Does it really matter if The Avengers, Skyfall and The Dark Knight Rising were shut out?

FORBES: Blockbusters Lose In Oscar Nominations, 'Lincoln' Earns The Most Nods

All of this might sound like so much history, were it not for the dark spectre of rising anti-Semitism across Europe in recent years.

FORBES: New Web Sites Help Track Nazi Plunder. The Timing Couldn't Be More Urgent.

Onjefu said that when he headed outside, he immediately noticed a large, dark plume of smoke rising in the sky on the north side of town.

CNN: Texan town tries to rebuild with community, spirituality

We all shouted, and the happiness at having found them again was already fraught with the pain of having lost them now forever, as the moon rising in the dark sky sent out only the reflections of the sun on its lakes and fields.

NEWYORKER: The Daughters of the Moon

Kendall was enclosed in a dark space high above a city rising from a coast engulfed in darkness.

NEWYORKER: Great Experiment

This observation led to the theory that some mysterious, gravitationally repulsive dark energy must be behind the rising expansion of the cosmos - although we don't really have the foggiest idea what that is.

BBC: Dark discussion ahead for Europe and US