Congratulations, The Dark Knight

Why do I say that? Because if it's any good, it just won the first of five slots for Best Picture next year. Why do I say that? Because ratings are in for the Oscar telecast and they are way down. Meaning that next year, the Academy will probably be scrambling to get a quality box office hit into the field.

Whether fair or not, this Oscar field got branded the bleak, bloody, violent one with films that nobody saw. I think an equally big issue is the lack of established stars in the major categories. Look at the complete lack of star power in the Best Actress category. One star of yesteryear, one riser, an unknown (stateside) French actress, an accomplished actress but non-star, and Cate Blanchett, whose hard to describe from a public perspective. It would have been good to have, say, Julia Roberts running in the supporting category for Charlie Wilson's War. And even if I don't personally care for American Gangster, a BP nod and one for Denzel Washington would have brought some audience to the ceremony. The fact that there isn't a Best Picture nominee that I hate was a bad sign from the start.