Oscars doubling best-picture nominees to 10

[MacNut]

Because the show was not long enough now we need 10 best picture nominees.

The Academy Awards are doubling the number of best-picture nominees from five to 10.

Academy President Sid Ganis said at a news conference that the academy's board of governors made the decision to expand the slate. Ganis said the decision will open the field up to more worthy films for the top prize at Hollywood's biggest party.

The change takes effect with next year' Oscars on March 7.
The move is a return to Oscar traditions of the 1930s and '40s, when 10 nominees were common.

Ganis said the board looked at last year's slate of films and decided there was room for more in the top category. "We nominated five, but there were many other great films last year," he said.

Among last year's most acclaimed movies was the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight," which wound up snubbed.

Ganis said the broader field also might make room for documentaries, foreign-language films, animated movies and even comedies, which typically do not fare well at the Oscars.

"Everybody says the academy will never nominate a comedy," Ganis said. "Well, maybe we will."

Having 10 or more was common in Hollywood's golden age 60-70 years ago. Ganis noted that 1939's 10 best-picture nominees were "Gone With the Wind," which won, "The Wizard of Oz," "Stagecoach," "Wuthering Heights," "Love Affair," "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Of Mice and Men," "Dark Victory" and "Ninotchka."

All are generally considered classics today.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jm2WlRTg2VlwOiK5ClSaPBfTsqJwD9916FB82

No offense to the Academy but we have not had 10 classic films in a year in a long time.

 

[MacDawg]

No offense to the Academy but we have not had 10 classic films in a year in a long time.

Nailed that one

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[luminosity]

Ten? That's crazy. In many recent years, films that had no business being nominees (or winners) were in fact nominated for Best Picture.

Unless this leads to a lot of deserving independent/small studio films being nominated, this is just silly and pointless. Those small dramas many of us know and love are having a hard time being green lit these days because they're the first to go when big executives don't want to take chances in a bad economy.

 

[MacNut]

The only reason for this is for studios to promote that more movies are nominated for best picture. It is just to sell more tickets for "Best Picture Nominees". It has nothing to do with quality.

This just waters down the catagory and hurts really great movies.

 

[suburbia]

I can't help but suspect this is purely a business decision. Hollywood knows there's a certain audience that will only pay to see Academy-nominated works, so in this bad economy and in the age of downloading, increasing the number of films being nominated will increase box-office receipts for those who are attracted to Oscar-worthy films.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Reminds me of an episode back when I worked for a local radio station:

We had a standard quiz/contest thing where people could call in, get a question on the air.

One evening a lady called in, got her question and three alternatives. After a long, long time thinking, mumbling with someone else on the other end of the phone and stuff, she finally got back and asked, dead serious:

- Do you have any more alternatives?

 

[Jaffa Cake]

This is only going to make Doctor Q's annual Oscar Prediction Thread even more harder. I can't help but think that's the real motive behind all this.

 

[rdowns]

The only reason for this is for studios to promote that more movies are nominated for best picture. It is just to sell more tickets for "Best Picture Nominees". It has nothing to do with quality.

This just waters down the catagory and hurts really great movies.

No kidding.

1939's 10 best-picture nominees were "Gone with the Wind," which won, "The Wizard of Oz," "Stagecoach," "Wuthering Heights," "Love Affair," "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Of Mice and Men," "Dark Victory" and "Ninotchka."

I can't think of 10 classics from the past 10 years.

 

[luminosity]

I bet great but small films like The Lives of Others still never see the daylight of a Best Picture nomination.

 

[ecstasy]

I bet great but small films like The Lives of Others still never see the daylight of a Best Picture nomination.

Why's that?

Great films should get as much attention as possible.

But I do think the Oscars is a massive fluke.

 

[luminosity]

Why's that?

Great films should get as much attention as possible.

But I do think the Oscars is a massive fluke.

Because there's no money to be made from small films, at least from the perspective of the bigwigs who run Hollywood. They've killed hundreds of great films that could have seen the light of day with more open-minded folks making decisions and tried to kill any number of now-legendary films.

Money is what they're about. If it doesn't involve a lot of profit, they're not interested.

 

[MacNut]

Great films don't get attention, only films with big stars do. It is sad but true.

 

[BoyBach]

The only reason for this is for studios to promote that more movies are nominated for best picture. It is just to sell more tickets for "Best Picture Nominees". It has nothing to do with quality.

Hammer. Nail. Head.

I bet great but small films like The Lives of Others still never see the daylight of a Best Picture nomination.

The year that 'The Lives of Others' won its Oscar it was up against 'Pan's Labyrinth', two of the finest films that year - and without doubt two of my favourite films of all time! Yet neither were nominated for Best Picture, which was won by the bloody awful 'The Departed'.

Anyways, it's the Best Foreign Language Film category that needs changing, not Best Picture.

 

[Melrose]

Nailed that one

Woof, Woof - Dawg

I agree. There are many films that make the cut simply because of over marketing while others aren't noticed at all when they're really good. The whole system is skewered anyway. I don't pay much attention to it anymore...

Then again, these are the same people that say Katherine Hepburn was one of the best actresses of all time when she was the same in just about every single film.

 

[MacDawg]

Then again, these are the same people that say Katherine Hepburn was one of the best actresses of all time when she was the same in just about every single film.

Ha, Ha... Cate Blanchett was a better Hepburn in The Aviator than Hepburn was in real life!

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[AppEzzy]

They didn't need 10 at all this year, when looking at the movies that made the cut it makes you feel they were just picking names out of a hat. Hopefully they go back to 5, there is rarely more than 5 decent movies in a year.