I think we’re all lucky that consensus opinion when it comes to the Oscars is decidedly more high quality then the consensus opinion that results in the Grammys or the Emmys. Emmy politics IMO are much worse than Oscar politics. The snubs of so many HBO, Showtime, even Sci-Fi channel, shows in favor of stuff like Two and a Half Men, is infinately more of a snub to me then the Wrestler getting snubbed.

Which is the same as Oscar.

But you’ve got to admit, the folks love a spectacle and more fodder on best picture probably will increase the chance of ratings. Which is what the Oscars are about these days anyway…Well, ratings and Box-Office Boosting and selling fashion mags.

In other words, some years there might only be two or three nominations, or if it’s 2007 maybe there are 12 nominations. This idea it has to be the same number every year is kind of stupid. Like someone said above, often they just pad the nominees with fluff. What’s the point of that? We all know Miss Sunshine doesn’t stand a chance, so why even nominate it? Nominate the three that really have a chance of winning.

I don’t give the movie blogging community enough credit to believe they would do this and not end up doing something stupid like voting strategically as a bloc.

and I said, those who vote are movie bloggers, the Campeas, the Rodneys, me.

what a perfect world.

And how the fuck would anyone draw the line of who gets to vote and who doesn’t? You must bring the tickets to X amounts of screenings before voting? You must bring a photo of your DVD collection? You must answer a trivia question on the way in?

It’s the Academy’s awards, right or wrong. It’s their show, we watch. We give input on the show and their tastes, but I don’t see any right to intrude. If RowThree suddenly got a mass influx of people who love Twilight or Transformers, R3′s year end lists still wouldnt owe them anything.

While the Oscars may pander, we have no right to demand it of them.

thoughts?

they need to keep five films, but change the way they choose films so that the five films really matter. It should be less about business and more about prestige, of celebrating cinematic history.

However, I am sick of hearing about how Batman wasn’t nominated at the oscars. As if that’s the big travesty, and the opportunity for the academy to do something right and popular. It’s as if people are forgetting that FUCKING THE WRESTLER wasn’t nominated either. That’s the fucking oversight. Not Batman.

c/p from a post i made on FilmJunk:

“The most realistic upside is movies that are considered art house and very good but too small or quirky to be nominated… will maybe get nominated. Maybe it means something like Up would get nominated. I could even believe if this was in place already that the Dark Knight could get nominated.

The most realistic downside is that movies that the studios NEED to get awards in order to make any money but are universally considered not up to snuff (ie. The Soloist) may end up getting nominated.

In the end there’ll be a mix of some welcome new nominees and a few more ‘wtf’ ones.”

Btw, unlike Kurt I would not be upset if Synecdoche was left off of 10 choices. Even though it was my no. 2 of 08, I know it is inherenly divisive enough to accept it not making any concensus list of such a broad range of people.

If they bring Hugh Jackman back, I’m hooked. If not, the new ten-spot race will at least make for a more interesting show, whether the extra nominees deserve it or not. My guess is that they hope to highlight one or two more truly deserving films, one or two commercial films to get better ratings, and then they’ll have a spot left over where they can mess up as they usually do.

@ and really, are there ten Oscar worthy films made every year? They are padding it usually with something like Little Miss Sunshine with only five.

Doesn’t this question kind of address your own concern? Maybe there aren’t more than 5 worthy films in any one persons opinion but the Oscars aren’t meant to reflect one person’s opinion.
And if you’re truly calling for more diversity among the nominees you can’t turn around and criticize them for nominating LMS and Babe. Those are also unconventional nominees.

I agree that it’s difficult to imagine this change will result in underseen films getting more recognition. But some films that could benefit from this:
Assination of Jesse James, Che, Inglorious Basterds, Dark Knight, Being John Malkovitch, Where the Wild Things Are, Boogie Nights, Passion of the Christ, Ghost World, Children of Men…

and really, are there ten Oscar worthy films made every year? They are padding it usually with something like Little Miss Sunshine with only five.

There’ll just be more room for Ron Howard, Rob Marshall and Sam Mendes.

/cynic.