1. Almost all nominees and winners were in movies released AFTER September. They are fresher in voters' minds.
2. Actors get brownie points for gimmicky and flashy roles. Playing someone that is handicapped, retarded, a prostitute, a gimp, a drag queen, a deaf-mute amputee or an Eskimo is often rewarded at Oscar time, especially in the supporting categories.
3. Comebacks usually get rewarded. Anyone who is old and dying and/or made a comeback gets special sympathy points.
4. Period movies win the costume and art/set design awards. The movies that impress the voters most in these categories take place in the past, preferably in a foreign country.
5. Whatever wins the best picture award will probably win a screenplay award too.
6. The song that you have heard the most on the radio will win best song. This is one of Newton's laws. It is never broken.
7. Children's movies never win anything except music awards
Here are the films that won best picture over for the past few years:
1999- American Beauty
1998- Shakespeare In Love
1997- Titanic
1996- The English Patient
1995- Braveheart
1994- Forrest Gump
1993- Schindler's List
1992- Unforgiven
1991- Silence of the Lambs
1990- Dances With Wolves
Of these 10 films, 8 of them are big epic-y movies (including 1992 through 1998), and 8 of them primarily take place in the past.
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