Cinematical

Were you aware that when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences presented the Oscars every year, the results were being determined without considering the opinion of Jet Li? It's hard to believe, I know. They haven't been consulting Diablo Cody (pictured), either! Well, that egregious oversight is about to be remedied, as Li, Cody, and 103 others have been invited to join the AMPAS and become voting members.

Among those whom you'll be able to blame the next time something dumb like Crash wins Best Picture are Gore Verbinski, Doug Liman, Allison Janney, Judd Apatow and Sacha Baron Cohen -- assuming they all accept the invitation, of course. Almost everyone who's invited is grateful for the honor, but a few do decline, and a few more simply fail to respond to the invitation before the deadline.

Variety has the complete list of invitees here. AMPAS has a rule saying no more than 137 new members can be added per year -- I bet the meeting where that specific number was arrived at was really long and really boring -- and each of the Academy's committees (short films, sound, costume design, etc.) has its own private rules on choosing new members.

AMPAS won't release a list of all its current members nor of its guidelines for new inductees, so don't ask. But generally speaking, getting nominated for an Oscar is a sure way of being invited to join, hence the addition of Ruby Dee and Marion Cotillard this year. In other cases, it's a reflection of someone's body of work and general contributions to the film world, whether they've been nominated for an Oscar or not. For example, surely no one doubts that Josh Brolin, one of this year's invitees, deserves the honor. And if they do doubt it, I'll fight them.