The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the official name for the clowns who hand out the Oscars) announced today that, starting next year, the number of Best Picture nominations will be doubled from 5 to 10.
This move would imply that Hollywood is producing soooo many good movies that opening the field to 10 movies is the only fair thing to do because so many cinematic gems were being snubbed. But the truth is…
- Hollywood just wants to pay tribute to as many genres as possible before picking the biggest crowd-pleasing drama with the most artistic merit. I predict that in the field of 10, there will be 1 animation, 1 action (low-budget), 1 action (big-budget), 1 quirky comedy, 1 movie with a majority non-Caucasian cast, 1 historical drama (WWII), 1 historical drama (non-WWII), 1 drama (Baby Boomer appeal), 1 drama (Gen X appeal), and 1 totally wacked indie with a twisty narrative structure.
Note that the 1 movie with a majority non-Caucasian cast may be combined with another genre to make room for another Baby Boomer drama. - With 10 nominations, Hollywood can now simultaneously pat itself on the back for its small-budget artistic forays while throwing a bone to the poor slobs who can’t understand why Paul Blart: Mall Cop isn’t receiving the recognition it so richly deserves.
- And after years of pruning the Oscar broadcast to a svelte 3 1/2 hours, now the broadcast will swell to at least 6 hours, to allow sufficient coverage of each of the 10 Best Pictures nominees, to maximize advertising opportunities, and to provide gainful employment to every artistic director, choreographer, and montage editor in California.
Sneer. Last weekend, we scanned the movie listings and there was not one single movie that we wanted to see, even at our independant/foreign movie house. We finally settled on Food, Inc., because at least we’d learn something. So, Hollywood, what’s going to happen when you’re churning out so many crap movies that you can’t even muster 10 worthy flicks for the Academy’s consideration, and then through a fluke split in the voting, The Hottie and the Nottie is walking away with the golden statue?
