Best picture nominees at the Oscars up from 5 to 10

Quite surprised nobody else has commented.

I really dislike this plan. I think Empire's piece sums up my thoughts quite well:



It really does seem like a brazen attempt to get in the average film "fan", the cinema-goer who enjoys the blockbusters and the box-office hits that don't really meet Oscar criteria but are popular.

I've had the debate a few times already on RAB ... and I agree that The Dark Knight is a great film. But is it art, in the way that a Best Picture nominee should be? No. Does it present a message, have a deep emotional impact on the viewer? Maybe a little, but shallowly. It's mostly about the thrills and the spectacle, great for its genre. But nothing more than that, really.

Perhaps I'm just being cynical and pessimistic about the whole thing ... but I'm not overjoyed by the prospect.
 
I thought it use to be 10 or so nominations decades ago and then it changed to 5, now going to back to how it was originally? or am I thinking of something else.
 
Seeing as lots of films advertise themselves as "Oscar nominated", surely this will simply mean that more do so. Meaning worse films being associated with Oscars and therefore diluting the prestigous award?
 
Exactly.

It just means that a film receiving a nomination (and not winning) will just be seen as one of 9 instead of one of 4. A lot less of an honour, really.
 
The number of Best Picture nominees has changed more than once in the time the Oscars have been running. First time out they had to choose between a mere 3 films before the number rose to 5, then to 8 (for a single year), then to 10 (also for one year), then up to 12 nominees for 2 years before they settled on 10 hopefuls for 8 years after which they reduced the number to the 5 that it has been up until now........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture

What's interesting when I look at the list of films from the years that there were more than 5 nominees is how many great films (imo) are there.
 
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