggers, but John (from John Likes Movies) beat me to it. His post articulates many of my concerns. As someone who enjoys the Oscars, I find it disheartening to read tweets like "Oscar credibility is important to lazy and/or pretend cinephiles". While I do agree that Oscar recognition isn't the only barometer of quality, I think this general attitude ignores the fact that (a) Oscar bloggers don't only appreciate "Oscar movies" and (b) The Oscars actually encourage high quality filmmaking, whether you agree with the winners or not. Read John's views on this topic below, along with some other great posts from the past week:

John wrote a great piece in defence of the Oscars and those who enjoy the awards season.

Jessica explains why she cares about how much movies make at the box office.

Nick shows his sense of humour, listing 10 New Career Moves For James Franco.

Ruth reviewed Arbitrage, my favourite film of 2012.