The Oscars Go Into Double Jeopardy

This past year was the first time where I'd ever seen all five films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar before the ceremony itself. In fact, I'd seen them all before the nominees were even announced.

I'm sure it's not a conspiracy against me, but it seems unlikely now that I'll actually see all the nominated films this year. That's because the Academy recently announced that next time around, they will be doubling to 10 Best Picture nominees.

It basically comes down to this, if you read between the lines of their press release: the Oscars have recently lost credibility with the "unwashed masses," and the ratings of the televised broadcast itself have gone significantly downhill. The thinking is that with 10 nominees, voters will throw a bone to a film or two with more mass appeal, and this will spur more people to watch the show.

Personally, I think it's a move that only sets up more people to be disappointed on Oscar night when the token multi-million dollar blockbuster doesn't win. Personally, I haven't yet seen the worthy movie this year that I think would fall under that heading. Up was spectacular, but I think the creation of the "animated feature" category has ensured that no animated film will ever again make it in the Best Picture category, no matter how worthy. After that, the best thing I've seen so far this year is Star Trek, and there's not a snowball's chance on Vulcan of that ever getting any non-"technical category" love from any award organization.

I guess we'll see how it all shakes out about half a year from now.