Ten days before show time, a full-on revolt over the Oscars

The backlash continues over the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' decision to remove four categories from the live portion of Feb. 24's Oscar broadcast, including cinematography and editing. The academy, desperate to reverse sliding ratings, says a shortened show must go on. Last year's viewrship hit an all-time low of 26.5 million.

In this Feb. 26, 2017 file photo, Oscar statuettes appear backstage at the Oscars in Los Angeles. [Photo: Matt Sayles/Invision via AP]

But on Wednesday (13 FEB. 2018) evening, dozens of Hollywood heavyweights _ including Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Brad Pitt, cinematographer Roger Deakins and director Damien Chazelle _ issued an open-letter to the academy's leadership blasting the decision to not air the four awards, which also include live-action short and hairstyling and makeup, live on the ABC telecast.

"Relegating these essential cinematic crafts to lesser status in this 91st Academy Awards ceremony is nothing less than an insult to those of us who have devoted our lives and passions to our chosen profession,'' the group wrote.

"When the recognition of those responsible for the creation of outstanding cinema is being diminished by the very institution whose purpose it is to protect it, then we are no longer upholding the spirit of the Academy's promise to celebrate film as a collaborative art form.''

The academy responded with a letter of its own, blaming "inaccurate reporting and social media posts'' for "a chain of misinformation.'' Signed by academy president John Bailey, a cinematographer, and other officers from the academy's board of governors, the letter sought to assure members that the four winning speeches will be included in the broadcast (just not live, or with a walk to the stage) and that in future years, four to six different categories will be similarly truncated.

The academy's headaches began after it last summer trotted out the induction of a "popular film Oscar.'' The plan sparked such outrage Rob Lowe pronounced the film industry dead, "survived by sequels, tent-poles and vertical integration'' that the new award was scuttled within a month.

Then Kevin Hart announced, himself, that he was hosting this year's awards. When many took issue with his old homophobic tweets, the comedian initially "chose to pass on the apology,'' inflaming the backlash. Within hours, he withdrew as host and, finally supplied an apology to the LGBTQ community. The Oscars are now host-less for only the fifth time in its 91-year history. The most recent, in 1989, resulted in an infamous duet between Snow White and Rob Lowe.

Other plans to tweak tradition also backfired. After first planning to limit the best song nominee performances, the academy confirmed that all songs will indeed be performed. "They made the right decision to include all the songs,'' said Diane Warren, a nominee for the "RBG'' song "I'll Fight.'' "It wouldn't be fair to just have two songs. That's basically saying those other songs don't matter.''

Some have blamed ABC, which owns the Oscar broadcast rights for the next decade, for pressuring the academy into some of these measures. ABC declined to comment.

Still, the negative response from prominent academy members was more than the academy's leadership was expecting. Alfonso Cuaron, who's nominated for four Oscars including best cinematography, has been among the most vocal critics, declaring: "No one single film has ever existed without cinematography and editing.'' Guillermo del Toro, whose "The Shape of Water'' won best picture and best director at last year's ceremony, said cinematography and editing "are cinema itself.''

"I don't like it. I don't think that's a cool deal. I'm an artist so I believe we've all worked really hard, we've nurtured our gifts and we should all be able to celebrate them with the world,'' says Regina King, a nominee for best supporting actress. "It just doesn't seem like 15 minutes is gonna make that big of a difference.''

But the academy is insistent on getting the normally four hour-plus telecast down to three hours. Ratings for all award shows have declined in recent years, but it remains to be seen whether a shorter show will have any effect on larger viewing habit transformations.