It’s the most joyous time of the year.

Yes, I’m talking about Oscar season.

Okay, maybe “joyous” is too strong a word, but I do love this season, because critics start celebrating and championing their favorite films, albums, books, etc. And after a season of hate-filled campaign language, insults, put-downs, fabricated scandals, and humanity behaving badly to promote candidates they think are saints… I’m ready to hear from people about something they love, something that brings out the best in them.

And we might as well enjoy that now, because we all know how Oscar season ends. It ends with actual Oscars, which usually plunge cinephiles back into griping and depression and binge drinking (if the actual nominations didn’t achieve that already).

This year, I’ll be inviting readers to declare their love for some of the year’s most memorable and impressive work. Make your case: Do you love this film, and if so, why? This is a time to gush, to be effusive with praise, to send a message of gratitude to the artists.

This is not a time for haters. If you want to complain about what you dislike about the film, you can do so on your own somewhere else.

So… let’s kick this off with one of the films I enjoyed most this year, and which I will continue to watch again and again for its magical moments, its ambitious storytelling, its digital animation of surpassing excellence, its personality, and the way it rewards viewers of all ages.

That would be…

Go ahead. Don’t be shy. Why do YOU love WALL-E? If you think it deserves to be rated among the year’s best, and acknowledged *beyond* the “Best Animated Feature” category by the Academy, tell us why.

(And yes, I’ll be moderating comments, so that this post serves its intended purpose.)

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