Best Pictures: The Hit Parade of 2010
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 2:16PM 
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?
Reader Comments (2)
This year and last year were two of Oscar's best years in terms of BP nominees. I agreed with 9/10 nominees both times. (Curse you, Blind Side and The Fighter!) The last time I agree with 9/10 Academy BP nominees is in 1939 (Love Affair is the odd one out). And that year, most of the nominees did very well at the box office.
So...I dunno what that means. I guess the 10 wide system is working.
Last year, Blind Side got in mostly on Bullock and a decent run at the box office. It had no chance at the prize.
This year, the two biggest nominees in terms of cash are out of the race. We all know why. Sadly, The Fighter got in because everyone except me and Roger Ebert loved it to death, and its good run at the box office and helped.
ANDREW -- how can you not love it? it's so damn enjoyable and lively