Huffington Magazine Issue 35-36 | Page 42

Best Picture nominees from five to as many as ten. According to Friedman (fan of concise speeches), the result is a ballot padded with “faux” contenders that waste resources campaigning. “There are five other movies giving people parties, creating stories in the press,” he said. “A lot of money is being spent that doesn’t need to be, and a lot of time is taken up.” This year, nine nominees were chosen; the “real” five, according to AwardsDaily critic Sasha Stone, which tend to have a Best Director nod (Lincoln, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook and the ringer-with-achance, Amour), and the “faux” four (Argo, Les Misérables, Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained). Which will win? Say hello to the next favorite topic for critics to rant about. Due to a “preferential” balloting system, members rank their top five movies, and No. 1’s are prioritized, leading to “the least polarizing best picture winner every year,” complained Stone. “It rewards the movies that people feel the most strongly about,” agreed Scott Feinberg, of The Hollywood Reporter. What’s wrong with that? Well, it means a film a smallish number of Academy members go crazy for is basically a mortal i x lock — producing results like Hurt Locker as Best Picture instead of Avatar. (Between those who believe a Best Picture should be popular and those who couldn’t be bothered how many people enjoyed it, there is a great philosophical divide.) In the old days, Stone told us, Avatar would have at least stood a chance of splitting the vote. But its low final tally of golden statues (won for art direction, cinematography and visual effects) means the blockbuster lacked the fiery Academy support a Big Picture winner needs, according to Stone. The narrative of a battle between ex-spouses (Cameron v. Bigelow!) was likely not a reflection of reality so much as the public’s wish for a tight race — a phenomenon the preferential ballot renders impossible. So, differences of opinion. But our court rests on this point: back to five, please, Academy, and ditch the new ballot. Oh, and also … OPEN THE GATES “I wouldn’t want to make it like American Idol, but we’re living in the age of social networking,” Herrguth said. “At Comedy Central, we’re always finding ways to make things more interactive for the audience.” How about a scaled-down reality-show format, with only a few i n g o s c a r THE OSCAR ISSUE / HUFFINGTON / 02.10-17.13 f