“The foreign language nomination committee for the Oscars isn’t the U.N. Security Council, but each year at this time it must wade through global politicking, diplomatic challenges and sometimes hard-to-fathom national preferences as it selects five nominees from the offerings presented by countries around the world.” Some of the choices are unusual – excellent films get passed up while dogs are allowed to bark. So, predictably, there are controversies. “Many of this year’s 54 entries have been bizarre or even difficult to watch.”