Tonight: The IRAs!

Yes, it's time for the annual IRA awards. For those who don't know, every year since the early '90s, I've been voting for the IRAs. An unjustly obsucre honor, the IRAs are given out by a group of cranky film enthusiasts, the sort of people who wouldn't dream of missing a screening of a four hour documentary at Anthology Archives but disdain mainstream Hollywood cinema. We get together before the Oscars and have it out, spending hours arguing over all the usual categories (Actor, Screenplay, etc.) and some unusual ones (Mechanical Actor, the Sominex Award for the movie that put us to sleep, and so on). Most of the fun comes from mocking other people's choices, arguing vociferously and campaigning to make sure your favorite movie gets mentioned and that a movie you hate gets shut out. Look for a full report on the winners and losers late, late tonight or tomorrow.