The calls of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens is nominated only in ‘technical’ categories” have started, which led me to think; how does everybody decide what movie “does the best” at the Oscars?
I am in the “all Oscars count the same in this regard” camp. A movie that wins just for, say, Leading Actor does not “do better” than one with awards for Makeup/Hairstyling, Costume Design, and Cinematography.
All Oscars count, so that’s what I voted for. My second choice would have been Best Picture, but All count.
To my mind, there is a spectrum. At the top is Best Picture. At the bottom, the purely technical awards. In between rank the others, in an order that is debatable (obviously “best leading actor” is more important than “best supporting actor”, but a lot of the hierarchy is otherwise debatable).
It’s a little more complicated than “the most awards”, but not by a whole lot.
The more diverse the awards the movie wins, the better the movie as a whole is. A Test:
Revenant takes Movie, Actor, Set Design, and Costumes
Martian takes Director, Supporting Acress, Script, Sound, Editing, Music and Cinemetography
Which is the better overall movie? Revenant is the “best one” but only one in a couple major categories and a couple minor ones. OTOH Martian won more awards overall even if they were smaller, but were more diverse? I would venture to say Martian is the better movie because it was recognized in more categories as a whole