I enjoyed the movies nominated for Best Picture this year more than I have any crop in years. Either I’m getting inured to the Zeitgeist, or there were more throwbacks. The latter, I think.

What was not a throwback was the ceremony itself. I realized at the end of it that what I look for in the Oscars is some kind of old-time glamour that hasn’t been there in years. Last year’s ceremony had such a shocking conclusion that it didn’t matter. The year before that I was probably too rattled to care.

But this year, I did notice, I did care and I did wonder. When things seem Not the Same, how much of it is because things are actually changing, how much is the raging of age (“nothing is as good as it used to be, dearie”) … and how much is a combination of the two?

(Danielle Darrieux from In Memoriam, Oscargo.com)