Did Green Book deserve to win Best Picture?

Is this decade that much worse than the 80's for Best Picture winners? That had its fair share of unspectacular filler. Then we had a much stronger decade following that where almost every winner was noteworthy. 

If the best movie isn't going to win the Oscar, then I'd prefer if a bad movie wins it. No, really. At least then the anger would be a little more justified. I'm not saying we can't disagree with the Academy's choices but, when that happens, people tend to focus on the winner's flaws in order to explain why it doesn't deserve to win to the point where they ignore the strengths. They talk about it like it was a bad movie. It happened with SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, CRASH, THE ARTIST, etc... Now it's happening with GREEN BOOK. However, when all it's said and done, they're good movies. Not flawless, but good. GREEN BOOK in particular did some things to transcend the sub-genre's tropes, but most people don't seem to notice it, based on comments I've read, especially those that compare it to other movies about racism (not just the ones that were nominated). What a shame.

I always appreciate when the Academy does things to acknowledge great movies that weren't nominated. It's a way to shut up those that say "My favorite movie was snubbed, so the voters probably didn't see it." This time, the ceremony opened with a montage of most 2018 movies. There were presenters who starred in critically aclaimed movies that won awards from other organizations. Even BIRD BOX (a popular movie that wasn't even close to being among the best) got a shout out! They also did that thing where a scene from an old movie is shown right before the actors in it appear on stage (as a reunion) but, for the 1st time ever(?), it wasn't an Oscar nominated/winning movie, but rather a cult classic.

The ceremony's pacing didn't suffer due to the lack of a host, but so many winners clearly didn't rehearse their speeches. Because of this, the ceremony ended up being as long as usual. The jokes and bits ranged from funny (Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph; Brian Tyree Henry and Melissa McCarthy) to eye-rolling (Emilia Clarke; Danai Gurira and James McAvoy). I was intending to propose Barbra Streisand and Spike Lee as hosts for next year, until I read that he complained about losing Best Picture... even though he won Best Adapted Screenplay. What kind of attitude is that?

The worst thing an award show can be is predictable and boring, so decisions like the ones for the performance of SHALLOW were creative. From the way it was filmed to Bradley and Gaga going up to the stage without anyone introducing them, feeling almost like a surprise. I didn't like WHEN A COWBOY TRADES HIS SPURS FOR WINGS, though. Unlike the movie version, the rhythm was slower and there was no harmonica. David Rawlings and Gillian Welch may have better singing voices than Tim Blake Nelson, but they didn't put the same emotion into the song that only an actor can do.

The new what ?  

agree about the 5 noms and vote splitting, twothousandonemark

…. they also need to get straightened out about this lead and supporting nonsense …
and really quite small roles being nomed as supporting

but therein lies another rant for another time

Didn't say they did.  

BUT actually they do . If, for instance, someone who is obviously a lead is submitted to the Academy as a supporting player (or vice versa), the Academy could / should (imo), send a little note saying "nope, wrong category, think again".  

Rather like we do with the "franchise" nonsense here. 

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Btw …. 
You seem to have missed this part of my earlier post

Perhaps, but I seem to be one of the very few that thought "Crash" deserved its win.

I think there is a disconnect between the critical view and the popular one.

If more people voted for it then it deserved it.

Of course that doesn’t mean it was well made or that the complaints against it aren’t accurate. Very few people care about the liberties taken with history as long as the story is enjoyable.

Quite an exaggeration. I am sure that being nominated for Best Picture resulted in a bump in the box office. Maybe not great in some cases, but there nonetheless.

No. It should have been Roma, but it was obvious from the start that they wouldnt give best picture to a Netflix movie.