Does anyone outside the industry care about the Oscars?

Not a new question, but one that has become increasingly urgent in financial terms. Courtesy of Wes Wise, a terrific piece in yesterday's New York Times about the current challenge: "A best-picture nomination for Wall-E, from Walt Disney and its Pixar Animation unit, if not The Dark Knight, from Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures, might have done it. Even an acting nomination for Clint Eastwood, whose crusty appearance in Gran Torino, from Warner, turned out his biggest box office to date, would have helped. But the academy gave no points for popularity. And the company folks noticed." The Academy has long favored middle-brow artsy projects for Best Picture, and moved toward smaller, artsier fare in recent years. By ignoring popular favorites [or relegating them to minor award categories], the Oscars insist on their own irrelevance to the industry they serve. Now, if the Best Picture nominees included The Dark Knight and Iron Man, lots more people would care who wins tonight. Among the nominees, I'm rooting for Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon, but The Departed it ain't.

Oh, and if Mickey Rourke gives yet another acceptance speech, maybe this time he could thank screenwriter Robert D. Siegel for creating the character that made Rourke's comeback possible. That's about as likely as anything other than Slumdog Millionaire winning Best Picture.