I will watch this year, especially as Steve Martin is a cohost. I also liked AVATAR, HURT LOCKER, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and DISTRICT 9. This year's selection are less artsy fartsy than usual! Sorry, but I'm not much for artsy fartsy. Check the
LINK at the bottom to see just how artsy fartsy the past few years have been. My favorite year was when SILENCE OF THE LAMBS won.
Money makers are rarely a shoo in, as I recall:
ANNIE HALL beat STAR WARS (wtf)

CHARIOTS OF FIRE beat RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (wtf!)

GHANDI beat ET (wtf!!)

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE beat SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (wtf!!!)

AMERICAN BEAUTY beat THE SIXTH SENSE
A BEAUTIFUL MIND beat LORD OF THE RINGS
I didn't care that much about the remake of TITANIC, but my favorite James Cameron movies (ALIENS, TERMINATOR 2) didn't even get nominated for directing or feature. I think it's a case of living long enough and doing consistently great work that allows that kind of recognition to at least catch up to you. TITANIC may not have been his best work, but Cameron is deserving in a lot of respects.
As for awards shows, I think they are very important. If we don't have some kind of barometer, we are just a bunch of people shouting over each other for attention. At the very least, you can say that a nominee is usually good in whatever category it is in. Maybe not the best, but you know it's up there. Some winners - Rick Baker is definitely a great makeup artist, as Anthony Hopkins is definitely a great actor, as John Williams is definitely a great composer, etc, etc. Get my point?
Here is an interesting list that spans the years:
Best Pictures and Nominees