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It may win.

Who's going to vote against the black movie?

GORDON wrote: It may win.

Who's going to vote against the black movie?

Racists.

Are the votes private or public? This would be an amazing opportunity for them to signal their virtue.

If they're not private, I'll bet they become private after this year.

Leisher wrote: Marvel to push for Black Panther to get Best Picture nomination.

Uh...no.

Black Panther was good, but it's grossly overrated. Just because it was a "black superhero" movie doesn't automatically make it awesome or best picture worthy.

We saw this same bullshit hysteria with Wonder Woman.

I'm torn on this. While I agree that I wouldn't place these movies in the "great films" category, I think they would be a move in the right direction compared to "My Underage Italian Summer Bunghole Vacation" or "Grinding Nemo". Let's face it, no one other than the Academy thinks the movies that they nominate are any good.

Vince wrote: Let's face it, no one other than the Academy thinks the movies that they nominate are any good.

To be fair, that isn't true at all nor is it proof they're wrong about the nominations.

Listen, I'm with you. A lot of the films they nominate are art house trash. However, they do nominate some great movies as well. Also, too many people don't understand that the film making side of a film is what earns nominations, not box office receipts or public appeal.

Could you imagine a world where we let the moronic public nominate films? Fucking Avatar would have won best picture.

Leisher wrote:Listen, I'm with you. A lot of the films they nominate are art house trash. However, they do nominate some great movies as well. Also, too many people don't understand that the film making side of a film is what earns nominations, not box office receipts or public appeal.

Could you imagine a world where we let the moronic public nominate films? Fucking Avatar would have won best picture.

It's not just that a lot of the movies they nominate are art house trash, it's that the academy seems to have decided that they're so highbrow then they won't even consider anything that's been deemed "good" by the little people worthy of serious consideration. Go back and look at the Best Picture winners from around 1990 to today and you can see the drop off in actual story and quality. I think that has a lot to do with the drop off in viewer ship for The Oscars. More people are realizing that they have no vested interest in seeing who the winners end up being. There's a reason they're looking at adding new categories.

Vince wrote:

Leisher wrote:Listen, I'm with you. A lot of the films they nominate are art house trash. However, they do nominate some great movies as well. Also, too many people don't understand that the film making side of a film is what earns nominations, not box office receipts or public appeal.

Could you imagine a world where we let the moronic public nominate films? Fucking Avatar would have won best picture.

It's not just that a lot of the movies they nominate are art house trash, it's that the academy seems to have decided that they're so highbrow then they won't even consider anything that's been deemed "good" by the little people worthy of serious consideration. Go back and look at the Best Picture winners from around 1990 to today and you can see the drop off in actual story and quality. I think that has a lot to do with the drop off in viewer ship for The Oscars. More people are realizing that they have no vested interest in seeing who the winners end up being. There's a reason they're looking at adding new categories.

We don't really disagree. I think we both believe the same thing with one or two little details changed.

Hollywood isn't 100% wrong to nominate films most people have never heard of because movies don't get distributed in such a way that people will see them. The latest Transformers will have $20M spent on advertising on TV alone. The next Daniel Day Lewis film will be all word of mouth. Popularity doesn't equal a good film.

A good example of that (or the best I could research in 30 seconds) is Jaws vs One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Cuckoo swept the Oscars and is a great film, but Jaws is, by a fucking million miles, the more socially relevant, impactful, and important film. (Although, maybe we need to revisit Cuckoo with all the mental hospitals being closed...)

By the way, they did add a new category that essentially allows them to name a best picture for the masses.

Leisher wrote:By the way, they did add a new category that essentially allows them to name a best picture for the masses.

Yeah, I think that's because people aren't watching anymore. I don't mind films being nominated that aren't the biggest box office draws. Just stop nominating films that no one outside of LA and NY are interested in.

And One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest wasn't as popular as Jaws, but it was still a very popular film. It made $190 Million in '75 compared to The Shape of Water making $195 Million in '17-'18. That's a huge gap once you account for inflation.

But I think you're right that we mostly agree.

"I wanna watch the World Series" is a quote I have used multiple times in my life.

However, was it better than Jaws? I mean, Jaws wins in every category except...what? Acting? Darker subject matter?

I don't think there's a wrong answer here.

My little bit of research was pretty enlightening as far as the award shows go, and I think they face another issue that they're not realizing: Public familiarity with the products.

In the 70s, 5-6 films got the nominations not just for Best Picture, but basically every category. Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Director, Screenplay, etc. Point being, everyone saw all the films or was aware of them. Now there are so many more movies being released each year, who can keep track of them all? I had never heard of Lady Bird or Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (both of which I enjoyed, but they are both flawed) until they were nominated.

True, there are a LOT of entertainment options now. I guess that's why it seems odd that they seem to almost go out of their way to nominate movies no one's seen. And I have no problem with throwing in some less circulated movies if they're really good (not Grinding Nemo). But I think those should be the exception rather than the norm.

Just seems the way all these things are. Look at the prize winning books.

Who cares about Hollywood award shows where they just inflate each other's ego anyway.

"You're the greatest!"
"No you're the greatest!"
"Oh my gosh, no you are!!"

Give me a break.

Nominated for Best Picture.

Pandering... It was good. It wasn't that good.

That would actually be pretty badass.

With Danny Glover as the Gorilla Tribe Guy.

"I'm too old for this shit."

Pootie Tang as.... the CIA agent. Not a honky.

"I'm gonna sign your pitty on the runny kine."

Tina Turner could have played Okoye and Tempestt Bledsoe could have been Shuri.

Wait they really nominated it for Best Picture?

Lmfao. Oscars UR done

It's blatant pandering.

Infinity War was a billion times better, but it had too many crackers.