If you had asked me in early November, I would have told you that I wasn’t looking forward to this year’s Oscars. Nothing had stuck out the entire year except “The Dark Knight,” but the day that a comic-book movie wins an Oscar just isn’t here, folks. Then, over Thanksgiving break, I caught “Milk” on its opening night. What an incredible piece of cinema (and politically well-timed). Sean Penn is sensational as the lead, and the film tackles the topic of gay rights with a semi-objective stance (obviously it is a bit more sympathetic to its protagonist). I was convinced that it was going to clean up come February. Then, winter break happened.

Every film that was released was fantastic — the political-historical flick “Frost/Nixon,” the powerful “Doubt” and Fincher’s curious little film “Benjamin Button.” Other highlights include “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Revolutionary Road.” I feel like I forgot something. … Oh yeah, one of the best films of the year, Mickey Rourke’s comeback vehicle — “The Wrestler.” This thing just got competitive. Whatever your feelings are on the various categories, the past few months have seen some fantastic films, cinema that will be talked about and copied for years to come.

My fellow columnists may feel differently, but I felt that this year really focused on the political aspects of our society, individual rights and interpersonal relationships. Maybe not the most unified of themes, but all focusing on one thing: how we treat each other. From a broken father-daughter relationship in “The Wrestler” to a look at the fight for equality in “Milk” to the relationship between time, love and age in “Benjamin Button,” we’re all watching pieces about how to treat each other as humans. Certainly an interesting topic, and one that made box-office sales soar. But I would urge everyone (at the risk of being cliche) to not forget the lessons that we learn sitting in our seats at the movie theater — some of them can shift not only our opinions, but also our lives.