Academy Awards - Ten Nominations

[ToadBrother]

I don't agree that every year does not produce at least 5 really good movies, that is not so hard to do or hard to identify them.

The problem is that the Academy refuses to acknowledge some excellent candidates because they just don't fit the business plan which controls the process of nomination.

Or they're made somewhere else. They take an entire world's full of cinema and compresses anything not made or distributed by the big studios into "best foreign film". They don't even apply that evenly. Why was Slumdog Millionaire eligible? British director, British screenwriter, Indian cast. But because Warner Brothers picked it up, suddenly it's eligible for all the big awards.

[Michael Hardner]

Or they're made somewhere else. They take an entire world's full of cinema and compresses anything not made or distributed by the big studios into "best foreign film". They don't even apply that evenly. Why was Slumdog Millionaire eligible? British director, British screenwriter, Indian cast. But because Warner Brothers picked it up, suddenly it's eligible for all the big awards.

That's the thing about Foreign Films... Hollywood doesn't make enough of them.

[fellowtraveller]

Or they're made somewhere else. They take an entire world's full of cinema and compresses anything not made or distributed by the big studios into "best foreign film". They don't even apply that evenly. Why was Slumdog Millionaire eligible? British director, British screenwriter, Indian cast. But because Warner Brothers picked it up, suddenly it's eligible for all the big awards.

I covered that with 'business plan'.

The Oscars are about making money for the industry, why would they bother promoting some obscure but great flick that doesn't make them money regardless of quality. Oh, they do toss in the odd wildcard or sentimental fave to pretend they are artistes rewarding artistes, but the evidence says otherwise.

[August1991]

But what may affect who takes home the statuette is the new and complicated voting procedure instituted to deal with the extra nominees. Instead of simply listing a single top film, the Academys roughly 6,000 members are now required to rank them in order of preference; a result is that a film that heavily figures in the No. 2 or No. 3 spots might best one with a sprinkling of votes in No. 1 and conversely, it means that its important for a film to be picked for No. 2 and No. 3. (That is, unless a film has 50 percent plus 1 of the No. 1 votes, which constitutes a winning majority.)

NYT

This looks like the single-transferrable vote scheme that was recently proposed in BC. In such a system, it is sometimes better to be everyone's second choice.

Or they're made somewhere else. They take an entire world's full of cinema and compresses anything not made or distributed by the big studios into "best foreign film". They don't even apply that evenly. Why was Slumdog Millionaire eligible? British director, British screenwriter, Indian cast. But because Warner Brothers picked it up, suddenly it's eligible for all the big awards.

The term is in fact "foreign language film". That is, a film in a language other than English.

I believe that foreign language films are eligible for other prizes such as Best Picture, Director and so on.

Edited February 15, 2010 by August1991