6. Do The Right Thing... At Least Nominate A Spike Lee Joint
Scratch that. Do the Right Thing HAD to win. Nominating just so it could lose to Driving Miss Daisy would have been just as bad as not nominating it at all. How are those two films, both about race and equality in America, even remotely equal in their form or societal impact? Do the Right Thing is a provocative commentary on race relations which leaves multiple avenues of interpretations. Driving Miss Daisy is quaint, sentimental, and was done better as an episode of Quantum Leap. You tell me which one is Best Picture worthy.
5. Expanding The Best Picture Nominees
Do you understand how asinine this decision was? We are smack dab in the middle of a list of terrible decisions made by the Academy, and they decide they want to make more. More nominees doesnt insulate you from criticism; it ensures it. Most average consumers of film look to the Oscars as the de facto ruling on a film's importance. This has long been an issue with film enthusiasts of course because of the Academys penchant for bad decisions, but of all the mistakes made no one thought they would make one that diluted their brand to the masses. Thats exactly what this expansion did. The decision came down as either pandering to critics or pandering to the movie industry. Critics of the Academy just wanted the right films honored, not more of the wrong ones (You might say that sentiment hit Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to home this year). Production companies see the Oscars as a marketing tool. If their film makes the list they get a financial bump from increased awareness. Now with as many as ten nominees won't see the same value, and soon Nominated for an Academy Award will carry about the same visual weight on the blu-ray box as Won a Golden Globe. By attempting to pander they ended up losing more critical credibility and weight with the studios. Brilliant.
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Do you understand how asinine this decision was? We are smack dab in the middle of a list of terrible decisions made by the Academy, and they decide they want to make more. More nominees doesnt insulate you from criticism; it ensures it. Most average consumers of film look to the Oscars as the de facto ruling on a film's importance. This has long been an issue with film enthusiasts of course because of the Academys penchant for bad decisions, but of all the mistakes made no one thought they would make one that diluted their brand to the masses. Thats exactly what this expansion did. The decision came down as either pandering to critics or pandering to the movie industry. Critics of the Academy just wanted the right films honored, not more of the wrong ones (You might say that sentiment hit Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to home this year). Production companies see the Oscars as a marketing tool. If their film makes the list they get a financial bump from increased awareness. Now with as many as ten nominees won't see the same value, and soon Nominated for an Academy Award will carry about the same visual weight on the blu-ray box as Won a Golden Globe. By attempting to pander they ended up losing more critical credibility and weight with the studios. Brilliant.