Remembering Reign

Maybe it was because I was sitting in one of my favorite New York pubs, and it occurred to me – a thought unbidden but unavoidable, like a sudden slap to the face – that I had visited this place for the first time years ago with a friend who’s no longer alive. Or maybe it was because the song by The Who roared through the speakers of the high-tech jukebox just as a bolt of lightning illuminated the rainswept streets outside the window near my table. Whatever the reason, tonight I was reminded of Mike Binder’s Reign Over Me, and I remembered: There hasn’t been another movie that I’ve seen this year that had a comparably devastating emotional impact on me. So I have to ask: Why isn’t anyone talking about possible Oscar nominations for this masterwork? I mean, good heavens, what more does a movie have to do to be considered a contender? Or are we really in an age when we forget important things so quickly?