Back in the 90s we actually saw the movies that were up for awards. We were pissed when Goodfellas lost to Dances with Wolves, happy to see Silence of the Lambs clean up, wondered if Forrest Gump was really a better picture than Pulp Fiction or Shawshank, and we smiled when James Cameron declared himself "king of the world!" because in our hearts we all loved Titanic even though we told everyone we hated it.
Today? Nobody has seen any of them.
Good point. It was a lot more fun watching the Oscars when the nominated movies performed better at the box office.