The Academy voters need a "change"

Unfortunately the Academy voters continue to vote on politically acceptable and socially relevant over "best product". Once I spotted the nominations I basically lost interest in the list. Since I work around the public in the movie watching environment, I pretty much get the input from the general masses. Certainly the masses are not truly "critics" in comparison to the Academy, but when you get a movie like The Dark Knight that is literally liked by everyone, and it doesn't get a nod, you have to wonder what "best picture" means. If a person makes a movie that is so good in every facet that every patron watching it really likes it, one cannot look and say "well it had pretty good directing, and at times decent story telling". It is a shame that The Dark Knight was shut out for picture and director. I guess the academy is more comfortable with their period pieces and they are not ready to accept a "comic book" world as "real" enough for their tastes.

Benjamin Button shouldn't have gotten that many nominations. It was a decent film, but the lead vote getter? nah. Milk I never saw, but not even the majority of the critics like it. I haven't seen it, but The Reader too couldn't even win over a majority of the critics and the public. Slumdog Millionaire is rightly nominated and Frost / Nixon is rightly nominated. I have not seen either of those two, but based on the viewership response they stand heads and shoulders above Milk, Reader, and Benjamin.

It's sad when a movie fanatic like me has become so dis-interested in the Academy and their views. It's like a political party with such small focused views that it leaves a majority out. Good Luck academy, but you lost a very large chunk of viewers by not nominating possibly the best film of the year in The Dark Knight. The average movie watcher really hasn't seen most of your nominated films and will most likely have the same feeling churning in their gut. This Academy Awards show I predict will have a less than average viewership.