The Academy just decided the more the merrier. Starting next year, some movie fatcat will strut onstage at the end of the March 7th Oscar telecast and read 10 nominees for Best Picture instead of the usual 5. Stop with the jokes. I know it's usually a stretch to get even 5. From the early 1930s till 1943, the Academy customarily nominated two handfuls of movies for the big prize. But why go back to that policy now? You'll hear lots of reasons. But the decline in TV ratings for the Oscar show is the one that sticks to the wall. Audiences won't tune in when their favorite movies aren't nominated. The Dark Knight struck box-office gold last year, but the Academy stupidly snubbed it for Best Picture, along with the animated success, WALL-E. Now it's time to make good on missed opportunities.
Let's look at what happened on the 2009 Oscar show.
The 5 nominees for Best Picture were:
Slumdog Millionaire (the winner)
Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
First of all, The Reader and Ben Button did not belong there. The Dark Knight and WALL-E should have had those 2 spots. Both were hits the Academy snubbed, so let's add them.
But after that, what 5 additional movies deserved spots on the gold list. I'm sure you have 5 picks in the small, neglected category. Here are mine:
Che
The Visitor
Rachel Getting Married
Frozen River
Man On Wire
My feeling is these 5 movies would have had no chance in hell of getting onto Top 10. The Hollywood suits who vote in these extra 5 movies would be wanting some love for the big studio movies that cost money, make money, and bring in audiences for the Oscarcast. For example:
Twilight
Mamma Mia!
Sex and the City
Iron Man (almost a justifiable choice)
We'll have to wait and see how it plays out when the Oscar nominations are released on Feb. 2, 2010. If Transformers 2 shows up as a contender, me and Oscar are through for life. But here's my theory on how to tell the real contenders for Best Picture from the shills. Look at the five nominees for Best Director. Those names will show where the Oscar heat is.
At the half-way mark in 2009, let's make our own list of movies that deserve a nomination for Best Picture in the new Oscar 10-pack. Here are a few of mine:
UP
Public Enemies
The Hurt Locker
Moon
Whoops, I'm out of ammunition. Over to you guys . . .
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s27 | August 31, 2009 1:36 PM
My ten nominations foe next year:
1. Public Enemies
2. 500 Days of Summer
3. Adventure Land
4. UP
5. Inglorious Basterds
6. Amelia
7. Julie & Julia
8. The Hurt Locker
9. District 9
10.Harry Potter 6
digglesworth | August 18, 2009 2:24 AM
1) hurt locker
2) district 9
3) Lovely Bones
4) Harry Potter 6
5) UP
6) A Serious Man
7) Me and Orson Welles
8) Shutter Island
9) Nine
10)The Road
Anonymous | July 17, 2009 2:32 PM
Travers you get alot of stick for your opinion on transformers and to be honest i didnt think it was that bad but i do not feel any anger towards you for hating it, the reason why i watch your reviews every week is because you tell the honest truth about every movie, even if they are the movies that have been created to make millions. I also totally agree with your opinions of harry potter it was amazing and the best film of the summer so far.
patrick | July 15, 2009 3:59 PM
last year here's what should have been nominated:
1.milk
2.frost nixon
3.dark knight(desrved to win)
4.slumdog
5.che
6.the visitor
7.burn after reading
8.gran torino
9.In Bruges
10.ben button(terrific and underrated)
This year: moon, up ,public enemies, hurt locker and star trek were all worthy. avatar,9,taking woodstock,inglorious basterds and funny people all look great
John boy | July 15, 2009 12:39 PM
My ten (in no particular order):
1) Inglorious Basterds
2)The Hurt Locker
3) Public Enemies
4) The White Ribbon
5) Where the Wild Things Are
6) Moon
7) Anvil!
8) The Soloist
9) Tetro
10) Taking Woodstock
But that's only for now.
i mean, you have to hand it to the academy: they manage to fuck everything up! my list is mostly filled with indies. However, there are some favorites. Can Francis Coppolla pull ahead with Tetro? Can Spike Jonze get away with Where the Wild Things Are? CAN A FUCKIN' DOCUMENTARY GET A SPOT??!! THAT'S WHAT I WANT! The Academy better choose something well thought out, other than something that had just cash money involved. I always thought Best Picture meant something that people can relate to; something that had meaning. And if Transformers 2 gets a spot, then its the sign of the apocalypse! Michael Bay shouldn't have a job as a director after that catastrophe. But of all the films listed, my money's on Inglorious Basterds to get a spot, just because it looks fucking awesome: Pulp Fiction set in WW2 occupied France, and The Hurt Locker! But please don't count out The Cannes Film Festival winner The White Ribbon. Look, I understand a handful of these films haven't come out yet, that most of them are indies... that's fine! That only means that the mainstream directors of years ago are getting smart, and choosing to make indies rather than bullshit big budget films. How's that for alliteration?
All in all, if the Academy had any sense whatsoever, they'd choose films WITH MEANING rather than escapist films that make either no sense or that include humor for people to go "haha, i get that! DUHH!!"
Stuart | July 12, 2009 8:20 PM
lets see this years contenders should be:
1)the hurt locker
2)public enemies
3)moon
4)away we go
5)bruno
6)star trek (maybe it'll work)
7)up
8)julie and julia
9)the boat that rocked
10)trnsformers:revenge of the fallen (nah, just kiddin! where the wild things are dserves this place)
but hey, thats my opinion. and as for last year, if there were 10 nomnations, it wouldve been nic if it were:
1)slumdog millionare
2)milk
3)frost/nixon
4)the reader
5)rachel getting married
6)gran torino
7)the visitor
8)the dark night
9)wall-e
10)the love guru (kidding again! che shouldeve been there)
but again, thets my opinion...
Ron | July 10, 2009 2:30 PM
Take out "Benjamin Button" and "The Reader" and put in "The Wrestler" and "Doubt." This year, since there are 10:
Moon
Public Enemies
Star Trek
Up
Adventureland
Watchmen
and I'm out of choices
a.k.m. | July 7, 2009 1:12 PM
out of last year's movies, i definitely would have nominated 'revolutionary road' and 'changeling' as best pictures.
teenageriot | July 1, 2009 11:05 PM
forgot:
take out BEN Button:
Visitor
Doubt
Rachel Getting Married
Wrestler
I've Loved You So Long
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
others:
Frozen River
Happy Go Lucky
Revolutionary Road
Wendy and Lucy
teenageriot | July 1, 2009 11:03 PM
No Ben Button, the Reader was fantastic
Take out Ben Button +5
The Wrestler
Rachel Getting Married
Frost/ Nixon
Frozen River or Wendy and Lucy
I've Loved You So Long
Doubt
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Jack Stark | June 30, 2009 11:23 PM
Mandela, you're being ridiculous. Over 300 films are eligible for the Best Picture award. It is not like the Academy is nominating 100 movies for Best Picture or even 20. 5 out of 300 = 2%. 10 out of 300 = 3%. Being nominated for Best Picture will still be an honor. This means, you have achieve something 97% of films did not.>>>Besides, the Academy is moving back to the 30s through early 40 days, where between 8 and 12 films were nominated for Best Picture.
Mandela | June 30, 2009 9:57 AM
What this also means is that the oscar nod for best picture is worthless for now on. It use to be something in and of itself to be nominated for an oscar, but now that ten movies are getting it, it's just dilute now.
Derik | June 30, 2009 1:21 AM
I agree with others that last year lacked great films. Though there were many good films.
If you look at great you have a very shortlist:
Slumdog
WALL-E
Revolutionary Road (In my personal opinion)
Good, to name a few:
Frost/Nixon
Milk
In Brudges
The Wrestler
Doubt
I've Loved You So Long (Robbed more than any other movie I believe.)
Jarrod Karimi | June 28, 2009 6:35 PM
Public Enemies
Star Trek
Tyson
Moon
The Road
Where the Wild Things Are
Avatar
Amelia
Julie and Julia
Cheri
JP | June 27, 2009 1:46 PM
OK, one more thing. Stop lamenting that "The Dark Knight" wasn't nominated for Best Picture. It wasn't good enough to be nominated for Best Picture if there were 20 or more spots available.
It was an enjoyable yet brainless summer blockbuster. You can use alot of words to describe this movie: action-packed, exciting, underservingly pretentious, etc. However, calling it one of the "best picture" of last year or any other year is not one of the words.
I'll stop now before I go into, once again, all the reasons this movie fails epically on being a deep thoughtful movie that mindless people think that it is.
Scarface | June 27, 2009 10:19 AM
I wish the academy would have done this sooner, if I chose the best picture nominees it would be...
(in order of which is most deserving)
Milk
Let the Right One In
The Visitor
The Wrestler
Slumdog Millionare
Frost/Nixon
The Dark Knight
Rachel Getting Married
WALL-E
Changeling or Gran Totino
JP | June 27, 2009 1:39 AM
Last year nominees reflected a lack of quality movies last year. I watched the multi-Oscar nominated "Doubt" this week. I screamed "Oh my God!" in disbelief at the screen at the ultra-corny ending.
Traditionally, there are usually aren't enough quality movies to have 5 movies to nominate for Best Picture. Even then, the Academy still manage to miss nominating the best movies. Also a shame, they also don't nominate comedies with a serious expectation to win. So, expanding it to 10 nominations is an exercise in stupidity. Especially, if they going to nominate movies with no expectations to win. Yet, they were popular at the box office.
StifGuy | June 26, 2009 3:45 PM
Its good news he mentioned Publice Enemies, I am assuming he has seen the film and loved it. Its one of my most anticipated.
lala | June 26, 2009 2:23 PM
other 5 movies ..,
my choise: dark knight,
the visitor, rachel getting married,
the wrestler, black baloon
MJBodnarek | June 26, 2009 2:05 PM
I think that Gran Torino Should have been nominated for best director, best actor, and best picture. It's is ashame that it was s snubbed by the academy because it was much better than Benjamin Button.
Jordan | June 26, 2009 2:35 AM
Star Trek, if anything, should get nods for its technical achievements. The visual FX were beautiful, but no overkill like with the new Transformers, and the sound design was just insane.
liz | June 25, 2009 11:55 PM
I think Two Lovers should be nominated.
As for The Oscars expanding Best Pic. to 10 films - I don't think that will work. If they want a bigger audience - how about cutting the show by say an hour - all they would have to do is get rid of all the unnecessary self congratulatory bits (including pointless musical numbers). Also why not have 3 separate categories: Best Comedic Film, Best Comedic Actor and Actress. That would at least show the rest of the world that the Academy isn't just full of pretentious snobs. The added bonus being that by having comedic categories it would also likely represent a more mainstream taste (plus finally reward great comedic performers.
hal | June 25, 2009 10:15 PM
i agree, i can't imagine another reason for the ten nominees except tv ratings, and i agree about how wall-e should have been in the top five (i dont agree about the dark knight... it's been my dirty little secret since it came out that i gave it less than ten stars out of five like everyone else...). i hope you were being VERY sarcastic when you assumed mamma mia, twilight & sex in the city would have gotten the extra nods... they're not THAT stupid!
Collin Schlicht | June 25, 2009 9:00 PM
To start, I fully agree with your revised '09 Oscar picks and with your preview for '10 to come - now to add a little to it. As far as big dollar Hollywood blockbusters are concerned, "Star Trek" deserves a salute for making fantasy a reality (yeah, right "Transformers 2" - all gloss, no glory).
"The Hangover" rocks the Comedy recognition, but most likely won't get the props it's due. Also, as for what's to come, I know that you and I both have high hopes for Scorsese's "Shutter Island". This could also give us a chance to root, yet again, for DiCaprio to win Best Actor. But, if his best work ("The Departed") isn't recognized, what will be?
I guess there's always Depp as Dillinger.
As for those that should have been left out of 2009's ballet, your picks are money. "The Reader" was very so-so, and "Button" missed the mark (let's hope "Inglourious Basterds" revives Pitt).
But most of all, I'm especially agreeing with you about it being down right jaw-dropping that Oscar-folk would even dare to snub a triumph like "The Dark Knight" for Best Picture - as well as for Screenplay and Director for that matter. Too bad the Academy completely disregarded Nolan's visual virtuosity and his balls-to-the-wall mastery of IMAX filmmaking. Although, at the very least, they managed to keep their head off the chopping block by honoring Ledger. If that didn't happen - it wouldn't have surprised me if car bombs resulting in flame and fluttering Joker cards would've secretly been dispersed to those on the Oscar payroll.
Thanks for your awesome work for RS magazine, and for "1000 Best Movies on DVD"! I look forward to your news and reviews to come. Thanks for reading.
Your fan-
Collin
Joe | June 25, 2009 7:59 PM
When the Oscars had ten nominees in the late 30's, alot of great movies made the cut that may not have been possible at the time (as awful as this sounds now, The Wizard of Oz, considered not serious enough at the time when Gone With the Wind reigned, probably would not have made the cut at five). However, this just gives the Academy another round of dramas to nominate. Although Dark Knight certainly would have made the cut (it had both the box office and the critical acclaim), and given the track record of nominations, Wall-e (a cartoon, after all) and Iron Man both would still have been snubbed to make room for movies like the Wrestler, Doubt, and Revolutionary Road (all worthy movies in their own right). Face it, we'll still be complaining about snubs when they name their ten nominees and they blow off Star Trek or, god forbid, Up.
Jack Stark | June 25, 2009 5:25 PM
I embrace the idea. With five more slots open, one can expect a more diverse group of nominees. Just imagine what would have happened last year if the rule came into effect? We might have seen (according to the big awards buzz) "The Dark Knight," "Wall-E," "Doubt," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," "In Bruges," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "Frozen River," or "Burn After Reading" picking up a Best Picture nod.>>>I Academy should also think of expanding the acting categories too. This would open the doors to comedic performances getting nominated
Czikk | June 25, 2009 5:24 PM
You know, those are pretty accurate picks as far as I'm concerned. I am actually hoping that one of these days, a Harry Potter film will come out that actually works as a film, and not just as a decent adaptation. THat would be nice to see.
About The Hangover: it could be nominated, seeing as Juno, another comedy, was nominated, and it had comparable success. Then again, maybe it was just the teen pregnancy bit that they felt warranted the nod. And then again, Ben Button had a lot of hype too, and it got nominated (for better or worse). And with ten spots, even if it is an unlikely win, it would be good fanfare.
Kevin the Robot | June 25, 2009 3:44 PM
I agree that Star Trek could get a nod. I can't think of any other movie this summer that was better. Of course The Hangover is one of the best movies of the year, but it will never even be considered for a nod.
hdbngr63 | June 25, 2009 3:32 PM
If they're going to hand over spots to box-office hits (which you know they will), I wouldn't mind if "Star Trek" gets a nod. At least out of what has been released so far. Better that than a race with "Paul Blart" and "Fast & Furious."