The Decemberists

What do films like Children of Men, Factory Girl, and The Good Shepherd have in common?

Aside from drop dead gorgeous and ridiculously talented leads in Clive Owen, Sienna Miller, and Matt Damon, respectively, I mean.

These and several other films are what I am calling Decemberists – films that had exclusive screenings in December to be considered eligible for awards season, but have yet, or are just beginning to arrive in a theater near, well…near anyone who doesn’t participate in the awards process.

I noticed this season that, as a result, many titles have either been overlooked in major categories (Children of Men comes to mind, as do Ken Watanabe’s turn in Letters From Iwo Jima, and Naomi Watts’ in The Painted Veil) or simply missed. Factory Girl and Renée Zellweger’s Miss Potter had such a limited run prior to their wide releases – which are still a-comin’, for all I know – that they would have benefited from opening later this year instead.

Overcrowding the schedule only confuses audiences (and the people who shower films and performers with accolades, for that matter). Often, the Decemberists are rather worthy, but such a rush to the head at year’s end makes everyone forget about the fare of previous months – and pick wisely from what is being offered.

They make it harder to discover or remember the year’s hidden gems (like Half Nelson, Sherrybaby, which, granted, had come and gone by Christmas), easier to be confused by prestige projects that don’t quite cut it (Dreamgirls, The Good German), and much too late to appreciate en masse what few already have (Pan’s Labyrinth).

Photo: Picturehouse (Pan’s Labyrinth).