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As a long-time entertainment reporter, I’ve witnessed countless changes in Hollywood over the years. But this latest move by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has me raising an eyebrow. They’ve just announced that 116 out of 323 eligible films have been excluded from the Best Picture category for the upcoming Oscars. That’s more than a third of the contenders, folks. Now, I understand the importance of representation in film. It’s a noble goal. But I can’t help but feel a twinge of concern when I see so many potentially worthy films being sidelined due to these new Representation and Inclusion Standards (RAISE). See the full list of diversity and inclusion guidelines here.

Among the casualties are some films that had real potential. Andrea Arnold’s “Bird” starring Barry Keoghan, Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut “Woman of the Hour,” and Michael Keaton’s first time in the director’s chair with “Knox Goes Away” – all out of the running. Even crowd-pleasers like “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and the “Mean Girls” musical remake didn’t make the cut. It’s worth noting that some of these exclusions are due to filmmakers not attempting to qualify. Fair enough. But many others fell short of the new diversity and inclusion benchmarks. This is the second year these standards have been in place, and their impact is certainly being felt.

Don’t get me wrong – diversity in film has it’s role, but as someone who’s been covering this industry for years, I can’t help but wonder if the industry has lost sight of what makes a film truly great. Shouldn’t the story, the performances, the direction be the primary focus when we’re talking about “Best Picture”? I’ve always believed that the Oscars should celebrate the pinnacle of filmmaking artistry. While representation can undoubtedly be  a part of that, I worry that the studios are tipping the scales too far in one direction, and the Academy is risking overlooking truly exceptional films simply because they don’t tick all the right boxes. What a shame.

In the end, I hope we can find a balance. One that promotes diversity and inclusion in Hollywood, absolutely, but also one that doesn’t lose sight of the fundamental elements that make a film award-worthy. After all, isn’t the goal to recognize the very best in cinema, regardless of who made it or who’s in it? It will be interesting to see how these new standards continue to shape the landscape of award-worthy films. Hopefully we don’t forget what truly makes a picture the “Best.”

Here is the full list of eligible features. Titles in ALL CAPS did not qualify for the Best Picture category:

“Aadujeevitham – The Goat Life”
“Abigail”
“The Absence of Eden”
“AFRAID”
“Albany Road”
“Alien: Romulus”
“All We Imagine as Light”
“Am I Racist?”
“AMERICAN CATS: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE CUDDLY”
“The American Society of Magical Negroes”
“American Star”
“AMERICANS WITH NO ADDRESS”
“Anora”
“The Apprentice”
“Argylle”
“ARMAND”
“Arthur the King”
“Babes”
“Babygirl”
“Back to Black”
“Bad Actor: A Hollywood Ponzi Scheme”
“BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE”
“Band of Maharajas”
“The Beast”
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”
“Better Man”
“Between the Temples”
“THE BIBI FILES”
“The Bikeriders”
“BIRD”
“Black Dog”
“Blink Twice”
“Blitz”
“Bob Marley: One Love”
“Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.”
“The Book of Clarence”
“BOY KILLS WORLD”
“BRIEF TENDER LIGHT”
“The Brutalist”
“Bull Street”
“Cabrini”
“CAPTAIN AVISPA”
“CARVILLE: WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID”
“CATCHING FIRE: THE STORY OF ANITA PALLENBERG”
“CELEBRATING LAUGHTER, THE LIFE AND FILMS OF COLIN HIGGINS”
“Challengers”
“CHICKEN FOR LINDA!”
“CHRONICLES OF A WANDERING SAINT”
“City of Dreams”
“Civil War”
“Close to You”
“THE COLORS WITHIN”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Conclave”
“The Count of Monte Cristo”
“COUP!”
“The Critic”
“Cuckoo”
“Daddio”
“DAHOMEY”
“DANCE FIRST”
“Dandelion”
“DAUGHTERS”
“Day of the Fight”
“THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE”
“The Dead Don’t Hurt”
“Deadpool & Wolverine”
“The Deliverance”
“Despicable Me 4”
“THE DEVIL’S BATH”
“Dìdi”
“A Different Man”
“DON’T SAY IT”
“Drive-Away Dolls”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Elton John: Never Too Late”
“Emilia Pérez”
“The End”
“ERNEST COLE LOST AND FOUND”
“EVERYBODY LOVES TOUDA”
“Evil Does Not Exist”
“Exhibiting Forgiveness”
“Ezra”
“The Fall Guy”
“Fancy Dance”
“FEDERER: TWELVE FINAL DAYS”
“THE FEELING THAT THE TIME FOR DOING SOMETHING HAS PASSED”
“FIGHTING SPIRIT: A COMBAT CHAPLAIN’S JOURNEY”
“The Fire Inside”
“Firebrand”
“FLIPSIDE”
“Flow”
“Fly Me to the Moon”
“FOLLOWING HARRY”
“FOOD INC 2”
“The Forge”
“FREE TIME”
“Fresh Kills”
FRIDA
FROM EMBERS
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
THE GARFIELD MOVIE
GAUCHO GAUCHO
GHOST CAT ANZU
“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”
“Ghostlight”
THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
“Gladiator II”
GLITTER & DOOM
BOG & COUNTRY
“Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire”
“Good One”
“Goodrich”
THE GRAB
“The Greatest Hits”
“Green Border”
“Handling the Undead”
“Hard Truths”
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON
“Here”
“Heretic”
HIGH TIDE
“His Three Daughters”
“Hit Man”
HOLLYWOOD DEAL
HOMEGROWN
“The Hopeful”
“Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1”
“How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies”
HUMMINGBIRDS
I AM CELINE DION
I CAN’T BREATHE
“I Saw the TV Glow”
“The Idea of You”
“IF”
“I’ll Be Right There”
“I’m Still Here”
“Imaginary”
“The Imaginary”
“Immaculate”
IN BETWEEN STARS AND SCARS: MASTERS OF CINEMA
IN HER PLACE
“In the Land of Saints and Sinners”
“In the Summers”
INDIGO GIRLS: IT’S ONLY LIFE AFTER ALL
“Inside Out 2”
INSIDE THE YELLOW COCCOON SHELL
“The Instigators”
“It Ends with Us”
“Janet Planet”
“Joker: Folie à Deux”
JOY
“Juror #2”
“Kanguva”
“The Keeper”
“Kensuke’s Kingdom”
“Kinds of Kindness”
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
“Kneecap”
KNOX GOES AWAY
“Kraven the Hunter”
“Kung Fu Panda 4”
“La Cocina”
LAKE GEORGE
“The Last Front”
“The Last Showgirl”
“Last Summer”
“Late Night with the Devil”
“Lee”
LEFT BEHIND
“Lisa Frankenstein”
THE LISTENER
THE LONG WAY OF CARLOS GUERRERO
“Longing”
“Longlegs”
LOOK BACK
“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”
“Los Frikis”
LOST LADIES
THE LOST LEGACY OF TONY GAUDIO
“Love Lies Bleeding”
LOVELY JACKSON
LOVER OF MEN, THE UNTOLD STORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
MADAME WEB
MAHAYOGI
“Maria”
MARS EXPRESS
MARTHA
“MaXXXine”
MEAN GIRLS
MEETING YOU, MEETING ME
“Megalopolis”
“Memoir of a Snail”
MILESTONE
“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”
MISS OR MISSES
“Moana 2”
“Monkey Man”
MOTHER’S INSTINCT
MOUNTAIN QUEEN: THE SUMMITS OF LKAHPA SHERPA
“Mufasa: The Lion King”
MURDERESS
“My Old Ass”
“My Penguin Friend”
“National Anthem”
THE NEON HIGHWAY
“Never Let Go”
“Nickel Boys”
“Night Swim”
“Nightbitch”
“1992”
NO RIGHT WAY
“Nosferatu”
NURSE UNSEEN
“Oh, Canada”
OMNI LOOP
“One Life”
“The Order”
“Ordinary Angels”
THE OTHER, GOLD
“The Outrun”
PEDRO PARAMO
“The People’s Joker”
“The Performance”
“The Piano Lesson”
“Piece by Piece”
“Porcelain War”
“Problemista”
“Putul”
“Queens”
“Queer”
“A Quiet Place: Day One”
RAY OF HOPE
REAGAN
“A Real Pain”
REBEL MOON – PART TWO: THE SCARGIVER
“Red One”
THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN
“The Return”
REZ BALL
“The Room Next Door”
“Rumours”
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO | OPUS
SAMUEL: HOLLYWOOD VS. HOLLYWOOD
“Santosh”
“Sasquatch Sunset”
“Saturday Night”
SEBASTIAN
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
“Seeking Mavis Beacon”
SEPARATED
“September 5”
SHE TAUGHT LOVE
“Shirley”
“Sing Sing”
SIROCCO AND THE KINGDOM OF WINDS
“The Six Triple Eight”
“Skincare”
SKYWALKERS: A LOVE STORY
“Small Things like These”
SMILE 2
“Sometimes I Think about Dying”
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2
“Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot”
“Spaceman”
“Speak No Evil”
SPELLBOUND
STATE ORGANS: UNMASKING TRANSPLANT ABUSE IN CHINA
STOP MOTION
“Strange Darling”
“The Strangers – Chapter 1”
“Stress Positions”
“The Substance”
“Sugarcane”
SUMMER SOLSTICE
“Suncoast”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story”
“Swatantrya Veer Savarkar”
THE TASTE OF MANGO
THAT CHRISTMAS
“Thelma”
THELMA THE UNICORN
THERE’S STILL TOMORROW
“The Thicket”
“Tokyo Cowboy”
“Touch”
“Transformers One”
“Trap”
“Tuesday”
“Twisters”
2073
“Ultraman: Rising”
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
“Unstoppable”
UNSUNG HERO
“Venom: The Last Dance”
“Vermiglio”
VESEKLA: THE RAINBOW ON THE CORNER AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD
VIGILANTES: AMERICAN’S NEW VOTE SUPPRESSION HITMEN
THE WAIT
“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”
WALTZING WITH BRANDO
‘WAR GAME
“The Watchers”
WAVES
“We Grown Now”
“We Live in Time”
WE WILL DANCE AGAIN
“White Bird”
“Wicked”
“Wicked Little Letters”
“Widow Clicquot”
“The Wild Robot”
“Wildcat”
“Will & Harper”
“William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill”
“Wolfs”
“WOMAN OF THE HOUR”
“Young Woman and the Sea”
“Your Monster”
“THE ZEBRAS”
“ZURAWSKI V TEXAS”

The full lists of eligibility rules are available here. 

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