Is it just me, or do the Oscars feel completely irrelevent this year? OK, so I haven’t seen a large portion of the nominees, and will concede that I’m more or less talking out of my ass, but the reason I haven’t seen films like “The Blind Side,” “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire” or “Invictus” isn’t because they haven’t yet been released in South Korea. I simply don’t care to. By upping the number of “Best Picture” nominess, the idea was to include a broader range of movies, but it seems to me that the Academy has just put its sought-after spotlight on more of the same drivel. Not that there aren’t any good films vying for the top prizes; “Inglourious Basterds,” “The Hurt Locker,” and “Up” were all on my top 10 list of 2009, and I suppose “Avatar” simply has to be recognized in some way (if for nothing else than its nut-busting box office receipts and dazzling display of 3-D images). But even these better crafted, more compelling contenders fall in line with an awards ceremony that allows no exceptions to its rigid rules.

Last year, I took the time to actually make predictions; this year, I don’t see the point. I wasn’t going to write about the Oscars at all, but I simply couldn’t abstain from my yearly ritual of ripping this disgustingly indulgent gathering where all of Hollywood  gets together and pats itself on the back.