Who/What Decides what will win BP among other Awards

[CloneWars]

So, I have been thinking lately, a lot of times, it is easy to guess what will win BP or what the big two or three films will be. We here about the film festivals and whatnot and critic reception. Then, there are the Guilds, and the Academy tried to get away with them last year, announcing nominees before the Guilds had a chance to announce their nominees. But, that backfired, and the Academy lacked the balls and went with the Guilds choices and picked Argo for BP.

 

But, even with the Guilds influence, I get the opinion that there are other influences much earlier. My question is what are these influences and what causes the Academy members to follow these influences like sheep. Who really decides what movies win and what movies are not worthy?

[ChD]

Well, most of it depends on how liked that movie is, by the general audience AND the voter himself. I mean, there are many indie movies who didn't gross a lot of movies that are considered VERY VERY GOOD, but voters don't usually go with them because they think they don't stand a chance at all and that they might be the only ones voting for it after all.

Other Awards nomination also influence the voters pretty much. There is no doubt that some voters haven't watched all movies. I'm sure of it. I'm just guessing this, might as well be wrong, but I think that some of the voting goes according to the hype. If Argo was nominated for others before the Academy, there is no doubt that that thing influenced its chances to get a BP nomination. Maybe without the guild, it wouldn't have made it in just like Affleck didn't get into directing.

 

Who is in the movie also matters a lot. Director/Actor friends who are voters might give their movie a little plus and put it on their votes because you know... they're friends.

[CloneWars]

This is true and all, but months in advance we usually have a good idea who the frontrunners will be. What will get nominated, etc. I remember The Artist being the frontrunner for practically forever and usually we sometimes know an actor is a lock for a win no matter what like DDL with Lincoln last year. I mean, I know things change, but it seems many things are decided well in advance. My question is who or what is responsible for this early-on decision making and why is it so hard for the Academy to make their own decisions. It just feels like they go with what their spoon-fed instead of actually following their own instincts.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Reptilians decide who wins the best picture. 

[Plain Old Tele]

...why is it so hard for the Academy to make their own decisions. It just feels like they go with what their spoon-fed instead of actually following their own instincts.

 

I think this is a false assumption. They (individually) do make their own decisions, it's just that the campaign strategists have a pretty good sense of what they'll go for and that's why they target a particular release pattern for a movie. Note that of course the Academy goes with their own opinion even when it's considered laughable (CRASH, for example).

 

Just before the Oscars, Entertainment Weekly always has an article where they ask some anonymous Academy members whom they're picking for the major awards, and why. The answers can be illuminating. For example, here's what they had for the last Oscars:

 

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20311937_20675340,00.html

Edited October 9, 2013 by Telemachos

[CloneWars]

I think this is a false assumption. They (individually) do make their own decisions, it's just that the campaign strategists have a pretty good sense of what they'll go for and that's why they target a particular release pattern for a movie. Note that of course the Academy goes with their own opinion even when it's considered laughable (CRASH, for example).

 

Just before the Oscars, Entertainment Weekly always has an article where they ask some anonymous Academy members whom they're picking for the major awards, and why. The answers can be illuminating. For example, here's what they had for the last Oscars:

 

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20311937_20675340,00.html

Crash seems to be more of an exception than a norm though.

[Plain Old Tele]

Crash seems to be more of an exception than a norm though.

Gandhi, Chariots of Fire, Dances with Wolves, Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, Braveheart, Driving Miss Daisy, Hurt Locker, A Beautiful Mind, etc all showed some degree of thinking outside the box and/or ignoring the conventional "should win" picture. Yes, many of them are willful throwbacks towards oldernon-controversial films, but then again, this is basically your parents and grandparents voting for Best Picture.

[Jessie]

Who cares anyway? The Academy is a joke as it is. When films such as Shakespeare in Love win over Saving Private Ryan or films like The Reader get more recognition than TDK then I lose all interest in their opinions. Also Argo was okay and all but did it really deserve to win BP when it was going up against much better movies? If the hurt Locker was good enough to win BP then the superior Zero Dark Thirty should have mopped the floor with Argo.

[The Futurist]

Who cares anyway? The Academy is a joke as it is. When films such as Shakespeare in Love win over Saving Private Ryan or films like The Reader get more recognition than TDK then I lose all interest in their opinions.Also Argo was okay and all but did it really deserve to win BP when it was going up against much better movies? If the hurt Locker was good enough to win BP then the superior Zero Dark Thirty should have mopped the floor with Argo.

 

What makes sure than your opinion is more valid than AMPAS ?

 

Diversity of opinions is what makes the spice of life.

[Jessie]

What makes sure than your opinion is more valid than AMPAS ? Diversity of opinions is what makes the spice of life.

Because my opinion is better, I wouldn't rate Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan. Nor would I class The Artist the greatest movie of any year.

[riczhang]

Because my opinion is better, I wouldn't rate Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan. Nor would I class The Artist the greatest movie of any year.

Oh fucking shut it and get out. The academy's opinion is infinitely more valid and value than your's. 6000+ definitely outweighs 1.

[Jessie]

Oh fucking shut it and get out. The academy's opinion is infinitely more valid and value than your's. 6000+ definitely outweighs 1.

But I'm part of the general audience who's opinions on movies matters more to the studios than anyone else, including the Academy

[CoolioD1]

Oh fucking shut it and get out. The academy's opinion is infinitely more valid and value than your's. 6000+ definitely outweighs 1.

eh.

[Jack Nevada]

Oh fucking shut it and get out. The academy's opinion is infinitely more valid and value than your's. 6000+ definitely outweighs 1.

Elitist bullshit.

[mahnamahna]

The Academy doesn't know anything...

 

Tell me how The Avengers or Perks of Being a Wallflower weren't nominated for Best Picture when Les Miserables (one of the cheesiest musicals I've ever seen) got a nod. 

 

Explain how The Reader (62% RT rating and mediocre buzz) got a nod over the infinitely superior TDK and WALL-E

 

Dig deep into how The King's Speech (the film had BBC telefilm-level production values and came off as way too safe) is more worthy of a BP win than Inception, Toy Story 3 or The Social Network (all three of which had something to say, as opposed to a hack biopic) 

 

The Oscars nominates anything Weinstein, or schmaltzy drama... once in a while, we get a bone for things like Master and Commander, LOTR Trilogy, Up, Toy Story 3, Inception. 

 

If there was ever a worthy  sci-fi film for BP, Gravity would be it... really rooting for it to score a win since it'd be the first tentpole to win the big prize since 2004. Just because a film has SFX or CGI doesn't make it lesser to a traditional drama. 

 

I hate the idea that the Academy is better than the rest of America 

[Blankments]

Tell me how The Avengers or Perks of Being a Wallflower weren't nominated for Best Picture when Les Miserables (one of the cheesiest musicals I've ever seen) got a nod. 

 

I agree with most of your post... but this is hilarious

[Plain Old Tele]

The Academy doesn't know anything...Tell me how The Avengers or Perks of Being a Wallflower weren't nominated for Best Picture when Les Miserables (one of the cheesiest musicals I've ever seen) got a nod. Explain how The Reader (62% RT rating and mediocre buzz) got a nod over the infinitely superior TDK and WALL-EDig deep into how The King's Speech (the film had BBC telefilm-level production values and came off as way too safe) is more worthy of a BP win than Inception, Toy Story 3 or The Social Network (all three of which had something to say, as opposed to a hack biopic) The Oscars nominates anything Weinstein, or schmaltzy drama... once in a while, we get a bone for things like Master and Commander, LOTR Trilogy, Up, Toy Story 3, Inception. If there was ever a worthy sci-fi film for BP, Gravity would be it... really rooting for it to score a win since it'd be the first tentpole to win the big prize since 2004. Just because a film has SFX or CGI doesn't make it lesser to a traditional drama. I hate the idea that the Academy is better than the rest of America

The answer to all your questions is very simple: they had more of an emotional connection with the nominated film, and it carried more meaning to them. The Academy is not "better" than America, it's merely a reflection of how that particular 6000 member organization feels about movies in that particular year.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

If people want popular movies to be nominated it is called the People's choice Awards and MTV Movie Awards. 

[Leyla]

Weinstein decides

[Ozymandias]

If people want popular movies to be nominated it is called the People's choice Awards and MTV Movie Awards. 

 

MTV is where the real masterpieces like Twilight win.