And the Oscar goes to – who cares?

With its stubborn refusal to nominate Dark Knight, the second-highest grossing movie of all time, for Best Picture, the Academy seems determined to fade into irrelevancy.

This year’s Oscars will be the lowest-rated ever. How do I know? For one thing, the average box office gross of the Best Picture nominees is the lowest since 1984. Considering that today’s ticket prices are more than double what they were then, that’s stunning.

Also, Hugh Jackman is hosting. Who? Exactly. But hey, he was great hosting the Tonys. And we know how popular those are.

Of course, the Academy shouldn’t nominate films based solely on box office. But there was a time when critical success and mass appeal weren’t mutually exclusive.