Still grieving over the loss of an Oscar.

No, not for me, for any one of my favorites to win on Oscar night, 3/12/23!

I’ve been a judge often enough—for almost every category of Edgar, more than once, e.g.—to know that it’s almost impossible to set down hard and fast criteria for choosing award winners, unless it’s word count or some other quantifiable guideline. Otherwise, it’s rather subjective.

I don’t get to vote on the Academy Awards, but I know what I would vote for and it would not be magical realism, unless that were a category. As a writer I know how easy it is to create fantasy, as opposed to straight drama, especially when the producers have more than 100 years worth of special effects history and development to call on.

What film/actors was I rooting for? Instead of being specific, I’ll just repeat my favorite joke of the evening: “Colin Farrell’s eyebrows should get an Oscar.”