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Oscars To Feature 10 Best Picture Nominees

S. Gomez

Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
From the official website of the Academy Awards:

“After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,” said Ganis. “The final outcome, of course, will be the same – one Best Picture winner – but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.”

For more than a decade during the Academy’s earlier years, the Best Picture category welcomed more than five films; for nine years there were 10 nominees. The 16th Academy Awards (1943) was the last year to include a field of that size; “Casablanca” was named Best Picture. (In 1931/32, there were eight nominees and in 1934 and 1935 there were 12 nominees.)
http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2009/20090624.html
 
With the same elite class of filmakers doing the nominating they still won't nominate popular films and ABC will still want a discount price to broadcast the old dog of award shows.
 
Bad idea IMO. It doesn't make sense for best picture to have more nominees than the other categories and the point of the best picture in particular and all the other categories in general is to narrow it down to a few of the best. If there are 10 with many clearly not going to win, what's the point?
"Wider field" seems like wink-wink that they'll make sure some blockblusters/crowd pleasers get nominated to boost the ratings. I don't think that should be a consideration as to what is considered the best; blockbusters already tend to have a presence in other categories so it's not like they're utterly shut out.
 
Honestly, there were movies last year deserving of a best picture nominee that didn't get one. I see this as something that will feel pleasant when I hear about a movie I like getting nominated. It'll only be after I see the final award given out that it'll sink in that it really didn't make much difference.

Still, the key part of that is not make much difference. It'll dilute the fact that a movie is nominated, but winning really is the key anyway.
 
I can't help but feel that this is clearly due to backlash from the snubs for The Dark Knight and Wall-E last year. Both of those were finer films than any of the best picture nominees.
 
I can't help but feel that this is clearly due to backlash from the snubs for The Dark Knight and Wall-E last year. Both of those were finer films than any of the best picture nominees.

So, they're eliminating Best Animated Movie then? If not, it wouldn't have made any difference for WALL-E.

--Ted
 
I can't help but feel that this is clearly due to backlash from the snubs for The Dark Knight and Wall-E last year. Both of those were finer films than any of the best picture nominees.

That's what I'm thinkin', too.

Or, it could be the Academy is lookin' for an excuse to be able to nominate the Twilight series for "Best Picture" to get the tweens to tune in and watch the entire thing for glimpses of the cast, clips, and so on.
 
One thing to learn from this? Don't piss off the Batman fanboys.

I liked TDK but I disagree with the fans that think it was the best movie ever made.
 
^

The Dark Knight isn't the best movie ever made, but it was one of the best movies that was released last year, and should have been nominated, if not the winner, for Best Picture.

It doesn't make sense for the second highest grossin' movie EVER! to not get a nomination for Best Picture!
 
I can't help but feel that this is clearly due to backlash from the snubs for The Dark Knight and Wall-E last year. Both of those were finer films than any of the best picture nominees.

So, they're eliminating Best Animated Movie then? If not, it wouldn't have made any difference for WALL-E.

--Ted

The best animated picture category does not disqualify animated films from best picture nominations.
 
I can't help but feel that this is clearly due to backlash from the snubs for The Dark Knight and Wall-E last year. Both of those were finer films than any of the best picture nominees.

So, they're eliminating Best Animated Movie then? If not, it wouldn't have made any difference for WALL-E.

--Ted

The best animated picture category does not disqualify animated films from best picture nominations.

This is true, but a studio can't submit a film for consideration in both categories, IIRC. So, if Up gets a best picture nomination this year and they decide to hang onto the 10 nominees structure, I think we'll see Best Animated gone in the very near future.
 
So, they're eliminating Best Animated Movie then? If not, it wouldn't have made any difference for WALL-E.

Are you saying an animated movie can never be considered the best movie of the year?


If the voting base is mostly actors and directors of live action films...then yeah, we'll never see an animated movie seriously considered. With the 10, we'll probably see one, but it won't win.

I guess it depends on what chances they have on winning best animated film. If it's slim to none, then having it in the main BestPicture category can give it some prestige, and reason to re-release or add to advertising.


Hmm...anyone think a sci-fi movie will be regularly considered? Think we can garner enough support to have one nominated every year? (Like Star Trek??? It wasn't the best best, but significant)

Also...

With all the recent reality shows (such as I'm a Celebrity and So You think You Can Dance), will they have an elimination segment, so narrow that top 10 to a top 5? (to give people a reason to tune in at hour 2 instead of waiting till the last 1/2 hour or so.)
 
Bad idea IMO. It doesn't make sense for best picture to have more nominees than the other categories and the point of the best picture in particular and all the other categories in general is to narrow it down to a few of the best. If there are 10 with many clearly not going to win, what's the point?
Wider field seems like wink-wink that they'll make sure some blockblusters/crowd pleasers get nominated to boost the ratings. I don't think that should be a consideration as to what is considered the best; blockbusters already tend to have a presence in other categories so it's not like they're utterly shut out.

Last year was particularly bad. After they broke into the morning news to annouce the 30 big nominations I realized that I saw one performance out of the 30 and was remotely interested in seeing the others. The masters of the universe like to think of theirselves as important. They will only nominate things which show off their importance. If the internet had not surplanted TV for this sort of thing popular, non industry voter, shows would have surpassed the Oscars as things like the People's Choice awards came close to doing.
 
What's with all the cries about populism? The Academy Awards were never intended to award commercial success, they're intended to award creative and technical achievement. Sometimes an unworthy nominations is railroaded in by likes of Harvey Weinstein or others (last year's The Reader). Sometimes the Academy's conservatism shines through and politically controversial films are snubbed (like Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing). And sometimes the Academy buckles to other external pressures, like William Randolph Hearst over Orson Welles' Citizen Kane.

It's too bad you don't have any interest in most or all of the films that are nominated, but the moment the Academy starts to award films based on popular appeal it becomes the People's Choice Awards, and irrelevant. Perhaps, on other grounds, the Academy already is irrelevant.

Speaking of the best animated feature Oscar, in the context of creative and technical achievement, I think it is now defunct. Most of the films that are nominated, outside of the occasional gem from Pixar, are garbage (Kung Fu Panda anyone?). Better to let those animated films that actually are good compete with the live action features.
 
The cries of populism come because the art elite expects the populace to pay to watch them award themselves.
 
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