Very enjoyable. "Crash" in particular is one best picture winner nearly everyone agrees shouldn't have. Won, that is.

Metropolis ... hmmm. Pioneering sci-fi author H.G. Wells called it "quite the silliest film" & while it has astonishing visuals, storywise, not so much. I wrote a piece here explaining that the reality tv show Undercover Boss is really an update on Metropolis. I.e. workers don't need contracts, collective bargaining, unions, benefits or OSHA regs—they just need a boss with heart!

Speaking of genres & sub-genres, I'm intrigued with how films about Los Angeles (my hometown) are treated Oscar-wise. LA, of course, used to hide itself, I suppose in much the same way the studio heads hid their religious affiliation. So far as I know, A Star Is Born, 1936 is the first film set in LA as LA. Then jump to Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard.

Gradually LA begins to emerge. Not much best picture Oscar joy, however. As you point out, Chinatown—featuring probably the greatest screenplay every written—lost to a worthy opponent. Blade Runner—maybe a confusing storyline? Same for Mulholland Drive (my personal all-time fave LA movie) two decades later. Then Shampoo, The Player, The Long Goodbye, Boyz in the Hood, etc...

Anyway, without going into a long analysis that should be an article instead of a comment, I think it's interesting, ironic & a little sad that as technology & economics drain LA & Hollywood as the center of the film & TV industries, more pictures about the region are receiving top honors, such as Crash and The Artist—even La La Land won best picture, for about 5 minutes.

What's it all mean?