Can we talk about how little the Oscars matter?

All the same, two Oscar voters privately admitted that they didn't see "12 Years a Slave," thinking it would be upsetting. But they said they voted for it anyway because, given the film's social relevance, they felt obligated to do so.

The Oscars are coming up. How do you feel about them? Do you think they're a legitimate barometer of what's actually good? [Laughs] That's so weird to say because I know that's the common consensus, but "good" is different for everybody. I wanted to run Michael Parks from "Red State" for an Oscar this year, and I was told I'd need $250,000 minimum to do that. We thought we were eligible for SAG Awards, but it turns out that you have to actually submit to the SAG Awards, even if you're a SAG member, which doesn't make sense to me. And then the Golden Globe people didn't want to give Michael Parks consideration because we didn't screen the movie for them specifically when the movie was out in theaters, but it never was out in theaters so it was kind of ridiculous. You have to jump through these ridiculous little rings to even be considered, and then it's a popularity contest around who has the most money to run.

That $250,000 figure is pretty shocking. What's that for, just campaigning? Campaigning. In order to get nominated, man, you've got to take out ads, you have to have these weird parties where you're introducing everybody. I've been to so many of these, where people are like, "We're having a party to introduce people to this person!" Like one year they did it for Ben [Affleck] for "Gone Baby Gone," and I was like, "Why do I have to get introduced to Ben Affleck? I know him! Everybody knows him!"

But it's a 'When it's time to vote, remember us' kind of thing. It requires campaigning. But I don't know. I don't care. I'm not in it for the awards. I've got some, it's always nice being recognized. But the SAG thing really bugged me. It's like being in high school in this business, man, and winning an award is like getting elected for major office. You've got to be popular, you've got to polish the apple, keep your nose clean, don't pick fights, don't be like "Hey, this ****'s too expensive!"

Without trotting yourself out at weird little parties? It's campaigning. It's literally like running for office in high school. Some people have the constitution for it. Harvey [Weinstein] is a master at it. I remember back in the day, there was some awards buzz for "Chasing Amy." It didn't get an Oscar nomination or anything like that, but there was some buzz for it, and Joey [Lauren Adams] got a Golden Globe nod. So Harvey put Joey out to do interviews, and it was all about going to old age homes for actors who hadn't worked in a while but they're still members of the Academy. It's a skill, man. There are people who are paid to run Oscar campaigns. I know people like to think that everything in life's a meritocracy, but, like everything in life there are experts behind it who know how to work the system. And believe me, it's not that the people who are up for these awards don't deserve it. Of course not! These are all wonderful performances.