Where are all the Oscar films?

So it’s nearly December and where are all the Oscar films? There’s normally a good block of them appearing around now. More to the point, can you think of any movies from the last year that instantly said to you, “That’s Oscar material”? It’s still more telling because of the block of films that have been appearing on DVD and video over the last few months. Movies like Three Kings, Being John Malkovich and American Beauty show the standard of last years films and you can take them home. But is there anything of any comparable quality in the cinemas? I’m afraid not.