The nominees for this year's Academy Awards were announced yesterday, but there's been quite a bit of backlash regarding the movies that will compete for "Best Picture." The category was expanded this year to include ten films, leading many to hope that critically acclaimed blockbusters like Spider-Man: No Way Home and No Time to Die might at least be recognised for their achievements.
That didn't happen, but bafflingly, Netflix's Don't Look Up - which received a mixed response from critics and has been panned by most viewers - is a "Best Picture" contender!
A lot of people are confused by that decision, including late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
"How did [‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’] not get one of the 10 nominations for Best Picture?" he asked during last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live! "Forget the fact that the movie made $750 million [in the U.S.] and is still going. This was a great movie. It wasn’t in the top 10 best movies of the year? There were three Spider-Men in it. You’re telling me 'Don’t Look Up' was better than 'Spider-Man?'"
"It most certainly was not," he continued. "Even if you go by the critics reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, 'Don’t Look Up' got a 46% and 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' has 90%. For god’s sake, 'Jackass Forever' has an 89%," Kimmel continued. "Why do best picture nominees have to be serious? When did that become a prerequisite for getting nominated for an Academy Award?"
"You wanna know what happened? Voters looked at the list and saw the names Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep and they checked the box and then they put their kids in the car and went to see the movie 'Spider-Man,'" he concluded. "And they loved it! But they didn’t vote for it."
Spider-Man: No Way Home did earn one Oscar nomination this year, but only for its visual effects. There is going to be some sort of fan vote - likely as part of the Academy's efforts to drive up falling viewership - but that feels like a token gesture. As for Kimmel, he makes a lot of great points here, and it's really no wonder the Oscars are considered irrelevant in the eyes of many younger film fans.
What's your take on Spider-Man: No Way Home being overlooked?
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