Is the prestige season over?

If there is anything that moviegoers can expect from year to year, it's that blockbusters will be released during the summer and awards hopefuls will be released during the fall. Any film that wants a shot at an Oscar will lobby for a fall release because that is what is viewed as "the prestige season."

These are the films that either feature big-name actors and powerhouse directors or those smaller films that have spent the year generating buzz on the film festival circuit. Once you start seeing trailers that say "Academy Award winner what's-his-name" and "Academy Award nominee so-and-so" or list countless film festival awards, you know the prestige season is here.

But why does it have to be that way? Why should we be led to expect quality cinema three months out of the year and just so-so fare the other nine? Is it really true that quality films are only released in the fall, or do awards just ignore everything that isn't released during this critical season?

Last year, the brilliant comedy "Hot Fuzz," though critically lauded, was shut out of the comedy categories at the Golden Globes, and David Fincher's gritty thriller "Zodiac" was ignored by the Oscars in spite of the film landing on many critics' top 10 lists. Both films were released during the first quarter of the year. In 2005, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" only landed 2 Oscar nominations and one win. It was one of the most acclaimed films of 2004 and still sits at number 57 on IMDB's top 250 movies of all time, but the film was released in March.

There is usually one film that was released earlier in the year that manages to maintain enough buzz and take home some awards (see 2007's "Once," 2006's "Little Miss Sunshine), but even those are often low-budget indies. Summer blockbusters rarely see nominations outside technical categories, and they rarely deserve it. But this year, things are likely about to change because of a little Christopher Nolan vehicle called "The Dark Knight."

It has been drilled into our heads that summer blockbusters are supposed to be huge special effects shows with little substance (see "Transformers). But Nolan has managed to do the unthinkable: He has produced a film that is simultaneously a blockbuster smash and a cinematic masterpiece. A combination of strong actors, sharp directing, an intelligent script and darkly perfect cinematography makes "The Dark Knight" one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, and probably one of the most critically acclaimed blockbusters ever. It was released almost three months ago, and people are still marveling at its commercial and critical success.

Though last year's prestige season featured a slew of awards hopefuls that produced one of the better Oscar slates to come along in the past few years, this season doesn't look to be as strong, save for a handful of buzzworthy films like "Rachel Getting Married," "Changeling," "Revolutionary Road," "Doubt" and "The Soloist."

No matter what else pops up this season, it is hard to imagine a better performance coming along than Heath Ledger's in "The Dark Knight," and it's hard to imagine anything else matching up in the sophistication of its execution and the depth of its storytelling. Many critics also argue that, in addition to technical awards, the film should be nominated for at least Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, if not Best Picture, and Aaron Eckhart's and Gary Oldman's performances have also garnered a lot of praise.

Some credit should also be given to Andrew Stanton's outstanding "WALL-E," which very well might be the first animated movie since "Beauty and the Beast" with a shot at a Best Picture nod should the filmmakers choose to submit it in that category rather than Best Animated Picture. But a Best Animated Picture win is a lock, and nominations are also likely for Best Original Score, Best Cinematography and perhaps even Best Director.

Though there are still some films from the first three-quarters of the year that will surely not receive any awards buzz despite their critical and commercial success (like the biting satire "Tropic Thunder"), "The Dark Knight" might just lead the way to the end of the prestige season, creating an expectation for quality cinema year-round.