Do Awards (Golden Globes, Oscars, ect) Change Your Movie Spending Habits?

[Forseti]

I've never watched an award ceremony. I just check out the nominations. I don't give a rodent's rectum where the actual awards end up.

[Siddon]

I sure do, I've actually been working my way through best picture noms right now I'm at 497 out of 528 films. I trust the academy more than I trust certain dodgy websites

[SpiderClops]

Do awards change my movie watching habit?

Award win?-No.
Award hype?-Yes.

[JasonTodd428]

Not in the least. Awards are nice but having an award doesn't necessarily mean I'll like the film in question. For me if I'm going to spend the money to see or own a movie it needs to be something I think I'll enjoy watching. There are literally dozens of movies that have won awards that I have absolutely no interest in so their having awards is irrelevant.

[Jim Kelly]

In a round-about way the award shows do change movie going habits, in that they sometimes make available movies that wouldn't get shown in most cities and movie theatres. It's a double-edged sword, because other movies don't get nominated and never make it into general distribution. Granted the Oscars won't always select the best movies--but some excellent English-language movies and foreign-language movies do make it into the nominations.

Also, it brings an appreciation to crafts that most people wouldn't otherwise pay attention to--like cinematography, editing, writing, art direction, costume design, score, sound editing. It's gratifying to see these behind the scenes artists recognized.

Unfortunately, few people remember the Oscars from when Bob Hope hosted them. I always looked forward to this night in spring, which was a school night (as the Oscars were always on a Monday) yet my parents let us stay up late. And we'd all gather around the TV set and laugh at Hope's one liners and wait for some unscripted moment. It didn't really matter that we hadn't seen any of the movies, it was just wonderful to see the parade of stars--Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Sydney Poiter, Jack Lemmon, Debbie Reynolds, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Natalie Wood.

[Totoro Man]

when "Frozen" won best animated film I was baffled, since it wasn't even that great of a film--it was competent and entertaining--but it wouldn't have been on my short-list of best animated films for that year. "the Wind Rises" was more ambitious and artistic in every way, IMO.

reading some interviews with the Oscar judges for best animated film was pretty revealing, though. most of the judges didn't even watch every film that was nominated. one judge basically said that animated films are junk and are only made for kids. (suffice to say this judge didn't watch ANY of the films nominated and abstained from voting) most of the other judges only watched one or two films because they were forced to circumstance and many of them abstained. one judge really loved "the Wind Rises" but voted for "Frozen" because her daughter liked so much. so there's an example where their actual vote was contrary to what they may have believed to be the best animated film.

I would go so far as to say that if a judge refuses to watch all of the nominations they should look for a different 'job' and get replaced.

every award has a mix of politics, popularity, status, and merit working into it. it's just with the Oscars it feels there's even less emphasis on merit than would typically be the case for other professional fields.

[Siddon]

That's also one voter but I'll say this, Foreign, Cinematography, Animated, Original Screen play and Documentary 50% of those movies I likely wouldn't have seen without award shows.

[LordMikel]

I marked yes, but not for the reason most people have been mentioning. I have generally found if a movie is nominated for best picture, I will not like it and thus will avoid movies that have Oscar nomination, unless there is a very strong compelling reason I want to see it.

[j9ac9k]

It does in some cases where I already have some interest and am on the fence about whether or not to watch it. Award wins will rarely make me go out to watch something, but it'll put things on my radar when it comes out on cable or Netflix.

[mathew101281]

when "Frozen" won best animated film I was baffled, since it wasn't even that great of a film--it was competent and entertaining--but it wouldn't have been on my short-list of best animated films for that year. "the Wind Rises" was more ambitious and artistic in every way, IMO.

reading some interviews with the Oscar judges for best animated film was pretty revealing, though. most of the judges didn't even watch every film that was nominated. one judge basically said that animated films are junk and are only made for kids. (suffice to say this judge didn't watch ANY of the films nominated and abstained from voting) most of the other judges only watched one or two films because they were forced to circumstance and many of them abstained. one judge really loved "the Wind Rises" but voted for "Frozen" because her daughter liked so much. so there's an example where their actual vote was contrary to what they may have believed to be the best animated film.

I would go so far as to say that if a judge refuses to watch all of the nominations they should look for a different 'job' and get replaced.

every award has a mix of politics, popularity, status, and merit working into it. it's just with the Oscars it feels there's even less emphasis on merit than would typically be the case for other professional fields.

Exactly. It's stuff like this that lets you know that the awards have nothing to do with quility. If the judges can't be bothered to actually watch the films why should I?

[AndrewCrossett]

The Golden Globes mean nothing to me. The Oscars do, but I'm much more likely to tell myself "I really should see that movie" because it was nominated for an Oscar, than I am to actually see it. It doesn't help that a lot of movies are more geared toward pushing the buttons that appeal to Oscar voters than they are to actually being enjoyable to watch.

Oddly, most of the movies I've ever actually sought out and watched because of their Oscar exposure have been animated movies.