About the Site

Welcome to Awkward is What We Aim For! The cure for the common Oscar blog, this site is inspired in so many ways by favorite blogs of mine, like the film review style of The Film Experience, the deep Oscar prognostication and history of Awards Daily, the TV blogging of Tom and Lorenzo and the wit of Vulture, but features my own personal spin.

Who am I? Why, interesting you should ask. I'm Kevin, formerly of Austin, Texas, but now of Los Angeles, California. I'm a screenwriting major at Loyola Marymount University and I'm the outgoing Assistant Director of Programming at the campus TV station, ROAR Network. I started this blog three years ago because I wanted a venue to write about absolutely whatever I wanted. It was somewhat aimless at first, a little awkward, but, of course, awkward is indeed what we aim for.

The intent of this blog now is to provide a fresh take on film and awards season, in an effort to add to the ongoing shouting match we call the World Wide Web. There are so many different opinions out there, yet there is so much more to be said in a calm, rational fashion. My goal for this site, then, is to do a part to change this into more of a conversation than a lecture hall--there are so many great opinions about film, television, the Oscars, and entertainment in general that we as bloggers should be collaborative, not singular.

Now revamped after its second redesign (a new design for a new year), Awkward is What We Aim For is setting big goals for 2011, becoming a major hub for film and entertainment discussions. It's my philosophy that if one person gets pleasure from reading this blog in a day, I've done my job and so much more.

In addition to general posts, readers of the blog can look forward to many great series of posts, including:

I'm working to make the Reviews section of the site more extensive, but you can look forward to Rapid Reviews, my regular selection of three or more films to review in brief, just to get my opinion out and invite other opinions. I grade on a letter scale, from A to F. Sometimes, I'll rethink a Rapid Review and give it a second look--you can check out all the most up-to-date scores in the Reviews section.

Year-round, you can check out the most current Oscar Predictions under the Current Oscar Predictions tab. They're updated regularly, particularly as we get down to the heat of Oscar season. Until nominations are announced, the picks are ranked by likelihood of nomination (not win, which is a whole different ball game), but after nominations are announced, the Predictions section switches to a Should Win/Will Win format.

Netflix Pix is a series highlighting one instant streamable film and one regular mail Netflix film each week, with reviews accompanying them. While the films will vary in time period, style, and quality, you'll never see an outright bad film featured here--only personal favorites or awards/critical darlings will be featured here. Sometimes, I won't agree with the overall consensus on a film and the feature will be more of a warning against, but most often, you'll be able to read Netflix Pix to get a good film to watch on the fly.

Once a year, the end-of-year kudos of the Entertainers of the Year and, my personal awards, the Awkwards will be handed out in quick succession. You can always find the Awkwards from the previous year on the top tab of the site. Admittedly, I don't see everything, but anything seen in a given film year (that didn't have a pitiful one-week-in-LA qualifier run) qualifies for an Awkward. The Entertainers of the Year can be anything from a music artist to an actor to a television show to an ensemble cast. If it's entertaining, it's eligible!

More features are always in development, and hopefully soon the site will boast more round tables to further extend the conversation in the vein of the new Beyond the Awkward series. And of course, if you have any suggestions as to how to make the site better, or you just want to chat about something, please feel free to send me an email. Thanks for reading, and have an awkward day!

Contributors

Andrew is a to-be sophomore at Loyola Marymount University like myself. He hails from the Jersey Shore and is also an Oscar die-hard. He loves Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Lords of Dogtown, and on the television side, is a fan of Modern Family and 30 Rock. Andrew brings a slightly different set of opinions to the site, such as thinking Sandra Bullock deserved her Oscar in 2009 and that Brokeback Mountain is indeed better than Crash. But we forgive him of such things because of his passion and commitment to arguing his case. He'll act as Awkward is What We Aim For's secondary Oscar prognosticator and will write up different aspects of the industry as they arise.

Karen is the creator and head blogger over at Reel Artsy, a blog you really should have bookmarked if you don't already. As part of an exciting collaboration between AIWWAF and RA, Karen will be writing a column here featuring rising young talent. You can also check out my Netflix Pix features on her site. We'll also both be posting on each other's sites whenever the occasion calls for it. Karen is a devoted follower of all things "awkwardly cute," as she terms it, and we welcome her with open arms to AIWWAF!