The Academy just introduced a shockingly basic Oscars rule: Voters must now watch all the nominated films in a category. Yes, really.
Ladies and gentlemen, the mystery has finally been solved: We now know why the Oscars have occasionally handed out statues to garbage films that made half the internet go, “Wait… really?” It’s because, as crazy and unfair as this sounds, some Academy voters weren’t even watching the movies they were voting on. And, apparently, nobody really cared.
Until now. In a turn of events that feels, at least to me, less like news and more like a confession, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that for next year’s 98th annual Oscars, voters will now be required to watch all the nominated films in a category before they’re allowed to vote in the final round.
Let’s pause and let that sink in.
In light of the new rules and deadlines for the 98th Oscars that the Academy has just made official, it seems like basic logic to require that voters watch all the nominated films in a category before casting their ballots. Instead of just, you know, voters going with their gut. Accordingly, cue the collective head-scratching and incredulous tweets:
“Insane this wasn’t already a rule.
