Oscar Best Pictures nomination list expanded from five to ten

It says.

lolz I don't think Hollywood can actually crank out ten good movies a year

is this about getting a couple of blockbusters nominated so people might actually watch

"After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when more bad films had the chance to squeeze out the two decent ones," said academy President Sid Ganis."

Being "good" isn't really a requirement for a Best Picture nom though is it? This is a dumb idea though

Wow. I ... wow.

is this about getting a couple of blockbusters nominated so people might actually watch

ding ding

so next year we will be able to say Transformers 2 was robbed...?

I am definitely not looking forward to Billy Crystal's intro song.

Assuming all other categories are still at five? Let's hope. I've always thought it was dumb when the Golden Globes has had six people competing in the same category (especially when it's like John Travolta for A Love Song for Bobby Long or whatever).

holy shit does this mean the show will be 15 hours long?

Ugh an awful idea unless tons of art films and indie flix get swept in. Yeah right. Oh well. At least there will be no more fanatics crying cuz something like The Dork Knight didn't get nominated.

And, um, how long will the ceremony be now? Will they be cutting out ALL technical awards?

holy shit

haha christ, i cannot imagine which even-more hideous piece of shit will slip into the mix now

ugh, ugh, ugh

(psst, there is already a detrius 2009 thread, ned.)

should have added new categories instead of expanding existing ones

"best robot balls in a movie"

"most irritating performance by christian bale in a comic book movie"

"best movie by a former snl cast member"

(psst, there is already a detrius 2009 thread, ned.)

Ah true. For next time, then.

"best robot balls in a movie"

― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Wednesday, June 24, 2009 2:11 PM (49 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

glad i specified "in a movie" for this one so no one assumed any old robot balls could be nominated

best direct-to-video film of the year

"Best Uwe Boll movie of the year"

jesus god, fuck this.

best nomination category

best trailer

BEST VILLAIN
BEST KISS

It will help newspapers when studios slap OSCAR NOMINEE BEST PICTURE on a whole bunch of movies.

It will help studios when folks rent or go and see more movies.

the DORK KNIGHT! bozelka did it take you a year to think that zinger up?

I'm on the fence here. In a perfect world, this would allow more room for smaller films to be nominated. However, we live in the world where Benjamin Button was one of the nominees this year and where Crash actually won a few years ago. Maybe they wanted to increase the chances of a James Cameron movie winning again? I don't really get it.

"Smaller films" may be nominated, but it'll still basically be the same Oscar-bait biopics that crop up every fall... I also have to agree with Jaime Weinman here. I haven't seen Up yet but I imagine they'll still do whatever it takes to avoid giving Best Picture to an animated film.

If this had been put into practice last year, we'd have:

+ Doubt
+ The Dark Knight
+ Revolutionary Road
+ Wall-E
+ The Wrestler

xpost, yeah exactly. not too thrilling.

From a friend's twitter:
This just in: The NCAA to follow the Oscars' lead and include eight teams in the Final Four.

haha

I'll be interested to see if any Lynch-type films ever sneak in. WALL-E or Batman Is Grim might've won last year under these rules.

You guys do know they had ten nominees in the '30s, right?

Ohhh, wait... Apatow has a movie about DEATH coming out. NOWWWWWW I understand....

I'd love to see Up or Ponyo (if it's up to Miyazaki scratch) make a dent this year.

I see a steadfast refusal to nominate a foreign film more than once every 3-5 years.

the DORK KNIGHT! bozelka did it take you a year to think that zinger up?

― conansformers 2: revenge of the fallon (some dude),

OMG that's hilarious! I swear that was a typo. And to prove I'm prone to them (since I'm concerned about the future of our relationship), just search my name and "Beat Me."

best direct-to-video film of the year

Now this actually would be a useful category.

I actually think the most likely motivation for this is that it will lead to people seeing more movies. (tho this could also backfire and "dilute the brand")

shit's like the nba playoffs now

aren't there tons of blogs every year analyzing the effect of noms on box office and pretty much showing they don't mean shit, or only really effect 1 or 2 BP nominees every year?

i think most of the BP nominees are already en route to dvd by the time the noms occur. they might get a re-release but i doubt that makes a difference.

I didn't realize people cared about the Oscars.

oh well if that's the case the nevermind. i just know PLENTY of middlebrow types that make a point to see all 5 nominees.

Well now they'll see 10! Lucky middlebrow types, I guess.

You'd be surprised - I know people who saw stuff like Milk or Doubt because of their Oscar noms. Mostly on video, of course, the timing's usually right between the broadcast and DVD release for fall prestige films. It gives just that extra push, even critical acclaim usually isn't enough to get people to watch movies.

LOL at this quote on another message board: "This is the greatest day of Ed Zwick's life."

^ooooooh

(tho I really think he'd need 20)

It's funny how everyone's in agreement that this is a bald attempt to get a few more People's Choice Awards-type candidates in the mix. I've already seen some apparently very serious suggestions that Star Trek and The Hangover might end up in competition next February.

You guys do know they had ten nominees in the '30s, right?

the big 5 studios released around 50 pix a year back then, plus columbia/universal/UA releasing dozens more. even factoring out b-movies (which in retrospect were often as worthy)you still had a much bigger pool from which to choose. but whatever the numbers they always make dumb choices anyway, but 10 in this era is just o_O

This is actually appropriate if they start being dicks and allow (all) foreign movies to compete for best picture.

err. stop being dicks.

well, since "the studios" are aesthetically somnambulant, the more relevant number is that 650 films were released (in NYC, at least) last year. Of course, the Academy Awards exists to promote Hollywood and American commercial films (that play in LA). i just don't care.

This just creates more "buzz" about awards and marketing, not cinema; include me out.

xpost ... and docs and legitimately indie indies, yeah.

Yay, marketing! Can't wait for the screeners! Way to find the silver lining, Morbs.

From the sky-is-falling dept.

I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING! OK...bcuz there are now 10 best picture nominees...30 producers will be nominated. That's more than the 20 actors that are nominated. If this thing lasts over time there will be more producers in the Academy then actors which means that producers will have the largest voting block now...

this...scares...me...

Patrick Goldstein chides all you nervous nellies -- in a way that makes me question his sanity.

It's funny how everyone's in agreement that this is a bald attempt to get a few more People's Choice Awards-type candidates in the mix.

I'm not sure that's even on the minds of the Academy. I think they simply want more people to watch the show, therefore more familiar movies, more familiar actors in those familiar movies (Javier who? Marion who?), etc. etc. Major studios are happy because they can offset some of their marketing costs to Academy promo.

The Hangover I still can't imagine, but "from the Academy Award-nominated guys who brought you Drillbit Taylor and The Year One" in the ads for the Forgetting Sarah Marshall sequel next year is definitely soooo on

Also, consider what adding more nominees might do to the voting patterns. One of the problems with the Oscars every year is that by the time the telecast rolls around, months of best-of lists and other award shows have led to a fair amount of fatigue with the recurring set of winners. In theory, giving the Academy members more choices might lead to upsets, since it'll allow the voters to veer away from the frontrunners everyone's already sick of. In actuality, what's more likely to happen is that all the dark horses will beat each other back, and the frontrunner will become even more of a foregone conclusion.

This is good news for the torrent industry. Twice the downloads!

...expanded from anywhere between five to ten. The tension etc.