Let's test your memory. Do you recall those annual articles that popped up every single year decrying “The Academy is Out of Touch!” because of neglected blockbusters? No? Well, neither does the media. This year's Best Picture lineup is quite a popular field, but nobody is congratulating the Academy voters by writing reversal articles like “The Academy is Totally Relevant Again!” Sometimes you have to feel for the Academy. The truth is that people just like to complain.
Journalists lazily hit that "Out of Touch!" button each and every January until just recently. The hostility peaked two years ago when The Dark Knight (2008) and the classic Pixar WALL•E (2008) both performed spectacularly with audiences and critics, but were left out of Best Picture in favor of traditional Oscar bait like political biopics and Holocaust movies...
Read the rest at Tribeca Film...
In honor of The Fighter, I divvy up the Best Picture nominees into weight class divisions. Did you add to these theatrical grosses in the theater or were you stingy with your ticket purchasing?