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Oscars Pose a Threat to Good Movies

Small, 'self-involved' clique hands out the awards: NYT critic

By Erin Mendell, Newser User

Posted Feb 23, 2008 3:50 PM CST

(Newser) – Oscar night may seem like fun, but it has quietly turned the US market for serious films into a “brutal blood sport,” critic AO Scott writes in the New York Times. The highly commercial fare of January through August is followed by an “avalanche of art” after Labor Day—and those that are released too soon "will bear the stigma of failure," Scott laments.

The Academy may be more discerning now, but it also represents "a self-interested, self-involved professional clique" that is out of touch with American taste. Scott misses "the old days," when Oscar voters would "gild the lily of commercial success." Now they've become far too serious: “The wonderful thing about the Academy Awards is that they are fundamentally trivial. To pretend otherwise is to trivialize movies.”

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Actor Colin Farrell, who will be a presenter for the 80th Academy Awards, rehearses at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008. The Oscars will be presented tomorrow. (AP Photo/Chris... (Associated Press)

Daniel Day-Lewis stars in "There Will Be Blood." (MovieWeb)

This photo released by Fox Searchlight shows Ellen Page in a scene from "Juno." Four of the movies nominated last week for best picture, "Juno," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men" and "There... (Associated Press)

Sid Ganis, President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, speaks during a news conference on the red carpet arrivals area for the 80th Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles,... (Associated Press)

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Oscars Pose a Threat to Good Movies