Critics’ Influence on the Oscars

Kevin Spacey, Mena Suvari in American Beauty

Critics and Awards Season: Part I
It’s too bad that U.S. film critics have such short memories — see Jack Mathews‘ top comment in the previous page — as Once is the type of small, foreign film that needs year-end critics’ awards so Academy members can a) become aware of its existence b) check it out. Here’s wondering if voting "compromises," as mentioned by Mathews in his second comment, ended up leaving Once almost totally shut out of the myriad U.S. critics’ lists.
Both Stephen Witty’s and Scott Foundas‘ articles are well worth a read. I do, however, disagree with Foundas’ statement that the Oscar’s "golden luster" has been badly tarnished in recent years. After all, [...]