There was a recent article on Yahoo! News about filmmakers predicting 3D to become the standard for filmmaking in the near future. Among the most notable voices speaking in favor of more widespread use of 3D was Martin Scorsese, who said, “We see in depth, for the most part. We go to the theater -- it's in depth. Why couldn't a film like Precious be in 3D?

I realized, as I sat down to write this article, that the ideas I had prepared in my head were all centered around a big win or two for Avatar -- whether said win(s) was/were a good thing, what that means for science fiction, etc. Despite the fact that I did not think, consciously, that it would take Best Picture, perhaps some deeper part of me did think it would get the win. There is no doubt that this pseudo-expectation was the result of the enormous hype surrounding the film, as well as its phenomenal monetary success.

You probably recall the hubbub over The Dark Knight not receiving an Oscar nomination for “Best Picture” at last year's awards. In response to the disappointment many film fans felt, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expanded the “Best Picture Category” (and only that category) to a field of ten nominations. This was probably a bad move. The Academy’s aim is to highlight great achievements in cinema and, in so doing, to build and reinforce appreciation for the cinematic medium. “These movies are special,” the Academy effectually says with its nominations.

How coincidental is it that practically all of my pleasure-viewing this week dealt with characters having various problems with their fathers? Maybe my goal from now on should be to try to find a common thread in the random consumption of the week. That probably won’t last too long, but it's worth a try, right? This week I visited all three of my favorite “Casual Consumption” works: Invincible, Battlestar Galactica, and The Venture Bros. “What about Dune?” you may ask. I’ll explain at the end.

I’ve got a slightly scant “Casual Consumption” for you this week. My consumption was actually up this week, but there was not a lot to write about. However, what I do have is good. Especially the first: an EC comic. Here’s my casual consumption for the week of February 14-21, 2010:

One of the challenges of running a genre-based website is deciding where exactly to draw the line on what belongs in the site’s coverage. Usually it’s pretty clear whether a movie should be considered science fiction, but occasionally you come across something that forces you to reassess, or at least review, your working definition of the term.