Once upon a time in Hollywood, there was a common perception of what made a film “Oscar bait.” Usually used as a derisive term, it referred to movies that wanted to be seen as prestige films — rousing studio movies tackling tough topics — that would be deemed important and therefore worthy of the best picture moniker. Pundits like to talk about what “the Academy” thinks as though there are secret meetings where members get together and come to a consensus on what to vote for. (In fairness, maybe they do — I like to imagine Oscar voters descending into an underground lair a la the Christmas Adventurers Club in “ One Battle After Another ” to deem what film will be anointed “the One” that year.)

But in recent years, the definition of an Oscar movie has changed again and again. Decades a

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