Yet another stumble by the Academy on the documentary front

From Variety:

Variety is reporting today on the twelve films that have become basically semi-finalists for the Best Documentary nominations. While Super-Size Me is deserving there are some great films that have not made the list. While some fine films were turned down for having played on television overseas - the biggest crime was the decision to cut off a pair of very interesting films that were eligible.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster is not only my favorite documentary of the year, I think it is certainly one of the ten and maybe one of the five best films of the year. This would seem to be a snub of the subject matter. The other shameful exclusion was the documentary about the Z channel.

Consider this the first of many many posts over the next few months that will deal with the Oscars and year-end awards - a topic I have an obscene fascination with.