Sound bite: Nostalgic Oscars

Excerpt From Audie Cornish's interview with critic Bob Mondella on NPR.

CORNISH: So let's talk briefly about the movies. Now, are you seeing any trends this year in the films that are getting the most Oscar attention?

MONDELLO: Well, yeah, they're almost all involved in nostalgia of some sort. I mean, the big one is probably "The Artist," which is nostalgic about the death of silent movies. And then there's "Hugo," which is sort of about the birth of silent movies. And "The Help," which is all about the '60s in the South. "Midnight in Paris," which is all about the '20s in Paris. And so you're looking at a lot of pictures that are about looking back and...

CORNISH: Right. I think "The Descendants" is the only film that is actually set in the now.

MONDELLO: Right. And I think that speaks to something about our feelings in general and maybe the Academy's feelings about this year's pictures, which were not necessarily the blockbusters. I mean, that's the other thing. If you look at the blockbusters this year, all of the top 10 pictures, practically, were sequels, so that they are looking back, too, in a way. And it's been a lot of - OK, this year has not been a great year for a lot of people, economically and a lot of other ways. Let's look back.