Ah, it’s Oscar time again. With this year’s nominations just announced and the big show just around the corner, I’ve come once again to my annual feeling of general disillusionment toward the movie industry in America.

It seems to me that there are just so many great movies produced in this country every year that are completely ignored by the powers-that-be in favor of much more mainstream, blockbuster-type movies.

Taking a trip to Madison’s own Four Star Video Heaven proves my point perfectly. There are hundreds upon hundreds of movies in stock that I, and probably many others, have never even heard of. Sadly, many of these gems slipped by the general public simply because they were not money-making material right off the bat.

There are surely plenty of great movies out there that we could all be watching right now if we were willing to search them out. Of course, who has time to do that — what with classes and studying and all?

Does anyone remember when “Office Space” was in theaters? I don’t, either. And neither do most of my friends. In fact, I know of only one person who saw it on the big screen; everyone else, like myself, came across it on a whim in the video store and took a chance.

Why don’t we do this more often? Why don’t we spend an hour renting a video rather than the two minutes it takes to peruse the new releases and pick out the latest blockbuster (assuming everyone and their mother hasn’t gotten to it first, as is many times the case)?

I believe the answer is that many Americans, myself included, are just plain lazy when it comes to watching movies.

In general, we don’t want movies to make us think — that’s what books and those classes we take are for. It’s just easier that way — after a long day of school, studying and work, who wants to come home to yet another mental challenge? If I have the time to watch a whole movie, I usually want to be able to space out and not stimulate my brain any more than I have to.

Truthfully, this type of movie-watching is probably the explanation for much of the tripe that comes out of the industry nowadays. It’s just easier to watch something that is filled with empty humor, a bland plotline and repetitive adventure than to seek out a film that does more.

Even movies like “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” while flashy and entertaining, don’t carry much weight when it comes to complicated plot structure. Viewers know what is going on throughout the entire movie because great pains are taken to explain every action. There is nothing left to the imagination, as everything is presented on-screen for the audience to merely absorb.

I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t too concerned with figuring out what Frodo was going to do next. True, I got anxious for the next sequel, but that was all — I was left wanting to be told more, not to think more.

This is not to say that exceptions are not made. When I first saw ads for Michael Moore’s latest film, “Bowling for Columbine,” I thought there was no way it would ever make it big. I was proven wrong, though ? the film premiered in theaters in November and has actually increased in its representation, rather than dwindled, since then.

The fact remains, though, that if someone wants to see a movie that does more than flash images and give step-by-step plot description along the way, that person will more than likely have to seek out alternatives to big theaters and big studios.

There are plenty of independent film companies in this country, and there are hundreds of great, thought-provoking films put out by these companies each year. While they may not find a successful outlet in huge, multi-screen theaters, they too have their place.

In fact, Madison is probably one of the best places in the country to catch an independent film. We have the Westgate Art Cinema, Hilldale Theater and the UW Cinemateque, just to name a few.

We also host the Wisconsin Film Festival every March, which is a wonderful opportunity to see a variety of intriguing, intelligent and gorgeous independent movies. With the student discount, it is possible to catch up to 10 films, ranging in length from two minutes to two hours, in a four-day period for less than the cost of seeing two blockbusters in a big theater.

Another option is to scour the shelves of Four Star Video Heaven. A vastly underused resource, Four Star’s collection of thousands surely holds something for everyone, including the largest foreign-film section in Madison.

It really is easier to find an empty movie to simply space out to and forget about the world for a few hours, but it often becomes worthwhile, and even necessary, to do a little extra work and seek out those diamonds in the rough.

After all, do we really want to face another film future with the likes of “Just Married” and “Kangaroo Jack?” I didn’t think so.