Academy Award nominations, the 'Rotten' truth

I'm an avid reader of various movie sites. I don't think a day goes by where I don't stop by Rotten Tomatoes or Box Office Mojo.

That just means I get a lot of somewhat useless information stuck in my head.

Like when the Academy Award nominations were announced, I realized something horrible.

When I saw that "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" was nominated for Best Picture, a red flag went up in my brain.

"Um, doesn't that film have a 'Rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes?"

Why, yes, Tim it does. A 47 percent (as of this post) to be exact.

That got my brain going into overdrive. Has a 'Rotten' reviewed movie, one with more negative reviews than positive, ever been nominated before?

And like a horrible, catchy dance song I couldn't get the thought out of my head.

So I did some digging. Right off the bat, it has to be known that since the site has only been around since 1999, my research could only take me so far.

I decided that I would go back 25 years. Look up each film nominated for Best Picture since 1987 and see how many 'Rotten' films there were.

You know the result? None.

Every film nominated in the past 25 years (save this year) have had a majority of positive reviews.

The funnier thing? The lowest rated film (besides this year) was 2008's "The Reader" with a barely positive score of 62 percent. Why is this so funny? Both films were directed by the same man: Stephen Daldry. Someone call Mulder because this is the start of a conspiracy.

Here are some other facts I found in my digging:

Highest rated Best Picture winner: "Schindler's List" and "The Hurt Locker" both with 97 percent.

Highest rated Best Picture nominee: "My Left Foot" and "The Crying Game" both with 100 percent.

Lowest rated Best Picture winner: "Forrest Gump" with 71 percent.

Best averaged year (highest rated films): 1993 with a 95 percent ("Schindler's List" won Best Picture.)

Lowest averaged year (lowest rated films): 2000 with 82 percent ("Gladiator" won Best Picture.)