So i've been slowly compiling information on how Academy Members voted after speaking to them and getting them to tell me who they voted for. Before the Oscars I could only get 3 Members to tell me, after the Oscars it was a lot easier. In total I have managed to get the information of how 27 Academy Members voted, only for the major categories because the majority of them can't remember how they voted in the other categories.

I can't tell you who they are obviously but I can tell you:

22 were Men
only 5 were Women (Just couldn't get any)

16 were American
10 were British
1 was Irish

Note: I agree that this does not represent a particularly accurate demographic, as I say I was limited by who would talk to me.

So Here it is (I think its quite interesting)

Best Picture

No Country For Old Men - 37%
There Will Be Blood - 29.6%
Michael Clayton - 18.5%
Juno - 7.4%
Atonement - 7.4%

I think this is quite interesting not really for the battle between NCFOM and TWBB but how Juno and Atonement were almost no existent, (Ten of the people as I say were british and they really didn't seem bothered about it)

Best Director

No Country For Old Men - 59.2%
There Will Be Blood - 25.9%
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly - 14.8%
Michael Clayton - 0%
Juno - 0% (One thought he may have voted for Juno in Director but then said he was sure he voted NCFOM)

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis, TWBB - 59.3%
George Clooney, Michael Clayton - 25.9%
Tommy Lee Jones, In The Valley of Elah - 11.1&
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd - 3.7%
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises - 0%

(Just to point out here one guy could not remember he was sure he did not vote for Day-Lewis because he said it was 'hammy' he thinks he voted for Lee Jones but may have changed to Mortensen)

Best Actress

Marion Coutillard, La Vie En Rose - 40.7%
Julie Christie, Away From Her - 33.3%
Ellen Page, Juno - 14.8%
Laura Linney, The Savages - 7.4%
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age - 3.7%

Right again this is complicated slightly, firstly the gentleman who voted for Cate Blanchett, not that I am implying anything but he is associated with the movie. Also what I noticed with interest is that it seems to have become very popular now to say 'oh I voted for Marion Coutillard' now critics are generally calling it an OK decision, so I am not sure if all the people I asked were necessarily telling me the truth, it may have been a lot more closer.

Supporting Actress and Actor to follow

please feel free to comment, as I say I am not saying this is definitive, its just interesting I believe.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: presidentmerkinmuffley,

How can the guy who may have voted for Juno or NCFOM not remember which one he voted for?!

Also, I find it interesting that NCFOM won BP by a pretty small margin.

One question you should ask the Academy voters is this? Do you really vote for what you think is the Best Picture, Best Performance, or are they influenced by the who the media dictates who should win? Or do they for the best or for a winner, since no one, no matter what they maybe voting for, no one wants to vote for a "loser."

Example. Jennifer Hudson won for a performance that for six months before the Oscars, everyone in the media said should win the Oscar. A year later, that choice looks awful, since she essentially won for singing ONE song, not for her acting which is not very good at all.

I understand your point, but if we economically guess the actual vote turn out at around 5000, using the percentages it still would mean NCFOM had 370 more votes than TWBB.

In regards to the guy who could not remember who he voted for, that was the case for many of the voters I spoke to, I mean when I started to ask about cinematography and leave the major categories many of them could not remember who was nominated, let alone who they voted for.

quote:

Originally posted by Agrado:
One question you should ask the Academy voters is this? Do you really vote for what you think is the Best Picture, Best Performance, or are they influenced by the who the media dictates who should win? Or do they for the best or for a winner, since no one, no matter what they maybe voting for, no one wants to vote for a "loser."

Example. Jennifer Hudson won for a performance that for six months before the Oscars, everyone in the media said should win the Oscar. A year later, that choice looks awful, since she essentially won for singing ONE song, not for her acting which is not very good at all.

I can try and ask but I only see two voters regularly, and as I say in the above post there memories are normally rubbish

Jennifer Hudson was my example. But you should ask the question I posed. Since their memories are bad, ask them during the Oscar voting season, or after, whenever you can. Because for years, I have believed that oftentimes Academy members are thrown by the word Best in front of each of the categories. Thrown meaning they don't always vote for the Best.

Agrado, you are totally right on the Jennifer Hudson count. If the voters really voted on terms of performance, it'd be nirvana.

Added Actress and Actor

I would guess that Supporting Actress/Actor would've gone down like this:

Supporting Actor:

1. Javier Bardem

2. Hal Holbrook
3. Tom Wilkinson
4. Casey Affleck
5. Philip Seymour Hoffman

Supporting Actress:

1. Tilda Swinton

2. Amy Ryan
3. Cate Blanchett
4. Ruby Dee
5. Saoirse Ronan

I spoke with two members 1 Man and 1 Woman

They voted:

Best Picture: Juno M and Michael Clayton W
Best Actor: George Clooney Both
Best Actress: Marion Coutillard W, Ellen Page M
Best Sup. Actress: Ruby Dee, W and Amy Ryan M
Best Sup. Actor: Javier B. Both
Best Director: There Will Be Blood Both

quote:

Originally posted by EmmyNominee:
I spoke with two members 1 Man and 1 Woman

They voted:

Best Picture: Juno M and Michael Clayton W
Best Actor: George Clooney Both
Best Actress: Marion Coutillard W, Ellen Page M
Best Sup. Actress: Ruby Dee, W and Amy Ryan M
Best Sup. Actor: Javier B. Both
Best Director: There Will Be Blood Both

Glad to know there were people who voted for George Clooney. Both him and DDL are equally good.

quote:

Originally posted by Agrado:
Example. Jennifer Hudson won for a performance that for six months before the Oscars, everyone in the media said should win the Oscar. A year later, that choice looks awful, since she essentially won for singing ONE song, not for her acting which is not very good at all.

Why does everyone throw around their opinion like it is fact? I, for one, don't agree with you about any of that. Maybe some of your statements were hyperbolic for dramatic emphasis, but there was more to that performance than one song and bad acting.

Well this is an interesting topic and I haven't replied to anything here in months. But I've always been here so here I am. I have about 4-5 friends in the academy and I know for sure that 2 of them take their voting seriuously and see everything. I have another friend who only voted for Best Picture this year becuae they hadn't seen most of the films nominated and finally I another friend who gave his ballot to his son. Most probably don't remember 3 months later who they voted for.

quote:

Originally posted by booyahboy:

quote:

Originally posted by Agrado:
Example. Jennifer Hudson won for a performance that for six months before the Oscars, everyone in the media said should win the Oscar. A year later, that choice looks awful, since she essentially won for singing ONE song, not for her acting which is not very good at all.

No there wasn't. And her awkward performance in Sex and the City also shows what a non-actor she is. She just doesn't have the acting chops. That is my opinion.

But now that I think about, you are right about one thing. Okay, yes there was one more thing besides her lackluster performance and her big number. It was her backstory. An American Idol reject turned Oscar winner. I call it the Rocky syndrome. A win that everyone was clamoring for but 30 years later, it looks bad and you find yourself saying something like, "well at the time, it was good." Trust me on that. You'll feel that way oen day. You're just not there yet.



Why does everyone throw around their opinion like it is fact? I, for one, don't agree with you about any of that. Maybe some of your statements were hyperbolic for dramatic emphasis, but there was more to that performance than one song and bad acting.

[quote]
No there wasn't. And her awkward performance in Sex and the City also shows what a non-actor she is. She just doesn't have the acting chops. That is my opinion.

But now that I think about, you are right about one thing. Okay, yes there was one more thing besides her lackluster performance and her big number. It was her backstory. An American Idol reject turned Oscar winner. I call it the Rocky syndrome. A win that everyone was clamoring for but 30 years later, it looks bad and you find yourself saying something like, "well at the time, it was good." Trust me on that. You'll feel that way one day. You're just not there yet.

Funny how that thread became so quickly about Jennifer Hudson...

I wouldn't have voted for her, but there were also a lot worse decisisions in the Supporting Actress category!