It began life as the most normative of soap operas, a typical Nor-eastern sudser where small town intrigue and family feuds led to deception, drama…and sometimes death. Creator Dan Curtis wanted to evoke a kind of House of the Seven Gables feel, using mood and tone to differentiate his Gothic serial from the rest. Still, audiences weren’t interested, and ABC was threatening cancelation. Inspired by something his daughter said (“Why not add a ghost?”) and realizing he could jumpstart his show’s failing fortunes, Curtis offered up ‘the Lady in White.’ It wouldn’t be long before the town of Collinsport, Maine and its chief residing brood, The Collinses, were bedeviled by all manner of monsters, myths, and legends.

Indeed, over the course of its late ‘60s/ early ‘70s run, Dark Shadows would become a pure cult phenomenon, catching on with the hung-over members of the Peace Generation while inspiring a new generation of underage fright fans. Anyone who grew up in the era remembered running home from school, grabbing a snack, and sitting down in front of the TV awaiting the latest installment of the creature-driven diversion. Once he discovered that audiences would eat up a supernatural storyline, Curtis dug deep into the reservoir of dread. During it’s time, Dark Shadows would explore such classic macabre icons as Frankenstein, the Werewolf, and of course, Dracula.

It’s already got geek boy nation in a frothy uproar. In fact, outside of the announcement (and then eventual cancellation) of George Miller’s Justice League film, few in the comic book nerd universe have thought of little except the final teaming of The Avengers... and it’s just about here. Now, granted, this isn’t the most complete of pictures—there is no Ant-Man, Wasp, or a number of noted names—and has been carefully constructed on a foundation of (sometimes flawed) origin films, but with the Summer season about to start in full swing, Marvel’s mammoth undertaking is the first picture pimping for the almighty popcorn dollar. And it appears destined to make a mint. Already earning heavy praise and heated buzz, it looks to be one of the leaders once 31 August rolls around.

Even better, writer/director Joss Whedon has done something remarkable, something unheard of in the echelons of superhero movies - he’s managed to make something that just might capture the female demographic. For the most part, the genre is considered the domain of male members of AA—no, not Alcoholics Anonymous—a far more lethal organization, the arrested adolescent. Symbolizing the subjugation of cinema to the whims of trolls and comment page obsessives, the kowtowing by and to Marvel and DC has routinely been blamed on “the guys”, while gals get to share the blame for making Nicholas Sparks, Stephanie Meyer, and any number of Cupie of the Moment actresses box office gold.

Back when Napster was a big deal (when Lars Ulrich and the rest of the still rich musical biz were calling it the digital devil incarnate), an argument - among many - was made amongst ‘file sharers’ (read: pirates) regarding their desire to download millions upon millions of mp3s. While price fixing and ‘sticking it to the man’ was the veiled rallying cry, the real reason was rather obvious - availability. Way back in the days before ITunes and Rhapsody, in the zygote like stage of the transition from bricks and mortar to material rich sites, labels would frequently let albums and artists go out of print. Makes perfect sense under the old business model, especially when you consider that record stores would return product they couldn’t push…or, even better, subject it to the dreaded “cut out bin.”

In the eyes of the P-n-P proponent, the lack of certain titles at their local music hang-out justified the dialing up of their Internet connection and the ‘borrowing’ of necessary tunes from their fellow audiophile. Granted, a lot of said trading dealt directly with product still bountiful on store shelves, but if you were looking for The Right to Be Italian by Holly and the Italians or Distinguishing Marks by Fingerprintz, you were out of luck. Even worse, with no legitimate outlet for such niche artists, corporate was more than happy to ignore demand and continue to work from the supply side of the situation. In fact, those in favor of what we now call ‘piracy’ point to the fact that such actions reconfigured the music industry for the better and are done with any further discussion.

We critics get it all the time. As a matter of fact, among all condemnations lobbed at us, it’s perhaps the most frequent. It comes from a place of both inferred sour grapes and some stereotypical truth. It also stems from an ill-informed conclusion based solely on that most elusive of interpersonal appeals—the consensus. You see, not everybody likes the same things. As a matter of fact, there’s an old adage about opinions that is better left to the sleazy and the scatological. But this doesn’t stop some from complaining loudly, especially when a favorite is being slagged. Indeed, no matter the intellectualized or well-constructed expression of their view, critics considered ‘outside the loop’ are often labeled with the following fallacy (and we paraphrase):

“You’re just a frustrated filmmaker. Before you go about undermining another’s work, try making your own movie and see how successful you are!”

They’re giving out the Oscars in two days, and for most immersed in the world of movie fandom, it’s the end of a long, if often very predictable road. The Artist will walk away with some undeserving accolades, the battle between Viola Davis and Meryl Streep will finally be resolved, and everyone will scratch their head over one oddball acknowledgement (the only question is - which category will it come from?). There will be the requisite ‘lifetime achievement award’ for an otherwise ordinary performance (we’re looking at you, Christopher Plummer) and Billy Crystal will prove, once and for all, that his reign as favored host has less to do with his contemporary ability to make people laugh and more with the recent rash of hilariously awful decisions on who should act as the show’s senior guide (James Franco and Ann Hathaway? Really?).

That’s why, a few years ago, we invented the SE&L Awards. It was our way of looking at the end of the awards season and not want to scream at the various injustices. Indeed, it seems like each and every time a group gets together and doles out the accolades, something or someone that made the year tolerable gets kicked to the curb. With the SE&LS, we can settle those differences and divvy up the prizes in a far more fair fashion. The rules here are simple - we do not acknowledge those already picked out by their peers for AMPAS recognition. They got their piece of paper - others deserve their mention. Secondly, we don’t pigeonhole a performance or production. If a foreign film was the Best of 2012, we will celebrate it- even if we later go back and pick another international entry in its own category.