Dardo'ed

Back when I foolishly thought I would have enough free time during these months to do a comprehensive retrospective of the best of everything in 2008, I planned on recognizing a few blogs that I appreciated for their ability to peel back the layers on movies and make me think about them in a more meaningful way, often bypassing traditional reviews for posts about the deeper themes and issues in all of these movies that we see.

But before I could get around to compiling this list, I found myself on the receiving end of such recognition. Apparently, somebody came up with an award for just this purpose, titled a "Dardos Award" for reasons that I'm sure are beyond my cultural and literary knowledge. Anyway, here's the summary:

"The Dardos Award is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web."

Recipients are supposed to do the following:

1) Accept the award by posting it on your blog along with the name of the person who has granted the award and a link to his/her blog.

2) Pass the award to another five blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment, remembering to contact each of them to let them know they have been selected for this award.

So while this appears to be a back-patting meme disguised as a legitimate award, I'm nonetheless honored to have crossed anyone's mind in relation to it. Plus, it's the perfect way for me to recognize others as I had hoped to.

Here goes:

1.) Thank you, Marilyn Ferdinand at Ferdy on Films and Rick Olson at Coosa Creek Cinema for recently granting me with a Dardo. You're both deserving in your own right, of course, which is why you received one in the first place.

2.) And here, in alphabetical order, are five of the many bloggers who I consider deserving of a Dardo:

• Alexander Coleman at Coleman's Corner in Cinema - Grab a dictionary, because Alexander's handle on the English language is unmatched. So is his voracity for watching classic film and writing enlightening essays on the hidden themes in the movies we see.
• DC Movie Girl at DC Girl @ The Movies - Through the lens of film, DC Girl broadens horizons by offering sharp criticisms of Hollywood stereotypes and keeping all movie fans accountable for what they watch and support.
• Jason Bellamy at The Cooler - Never one to shy away from a lengthy, probing discussion, Jason's ease at weaving incisive analysis and social commentary through his reviews is admirable. Have a look at a typical conversation.
• MovieMan0283 at The Dancing Image - Too many writers fail to step back and consider all perspectives when writing about complex issues. MovieMan is not one of them, which makes his reviews and other commentaries lucid, well-reasoned, and most importantly, thought-provoking.
• RC at Strange Culture - Part movie blog, part Oscar blog, part pop culture blog, all original. RC's musings are essential reading for anyone who wants to know what's going on in the movie world - and why it matters.