An ill-conceived group of mediocre choices for last year’s Best Picture Noms at the Oscars left out audience favourites and awards night ratings grabbers The Dark Knight, Wall*E and The Wrestler from having a chance at the coveted statue but from now on the Academy won’t be so trusting to it’s voters to get it right. Which of course they so often don’t.
According to a press release from President Sid Ganis which I saw at Variety, next year will see TEN BEST PICTURE NOMINATIONS voted, so instead of them actually picking the correct five, they will now be able to hedge their bets and pick ten, hoping that the extra choices will mean a box office smash and ratings winner will worm it’s way in there. In truth though it means they now have twice as much scope to show how incompetent they are.
This whole new direction completely devalues the whole meaning of the Oscars, and now the slogan “Nominated for Best Picture” will be twice as easy to get attached to your movie, and now worth half as much prestige.
The reason the “Best Picture” tag has worked so well for all these years is that it influences the average everyday movie goer to the notion that the film they are about to see is one of a very few, select group of movies to win that honour that year. It works so well because the number is so small. Doubling it, halves it’s meaning.
Why not stop at nominating ten? Why not nominate 100 movies per year?
This was the wrong way to do it and belittles the current Academy voters and the whole nominations process that has been in place for so long. What would have made more sense would have been to mix up the Academy voters with some new members, encourage them to actually think outside of the box and stop voting for fare which fits the criteria of their own politics or what they want their view of American cinema to be, and make sure Academy voters actually broaden the scope of the films they see.
Movies like The Reader and Slumdog Millionaire are so predictably Oscar material, they are overlooking some real American greats year in, year out.
You know the one way I think this could have worked is if they had allowed TEN nominations but each year the extra five were mostly made up by foreign picture fare, with serious credence given to animated and Indie films too. Great foreign picture movies like Let the Right One In, The Baader Meinhof Complex and Waltz with Bashir wouldn’t look out of place with the American five nominated last year. Better yet, scrap the Best Foreign Picture and Animated Film category all together, treat every movie as ONE and let all movies have a fairer playing field.
18 Comments
You do realize that when the Academy Awards first started they had 10 nominees. In fact the film Casablanca won Best Picture in the last year that they had 10 nominees.
So then does that mean that it’s Best Picture award isn’t worth as much? This is simply going back to the roots of things. Plus they know they messed up this past year. Sure you can get a nomination easier, but I’m sure it won’t be thrown to crappy films. In the end there is only going to be ONE best picture.
Which in the end most likely won’t be the best picture anyway.
Yeah but they aren’t doing it out of some kind of nostalgia for the golden age of Hollywood. Even if they claim as much. This is a money, money, money decision to boost ratings and keep the Oscars relevant when every year it’s becoming less and less so.
And you misunderstand me. Casablanca winning Best Picture won’t be devalued, not in the slightest. Whatever movie wins Best Picture for this year won’t be devalued either.
But the ones that WON’T WIN but are nominated will be. Because 8 other movies will carry the “Best Nominated Picture” tag instead of just three.
If the decision was done because better movies are being made right now than in any other year, then I could understand it a little better. But that’s so far wide off the mark, it’s not even worth considering with an after thought.
The whole Oscar scene today is pretty much just a big commercial for these films so that people buy the dvds. And the majority of the time the Best Pictures are ones that nobody went to see, because nobody really wanted to see these movies. Even the winner under 5 nominations are usually not even close to being one of the best films. Ex. Slumdog, The Reader, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon? These were not the best pictures of the year.
All it’s become is not a true ranking of best picture, but hand picked films that hollywood wants to promote. So the average joe goes out and says, “Slumdog Millionair? what this? Oh it won best picture so it must be good.”
If anything I think that the addition of more nominees is a good thing, because films that actually deserve a nomination will have a better shot at being recognized as they should be. I don’t think it’ll devalue the nomination, because a nomination is one thing, but the win is what is important. There are many competitions that have many people get nominated. Just because there is a greater number of nominations doesn’t make it any less of a prestige. This will just allow much needed competition into the show.
Ridiculous. This whole thing is bullshit. As is the notion that derivative dreck like the Dark Knight deserves a best picture nomination. If anything good is to come of this, it will be that the academy is now not too scared to include Pixar’s masterpieces in the best picture race. As others have said, it’s not like we’re bursting at the seams with quality films. And they did screw up last year….The Reader and Ben Button over In Bruges and Wall-E? Disaster.
I’m sensing some hate for Slumdog Millionaire here, which I don’t get because I found Slumdog to be quite awesome if a bit cliched. I would definitely have given it best picture out of the group it was put up against, and even if Dark Knight was up there I would have given it the nod. Honestly, as good as Dark Knight was, its not THAT amazing. Its got one truly memorable performance, i.e. Heath Ledger’s Joker, and then after that everyone else aside from Eckhart, since he wasn’t in the first, turned in pretty much the same performance as before. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was great and everything, but after all the hype died down and I went back and watched it later in my home I didn’t find it near as compelling.
Anyways, to the topic at hand. I think that them adding more nominees is a great idea. If if gives more ‘deserving’ movies a chance then I’m all for it. However, a little twist I think should come about is they narrow it down to ten, then narrow it down again at the beginning of the oscar’s and have another vote during the ceremony to determine the winner.
The Dark Knight was the best movie last year and that is a FACT. People here who have commented that it didn’t even deserve a nod are unqualified to judge such films, and any others as well.
That’s because you have poor taste in films. Enjoy your crappy life.
Well Bob, TDK is popular with audiences and critics. Since most people agree with me, your opinion is clearly remote and incomprehensible.
A ridiculous argument. Approval from critics does not a good film make. Time will not be kind to the Dark Knight.
Ah you see? Your reasoning has begun to disintegrate. TDK has approval from both critics and audiences, the latter which you suspiciously left out of your argument. Your isolated opinion pretty much goes against across the board consensus, and this makes your Nostradamus-like forecast on how people will remember the film an irrelevant, inaccurate prediction.
Please, the audience approval is nothing directly measurable. You are basing this on you immediate frienship group, the IMDb top 250, and general buzz. Brilliant, I am against the board consensus of the critics you choose to read and the friends you choose to keep. My pessimistic prediction of the film’s longevity is no less valid than your rather naive assumption that it’s some kind of masterpiece.
Welcome back Bob.
My assumption of the film’s quality is based on more tangible data than anything you’ve provided, and are able to demonstrate. Although I grant you that my opinion is based partially on my circle of friends, IMDB, and general buzz (which quantify into reliability), I don’t however pick and chose critics. With over 200 critics reviews nationwide, it has a 94 percent approval (Rotten Tomatoes). I would hardly say this is ‘cherrypicking’ critics. It has made over 530 million domestically, and over 1 billion worldwide at the boxoffice. These figures show not only mass popularity, but that its acceptance goes way beyond my immediate friendship group.
So there it is. An undeniable, clear consensus from critics AND viewers of TDK’s high quality. No assumptions whatsoever.The only thing you have is your opinion.
I win.
Again, nothing you have provided gives solid proof of the film’s quality. Yes, it was well received and made an exceptional amount of money. The top 15 highest grossing movies of all time also includes such duds as Pirates of the Carribean 3, Spiderman 3, and Shrek 2. Are you going to tell me that they are therefore good quality films? Why were the Oscars so averted to nominating it in any artistic category? Yes, the Oscars frequently and without fail screw up, but doesn’t it seem like a rather large snub for the greatest film of the year FACT? Reading reviews of a much hyped film at the time of release can give us some indication of its merits, but as I said…time will not be kind to this movie. It’s a fart in the wind, and the sooner its stench is overpowered by the next pseudo-coherent piece of pulp the better.
None of those movies you just referred to had critical approval. They only had big boxoffice numbers. Had the TDK only had critical success and no boxoffice to support it, you’d have a point. If it had only had boxoffice success without critical praise, you’d have a point. But it had BOTH, rendering your whole observation non-applicable. Your whole analysis thus far has been extremely limited.
Lee 4, Bob 0
Shrek 2 has an 89% approval rating on rottentomatoes. Spiderman has an unimpressive but solid 63%. I guess they must be good after all. Titanic, the number 1 boxoffice film of all time, has 82%. I bet you’d be hard pressed to find a current critic who is as enthusiastic about it. Mark my words, less than 10 years from now Dark Knight won’t seem half as intelligent as your currently limited intellect is leading you to believe.
Let’s see… Shrek 2 had decent approval rating and great boxoffice. Well then maybe it’s not that bad of a movie. Sure, not my type of film, but I won’t be so arrogant as to classify my taste over everyone else, as you have. Terrible job on your part for bringing up Spiderman as an example. A more related movie would have been Spiderman 2. Great boxoffice, great approval (93 percent). And guess what? It is considered one of the best super hero films to date. As for Titanic, again, not my type of film but a movie that nevertheless is remembered fondly by quite a few. But at 82 percent approval, it isn’t OVERWHELMING approval.
Yet with TDK, we have RESOUNDING APPROVAL from critics. 94 percent, leaving only a few, imperceptible group of dissenters, such as yourself, to babble against it. And again, with big boxoffice to boot. More than the films you mentioned except Titanic.
So when a movie is loved by pretty much everyone and their grandmother (I bet yours too), then your criteria becomes simply that, your own taste. When you say that it doesn’t deserve the merits it has, then your going against established, UNDENIABLE consesus. In fact, the approval TDK enjoys is greater than any other movie I can recall, including the ones you mentioned (great attendance, impeccable critic approval).
It’s ok Bob, you’ve been wrong before. Don’t take things so personal.
Lee 6, Bob 0
The approval of TDK greater than any film you can recall?
That is where you let yourself down. Go watch more films, read more reviews, and try to sound smart for once in your life.
I suggest you start with Heat…you’ll see what TDK thought it could be.
Heat is great. The Insider is even better. And by the way, I’m still way ahead of you on the argument count. In fact I’m taking a vacation at the beach, chillaxing, hoping some day you could make this a challenge. But hey, I commend you for trying. Keep it up buddy; I’ll always welcome your attempts and try not to abuse them as much as others have. It’s the least I can do. And if you feel trapped inside the vault of ineptitude, by all means fire away with derogatory comments. I can’t promise they’ll affect me in any way, but it’s better than giving up.
I hate to do this, but you lose 5 points for your last weak entry.
Sensei Lee: 8
Apprentice Bob: -5