Posted by Michelle in Academy Awards, Best Picture | 12 comments
82nd Academy Awards® to Feature 10 Best Picture Nominees!!
Wow!! The title says it all, baby…
Beverly Hills, CA (June 24, 2009) — The 82nd Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 7, 2010, will have 10 feature films vying in the Best Picture category, Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis announced today (June 24) at a press conference in Beverly Hills.
“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.)
Currently, the Academy is presenting a bicoastal screening series showcasing the 10 Best Picture nominees of 1939, arguably one of Hollywood’s greatest film years. Best Picture nominees of that year include such diverse classics as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “Stagecoach,” “The Wizard of Oz” and Best Picture winner “Gone with the Wind.”
“Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize,” commented Ganis. “I can’t wait to see what that list of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.”
The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2. The Oscar® ceremony honoring films for 2009 will again take place at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.
So crazy, huh? What do you think of the shocking announcement from AMPAS?
Source: Oscars.org
Wow! I am not in support of this at all. Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting there are only 5 films each year that are worthy of "Best Picture" status… actually, it varies from year to year. One year there may be more than 5 films worthy, others less than 5, but the point is that changing the nominations pool from 5 to 10 is just, well… pointless! If they have 5 nominees, those are obviously the ones the voters feel best about. To go in and add 5 more is like saying "hey, you just missed the boat, but we're going to let you stand with the big guys just so you can look important." In addition, I thought paring the length of the Academy Awards ceremony down a bit was a primary goal of this new and better Academy. I just don't see how doubling the Best Picture category is going to help with that?
Maybe Star Trek, The Hangover and Up could see nominations this year….and how about last year's The Dark Knight??
Honestly, with the inception of the Best Animated Feature category, I don't ever see them giving an animated film a Best Picture nominee, as well. Perhaps starting this year, they will get rid of the Best Animated Feature category altogether and lump them in with the other movies. Honestly, this is how it should be anyway. Same with Best Foreign Language category. Best Picture should encompass all other "Best Movie" categories. That includes animated features, foreign language films, and documentaries.
What about Avatar then? That's using a style of animation called E-motion capture
I also wonder how the studios will take the news….
OK, 'The Dark Knight' is a great example… let's say it did get the 6th or 7th spot in a list of 10 Best Picture nominees. Do you really think that would have resulted in it winning? Keep in mind who's voting here. Again, I'm not saying it wasn't a worthy candidate, but you've got to draw the line somewhere. Heck, why not just eliminate the nomination portion of the process altogether and just have a voting free-for-all? In all seriousness, none of this "really" matters, but it does beg the question WHY?
I agree with keeping just the five…but I definitely thinks this may stem from 'The Dark Knight' omission and the ever downhill ratings of the Oscar telecast – Many more would've watched last year if more popular crowd-pleasing films, like 'The Dark Kknight' had been nomoinated. Can you imagine how many more will watch this year if 'Star Trek' and 'The Hangover' manage Best Picture nominations?
The Dark Knight might have won if there were split votes in various areas.
eg. If Slumdog Millionare and Vicky Christina Barcelone were both nominated, they might have split the Golden Globe vote.
Slumdog won because Milk and Frost/Nixon split the biopic vote.
I dunno… they may get a few more viewers if films like 'Star Trek' and 'The Hangover' were nominated for awards, but I think the influx of new alternate awards shows, good and bad (aka – MTV Movie Awards) have become more popular with "that" crowd and the "crowd" that still watched the Oscars is a completely different demographic. Honestly, I think these "little" changes aren't going to prove very successful. If the Oscars want a resurgence in popularity, they'll need a major face lift.
It doesn't matter if there are 5 nominees or 10, it's all going to boil down to politics. Sure, maybe 'Dark Knight' might have gotten a nomination if there were 10 slots last year, but that's only because of the outcry from people who loved it, not because the members of the Academy thought it actually belonged there.
'Dark Knight' not getting a nomination last year also has nothing to do with why they bumped the number of slots from 5 to 10. It's all about the almighty dollar. The boost in ticket sales for the five movies nominated for Best Picture each year is going to now help twice as many movies. With the economy the way it is, Hollywood is wanting to help boost their ticket sales wherever they can. It doesn't matter that Hollywood isn't even losing money because of the economy. People are still going to movies in droves. This is just one more decision made behind a closed door when people were putting their heads together trying to figure out how to make even more money.
We will also now have that much more time to sit through Best Picture nominee recaps during the show's telecast, meaning more ad time to sell. Maybe not all that much, but every second counts.
Heard Bill Condin floated this idea when Dreamgirls missed the cut. I wonder if this a precursor to releasing vote totals.