Barry Norman Slams Oscars For Being 'Like Rolling A Dice'

Veteran film critic Barry Norman has denounced the Oscars as being ‘a crap shoot’.

Speaking ahead of the biggest night of the year for the movie industry, taking place in Los Angeles this weekend, the former BBC Film Show host said that despite the talent on show,the results can often be arbitrary.

- Feuds In Oscar-Nominated Movies
- What’s in the £81,000 Oscar gift bag
- 2015 Oscar Nominees: Embarrassing Early Roles

“It always seems to me that the Oscars are much more interesting at the nominations stage than in the final analysis,” he said in the Radio Times.

“Apart from best picture, for which everyone votes, all the nominees are chosen by their peers - actors by other actors, directors by other directors and so on.

“If people who were probably vying with you for the same job think you did some of the best work of the year, that’s a true compliment.

“It’s only when it comes to picking the winners that everyone votes in every category and the whole thing becomes little better than a crapshoot.

“Personal likes and dislikes come into play. You might vote for someone simply because he or she was nice to you on the set.

“Then there’s the question of whether all the voters actually saw all the films.

“It’s not unknown for some, especially the elderly, to get their maids to watch them on DVD and deliver their opinions.”

He added that despite much buzz in the Best Actor category for Eddie Redmayne, who plays Professor Stephen Hawking in ‘The Theory of Everything’, Michael Keaton will likely go home with gong for ‘Birdman’ because the 63-year-old actor ‘is a local boy who has never won a major award’.

However, Norman, now 81, adds that ‘just being nominated for an Oscar is a victory in itself’.

The 2015 Oscars take place on Sunday night.

- The Film ‘Flops’ That Actually Made LOADS Of Money
- The Breakfast Club Cast: Then And Now

Image credits: PA/AP/Fox