Academy Expands Best Picture Nominees to 10
Filed under: Awards, Oscar Watch
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is going to pull a Sir Mix-A-Lot and "Uh! Double up, uh uh!" the Best Picture category next year with ten nominees instead of the usual five. That's twice as many nominations as before, although it seems to only be limited to the Best Picture category, which is a shame because opening up at least the major categories could make things a lot more interesting.
The announcement on Variety today was extremely short, but the Academy has a press release up already stating that they're hearkening back to Oscars roots when the Best Picture category sometimes contained ten films (or more -- 12 in 1934 and 1935), although that hasn't been the case since 1943. Despite the doubling, Academy president Sid Ganis wants to remind you, "The final outcome, of course, will be the same -– one Best Picture winner."
Gee, thanks Sid. For a minute there we thought you'd really just decided to shoot for the moon and feature three Best Picture winners in a publicity stunt. Now how about you guys get to work on the show for next year and get Stephen Colbert to host? That's worth doubling up for.
Which films do you think will now make the cut? Pixar's Up is a definite contender ... what else?
Robert Pattinson Talks 'Breaking Dawn' & 'Unbound Captives'
Gwyneth Paltrow Joins Nicole Kidman in 'The Danish Girl'
Discuss: The Movies That Haunt You_thumbnail.jpg)
'Yogi Bear' Will Cry Me A River With Its Cast
Watch This: Movie Titles That Slip Into the Dialogue
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-24-2009 @ 2:33PM
Mike said...
Up was the first one that came to mind to benefit from this. I'd like to see a true comedy make the cut too, although right now I'm not sure what that would be from this year's crop. If this turns out to be more than a one year experiment, you might as well pencil in each year's Pixar release now.
I like the uncertainty this will create when trying to predict a winner out of a crop of 10, but at the same time I'm sure some will contest that this will cheapen the victory. It at least makes things more interesting, which I'm sure is the motivation behind the move.
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 2:55PM
Kevin Kelly said...
I like this as well. Limiting it to five just feels too constraining at times, but Mike is right in that two good films could split the votes, and another film could come in and win. Should be interesting, to say the least.
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 2:39PM
thenaritaline said...
It'd actually be 100% more.
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 3:01PM
Kevin Kelly said...
Well, math never was my strong suit. It's now 37% fixed!
6-24-2009 @ 3:11PM
Shaun said...
I'm sure studios will love this, now more films can be marketed as a "Best Picture Nominee"....
10 seems a bit too much for me, I would have liked 6 or maybe 7...
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 3:15PM
Shaun said...
"two good films could split the votes, and another film could come in and win"
Why is the likelihood of this happening increase by expanding the number of nominees?
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 3:56PM
John Ramistella said...
I was wondering that myself. I guess, playing devil's advocate, the assumption is that some films may have been snubbed in the past that - while they might not have won - they could have at least taken votes away from another movie.
Look at 2007, for example. No Country for Old Men won, with the other nominees being There Will Be Blood, Juno, Michael Clayton, and Atonement. If you were allowed to add five more nominees - let's just say Ratatouille, 3:10 to Yuma, Lars and the Real Girl, American Gangster, and Into the Wild, then you've got five strong candidates (stronger than Atonement and Juno, IMO) that some voters might feel more strongly about than the original five.
Granted, this would all be a moot point if the five nominees were actually based on merit instead of marketing campaigns, but that's another rant for another day.
6-24-2009 @ 3:38PM
john said...
Besides the issue of whether this devalues a nomination too much (why 10 noms instead of 7 or 8?), I'm concerned that the balloting procedure could result in some very weird nominees.
Everyone nominates five movies in ranking order. As a ballot's number 1 movie is eliminated, that ballot then becomes a vote for the #2 choice and so on.
What will end up happening is the 9th or 10th movie in could be ranked #1 by like 0.5% of the voting group.
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 4:10PM
Jay Seaver said...
"I'm concerned that the balloting procedure could result in some very weird nominees."
I'd be very disappointed if it didn't. I think it would be nothing but good if this broadened the perception of what a "best picture" is, especially if that meant more comedies and comedic performances got appreciated.
6-24-2009 @ 3:51PM
Rebekah said...
It'd be fabulous to see Away We Go get nominated. And maybe with a more open field more comedies will get the attention they deserve.
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 4:06PM
David Musto said...
"Away We Go" is a very viable candidate and perhaps the best film I've seen so far this year.
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 4:14PM
Xaeinovis said...
This could've been used last year for The Dark Knight, Wall-E, and The Wrestler...
*sigh*
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 5:33PM
Holly said...
I think this is a great sign for the smart comedies that get snubbed every year
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 5:40PM
max said...
I could see Funny People or Bruno getting a nod
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 5:56PM
Lynwood said...
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science doubling the number of best picture nominees! Who knows? I know a comedy film that will be among the nominees!! I can see it now! This film yielding much and receiving an immediate return. I am telling you it will bring to the table drama, comedy and suspense. Hilariously funny causing both the muscles in your face and stomach to tighten up from laughing so hard.
Some might even fall from their seats. Believe me! You will not be able to keep a straight face. I suggest that you use the restroom first before you enter into this movie. Why? Because you will not be able to hold what is longing inside you. You will release it from cracking up. Yes Sir! The remake of Sanford and Son! THE MOVIE!! The right cast! Hey!! There is a guy that sound like Fred G. Sanford on youtube.com/healingprophet
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 7:21PM
CParis said...
This is just a ploy to boost TV ratings. The Oscar's rating have been dreadful, especially because most of the films/performances had very little exposure prior to the telecast.
Think of all of the fans tuning in to see "Transformers 8", "BigExplosions", "BroMance III" face off against "EuroAsianArtfilm".
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 10:17PM
James said...
This is a VERY bad idea. The reason why the Oscars still have a modicum of weight is BECAUSE it's hard to get nominated. When you start doing things like DOUBLING the number of Best Picture nominees you've now decreased their importance by half. And then you open the flood doors to ten Best Director nominations, ten nominees in each acting category, etc. And soon, they'll be adding more categories and splitting existing ones. Sound familiar? It's called the Emmy Awards. This is why the Emmys have gone into the gutter-- they add new categories every year. For example, ask yourself, has adding a "reality" category helped the Emmys out, or hurt them? Keep the Best Picture nominees at 5.
Reply
6-24-2009 @ 10:04PM
Tyler j. Pratt said...
I think this will make the category even more competitive because more films that would never before have stood a chance at a nomination will be throwing their names into the fold and fighting for a nod. Theres never been any complaining when critics groups put out a top ten and then announce a winner, just think of it the same way.
These ten films are the ten best of the year according to this group the Oscars, and then the members of this group will vote for what they believe to be the best. I guarantee you that with this rule in place, votes will be split and there will be suprising winners as a result. With more possobilities to chose from, the likelyhood that Academy members will vote on their own personal favorite will skyrocket which is a good thing, rather than have members vote on the more popular movie when their favorite is not a choice on the ballot. I guarrantee that had this been in place last year with say The Dark Knight, Wall-e, The Wrestler, Doubt and Gran Torino as the other five, Slumdog Millionaire would not have been as much of a sure thing to win, especially since the older members could have gotten behind Gran Torino, while the Actors may have put their weight behind The Wrestler and all other groups could have came behind Wall-e or The Dark Knight.
With 10 nominees in place, voters would probably be more inclined to vote based on their own oppinion rather than succumb to a Slumdog like sheep mentality. And by doing this, the odds of a better movie or a more unique film winning would be exponentially greater.
Over at my blog The Oscar Hut, the first part of my State of The Race: Best Picture 2009 article is up detailing in alphabetical order the ten movies I think will be nominated, from Avatar to Up. Along with this article there are polls, reviews, predictions, site links and much more. So come check it out and let me know what you think wheter it be a sentence or a three page e-mail positive or negative, whatever it may be, only at The Oscar Hut
www.theoscarhut.blogspot.com
tjpratt@bellsouth.net
Reply
6-25-2009 @ 10:05AM
ML said...
Ah, what's old is new again! It's not like the Academy Awards didn't have 10 (or more) best pic noms in past years.
Reply