The Academy has sent out a press release regarding final voting, which reads:
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the schedule for the final round of voting for this year’s Oscars®.
Final balloting will begin on Friday, February 8, at 8 a.m. PT, and close on Tuesday, February 19, at 5 p.m. PT. To provide as many options as possible, Academy members who voted online during the nominations round will have the option of using a paper ballot in the final round. Members who have registered to vote online may request a paper ballot by contacting the Academy’s Membership Department by Friday, February 1.
Several voting resources will once again be available to members, including assisted voting stations in Los Angeles, New York, and London, and a 24-hour call center.
“One of our basic goals at the Academy is to increase member engagement. Despite some challenges, more members voted for this year’s nominations than they have in the past several years,” said Academy Chief Operating Officer Ric Robertson. “We are looking forward to a continuation of that trend in the final voting.”
I know that my fellow bloggers are going to take issue with this statement but since I’m one of those people who really would only vote online it seems believable to me. I also don’t think they would lie publicly.
Make a note of the February 8th start of voting. They lengthened the time after nominations and before final voting to give them more time to reflect upon what should win. Either that or it provides more time for a late-breaking momentum shift.
If the online voting is the one thing that got Beast of the Southern Wild to a BP, BD and (puke) Best actress nomination then AMPAS should return to paper ballots.
I know we think old people can’t use computers but maybe they can. lol And it’s possible that the younger generation of Academy members picked up the slack by voting online when they wouldn’t have bothered wasting their time with a paper ballot. Who knows? Anything’s possible.
“I would like to see Life Of Pi win the PGA to turn the race in another direction.”
I think it has a better chance at the DGA, Ashwin, but a win in either would certainly make things more complex – and more interesting.
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I really doubt if any older or tech illiterates actually voted online. I’m certain they stuck with paper, just like they never use a bank machine or pay bills online.
I can see the voting numbers going way up by providing all voters a means to vote anytime, anywhere. These would be the ones missed in previous years because they didn’t have access to the mail-in ballot in time or bother to sit down to complete it.
Where it gets tricky – and I don’t know how this particular online vote works, technically – is where a voter doesn’t respond to one category because of indecision and moves to the next, planning to come back to it later. Or, if they are interrupted and want to resume voting later. Any bugs in the system would show up in these, or similar, situations.
We’ll never know.
Is it possible I wonder for Argo to win just one Oscar Best Picture?
I would like to see Life Of Pi win the PGA to turn the race in another direction.
Is it possible I wonder for Argo to win just one Oscar Best Picture?
It seems like it’s theoretically possible. I guess what I think is this — if we’re talking about Argo vs. Silver Linings vs. Lincoln vs. Life of Pi (even vs. Beasts of the Southern Wild) it’s probably going to come down to adapted screenplay since it can’t come down to director. I would think that if Argo is popular enough to win Best Picture it will also take screenplay. Although Gladiator took Best Picture, I believe, without taking Screenplay. One movie did win a single Best Picture Oscar and that was Mutiny on the Bounty 1936.
I don’t see why it’s so hard for some people to believe that the new voting system was an overall success.
I think the Academy members who we read about having trouble with the online voting are people who musn’t be that computer literate to begin with (for instance, I read that Academy members who entered the wrong password proceeded to enter the wrong password an additional two times and were subsequently locked out for 24 hours… what did they expect to happen..?)
I think that online voting makes it much more accessible and convenient for Academy members (at least computer literate ones) to vote so I definitely believe that the voting turnout was higher this year.
Hard to imagine any Academy member who doesn’t have a personal assistant who’s probably handy with online stuff. Or a secretary. Or friend. Or grandchild. At least maybe a hairdresser.
Gosh, people act as if this online voting thing is done in complete isolation. Should the ballot have an emergency Life Alert button?
From what I understand, most Academy members keep in touch with David Poland, so if all else fails he can walk them through it.
Re JLaw, in the wake of Mr. Holt’s comment, I once wouldn’t call myself a fan prior to SLP phenomenon, and for good measure I have to watch The Hunger Games yet.
That said, now converted, another brand new fan of this beauty named Jennifer Lawrence; to begin with, just as Stephen Holt I really enjoyed her SNL opening monologue. I believe she toned it down a bit for some apparent reason, but that’s another story for now.
Re the record turnout for nom voting, well, good for them, though. They need this PR to make sure people have a proper sense of, it is to be hoped, the reality behind the scene. Looks like this movie year does not interest only the viewers but also the Academy voters. [It makes me wonder, had *more voters really participated (*assuming not 100% of eligible voters had cast their votes), what could have been in the Lambs and Tides year when rumor had it that Hopkins beat Nolte by a couple of votes only, give or take.]
Well, Stephen Holt actually makes a good point. If David O. Russell lands on 60 minutes talking about his mental illness and how it affected his career (particularly in the late 90s/early 00s when he treated everyone like crap), as well as his son, then … maybe there is something about the paranoia about a possible SLP win.
Yes, this is definitely Harvey time. And he’s decided, as Sasha alludes to in this piece and elsewhere, that “Silver Linings Playbook” is his strongest shot to go for a Three-peat.
The SAGS will tell us a lot on Sunday. If it’s “SLP” for Best Ensemble, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor- DeNiro…he’s won a lot of accolades in his long, long career, but strangely never a SAG award. And they will think it’s HIGH time to correct that.
Jennifer Lawrence, now that the second “Hunger Games” has wrapped is going to be seen EVERYWHERE. Like for instance on “SNL” which she aced. HYSTERICAL opening monologue on her fellow nominees. I couldn’t stop laughing.
I’m STILL laughing. And I wasn’t a J.Law. fan going into this season.
But the love for “Argo” and Ben Affleck’s snub and GEORGE Clooney, who didn’t win last year…
David O. Russell could come out BIG TIME as a manic depressive himself. I think Harvey’s been saving that for last.
And every where I go people keep coming up to me saying that they “LOVED” Silver Linings Playbook. Oy vay.
The de facto assumption is that the noms were a real embarrassment for the academy and that something truly tragic happened. Guess what? Some people actually think that the noms were outstanding and that the academy might very be really proud of themselves.
Some people actually think that the noms were outstanding and that the academy might very be really proud of themselves.
I would agree! They picked Zeitlin and Haneke! That’s incredible. Everyone always complains about how predictable it has become and how no one ever thinks for themselves and yet, here is the Academy thinking for themselves, the directors at least.
I assumed Harvey was behind the Oz plug. Was I mistaken?
Please, Sasha, SLP isn’t winning Best Picture. If it does, pigs will fly out of my butt. Unless the Oz plug has a domino effect and we see every television medical “practitioner” talking about the merits of SLP’s “dealings” with mental illness all of a sudden.
time for Harvey
time for Harvey
Maybe or maybe a way to subvert for a change, after all, he goes on momentum. But yeah, if they can successfully trash the competition their film will win by default. Classic move.
With the new rules against the previous campaign forms, you have to wonder if this announcement isn’t to at least get the Oscars int he news. They do need some way to generate audience and this period between the late film releases and the end of voting is very, very quiet. Box office which often drives momentum isn’t exactly booming now that the holidays are past and the public is paying off the credit cards. The guild awards better make some noise or the show with a globally unknown host may suffer.
Great job this year by the Academy if these numbers are true. Imagine – this is WITHOUT the appeal of Kate Winslet (The Reader, All the King’s Men) as a nominee. If the Oscar-winning Winslet returns to the silver screen in 2013, who knows if this year’s record will manage to make it more than a single year!!
-Watermelons
I don’t believe them about more votes being cast. I mean since it’s all secret they can say whatever they want and no reporter can double check their records. I think they are being defensive to clean up the bad PR from the new voting system. Just my 2 cents.
That being said, The Early Deadline is probably what shook things up the most.
I kind of wish they move up the deadline to December 31st at midnight from now on.
If only there was some incentive for studios to release films earlier in the year (besides just making better movies).
Strange that for a process that is so top secret, that they would even disclose this relatively ambiguous, harmless piece of information, no? No, they probably wouldn’t lie. But, I just find it a break with tradition that raises an eyebrow. That’s just me. Or, maybe it’s the times we are now living in where PR and brand management has become more part of our culture than ever.
There have been people like Jacki Weaver who have went on record publicly that they had a difficult time voting, and, ultimately, their votes weren’t counted. If the AMPAS aren’t lying or telling a white lie, then that makes me think that turnout in the past had set a pretty low bar to begin with.
Regardless, however the math breaks down, it’s one of the most interesting races in years. And, one can’t help but ask: what was different this year? One can say the movies (but 2010 offered a comparable artistic and commercial appeal), but one can also wonder what was different about the process. Coincidence is also always something to consider.