re: James Berardinelli's solution to fix the Best Picture Oscar award

quote:

---

It gets huge ratings ever year. Apparently lots of people think its already watchable.

---

Ratings were down significantly on average until last year.

He mentions data, which is correct, that Titanic and LOTR ROTK years had the most viewers of the last 15 years or so.

quote:

---

Year Viewers (Millions)[78] Ad Price[78][79]
2014 43.740[80] $1.8 million - $1.9 million[81]
2013 40.376[82] $1.65 million and $1.8 million[81]
2012 39.460[83] $1.610 million
2011 37.919 $1,368,400
2010 41.699 $1,126,700
2009 36.310 $1.3 million[81]
2008 32.006 $1.82 million[81]
2007 40.172 $1,665,800
2006 38.939 $1,646,800
2005 42.139 $1,503,000
2004 43.531 $1,503,100
2003 33.043 $1,345,800
2002 41.782 $1,290,000
2001 42.944 $1,450,000
2000 46.333 $1,305,000
1999 45.615 $1,000,000
1998 55.249 $950,000
1997 40.075 $850,000
1996 44.867 $795,000
1995 48.279 $700,000
1994 45.083 $643,500
1993 45.735 $607,800
1992 44.406 Not available
1991 42.727 Not available
1990 40.375 $450,000
1989 42.619 $375,000
1988 42.227 $360,000
1987 37.190 $335,000
1986 37.757 $320,000
1985 38.855 $315,000
1984 42.051 $275,000
1983 53.235 $245,000
1982 46.245 Not available
1981 39.919 Not available
1980 48.978 Not available
1979 46.301 Not available
1978 48.501 Not available
1977 39.719 Not available
1976 46.751 Not available
1975 48.127 Not available
1975 44.712 Not available

---

LINK

He even starts with this:

quote:

---

Note #1: This is an attempt to be controversial. It is not, however, a cry to receive hate mail. If you want to dispute my proposal, that's fine. But please do me the dignity of reading it all the way through (not skimming it or just reading excerpts) beforehand.

Note #2: Axiom: All big budget movies are not necessarily crap. Just as all small budget movies are not necessarily art.

---

2009, the year Avatar came out and was nominated for a bunch of Oscars including best picture, is the second lowest rated in the last ten years. Doesn't really help his premise that big budget movies get higher rated Oscars.

Even though those numbers may be down relative to other Oscar broadcasts, it is still one of the top rated shows of the year in all of tv. Only the Superbowl gets consistently higher ratings than the Oscars.

quote:

---

He is making the same stupid argument some (Colin Cowherd chief among them) try to make when a small market sports team makes a championship game.

---

That argument holds no water with me. So what if a team is in the 30th largest tv market? Do you think that that Thunder or Packers give a damn how many people in the city limits are watching their games? No. It doesn't matter. Both teams are in a salary cap sport. It means precisely dick.

And I have a hard time calling OKC or San Antonio or Atlanta (Colin actually called Atlanta a small market this morning in reference to the Hawks) when there are several hundred markets out there. San Antonio and OKC aren't small markets, nor is Pittsburgh. You know what's a small market? Tupelo. Waco. Pensacola. Missoula. Those are small markets.

If your city is big enough to support at least one team in a big 4, you aren't a small market. Just because you don't have at least 5 million people living in a 5 miles radius of the damn stadium/arena doesn't mean you are a small market.

/unnecessaryrant

I've been waiting for Transformers to be nominated for years.

The only real best picture issue I see is that if you can nominate 10 films you should also nominate as many directors. Afflek should've been nominated the year Argo came out and Ava DuVernay should be nominated this year. They don't have to win but your best picture nominees didn't direct themselves.

A. That's stupid.
B. The idea that the films nominated for Best Picture are "obscure" is absurd. These are movies largely put out by major studios available at your local multiplex.
C. Movies that gross that much money tend to be aiming for the most common denominator, which is how they get so many people to see their movie. This makes a fairly middlebrow award somehow even more middlebrow.

I usually like him (he's my go to critic) but I have no idea what the frick he's talking about here other than that it's stupid.

quote:

---

fix the Best Picture Oscar award

---

what's wrong with it now?

quote:

---

Think about that...that's exactly what it would do, at least in theory. If more popular movies were nominated, then it should appeal to more people, which would thus make it "more watchable."

---

I don't believe the Academy cares what will make the Oscars "more watchable." Last year 43 million people tuned in to watch in the United States alone. The telecast averages roughly 40 million views per year in the U.S. with hundreds millions more watching worldwide.

They are doing just fine.

quote:

---

make those responsible for Crash come up during the awards this year, apologize and give back their Oscar. Then we'll move on to step two...

---

I'm a supporter of this idea.

quote:

---

You should preface this by saying what it is, a way to make the Oscar telecast more successful. On that note, it's a good idea.


It's also a slight nod to finding movies that are both high quality and reach an audience. There's something to that. Too many of these gut reactions are about thinking Berardinelli means "high quality films make money," which is, although debatable, not the point.

And I find it strange that many here don't like this, but constantly moan about SPR over Shakespeare in Love.

---

Right, you need the big movies to be able to make the small films. The big movies pay for Hollywood.


I mean, I think it's hilarious that the reason 3D and IMAX is in theaters now is all because of Avatar. The film changed the industry, and loses to a small film with a little bit of legs.