Actors Daniel Day-Lewis shown in a scene from the film "Lincoln" in this publicity photo released to Reuters January 10, 2013. The film has been nominated for best picture for the 85th Academy Awards Thursday. The Oscars will be presented in Hollywood, California February 24, 2013. (REUTERS/Walt Disney Pictures/20th Century Fox/Handout)
After Thursday's Oscar announcements, I think it's time to cut bait on the grand experiment to allow "commercial" hits into its best picture category.
That experiment dates back to 2009, when -- after a media and fan uproar over the exclusion of The Dark Knight -- the Academy announced it would boost the best picture nominee category from five films to 10.
Never mind that once upon a time, when a vast TV viewing audience cared about the Oscars, movies like Star Wars, ET: The Extraterrestrial and Raiders Of The Lost Ark were routinely nominated for best picture in a list of only five.
So the problem with the Academy voters' cognitive disconnect from what people actually pay to see goes a lot deeper than simply widening the field.
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