Quote:
Originally Posted by FoxGator
No offense to the OP, but the Oscars are meaningless to me. Every film influences and affects individuals differently. How can a committee decide which is best for the rest of us? My feelings on this is the same for all other judged and/or voted on award ceremonies or competitions.
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I would agree the the Academy Awards are not the most astutely judged shows or festivals, but I would say that them along with the better festivals do a good job of narrowing down important films, the ones most likely to be historically significant. There are too many movies being released all the time, then eventually going to Netflix, Redbox, various pay-per-view services, cable or whatever. Most of them are crap, made just to attract a specific audience and make a profit. If it weren't for awards shows/film festivals, film critics and theorists, it would be impossible to sort out the films that told great stories, or made important statements. Down the line, the perennial award winners become a known entity. We know when a David O. Russell film comes out, it's probably worth seeing.
The committee doesn't decide what is best for everyone to see. They decide what films were well made, breaking it down craft by craft. They tell us what films are most worth seeing. The show itself is a good forum for educating the audience about film, the history, the technical details, etc.
Cannes, Sundance, the Toronto and New York Film festivals have more artistic merit and much more astute juries, but those things go on for days. You can't televise them. I like to read about the winners to get a head's up for what's coming. By the time the Oscars come around, most of the films are no longer in theatrical release.
If you don't pay attention to at least some of this stuff, at least the critics, you end up getting suckered into seeing bad movies that are well marketed.