HOW MANY BEST PICTURE NOMINEES? WHO KNOWS!

Gods, it's really reaching the 'lipstick on a pig' point now isn't it.

Because giving it a lottery feel can only increase its relevance and credibility. /sarcasm.

The Oscars should take one cue from the Golden Globes: at least two different categories for Best Picture. (Hell, maybe three: Drama, Comedy/musical, Action/etc.) The fact that so many comedies have been passed over is ridiculous.

They might as well pick the nominees by lottery.

I don't see anything wrong with this in theory. Set a "points standard" and any film that meets that standard gets nominated is certainly better than just picking 10 films when you know there are several that don't have a chance. I suspect that it's just a step in the path back to 5 nominees, but if it just turns into 6 or 7 nominees for a few years, what's the issue?

Same issue as with having ten: it does nothing to actually increase the "tension", which is the goal (more perceived uncertainty leading to more viewers). And as mcnooj and I point out, making it a varying number each year plays into the favorites and political aspects of the awards.

I'll agree it doesn't do anything to increase the tension. But, frankly, there are always only two or three frontrunners.

However, fewer nominees does increase the credibility and prestige of getting a nomination. If there had only been six nominations last year, say The King's Speech, Black Swan, The Social Network, True Grit, The Fighter, and Inception would there have been much complaining? It might have meant something if Winter's Bone could have squeezed into that field. OTOH, did 127 Hours squeaking in add a thing to the Best Picture race?

I agree that they're presenting this as something of a gimmick, but I think you can make a case that some years are more competitive than others and an extra slot or two wouldn't hurt. Especially if there's no clear front runner.

The thing that's hurting the Academy Awards is that the core Baby Boomer membership is mostly out of touch with anything that could be considered hip and cutting edge. It doesn't matter how many gimmicks and ways you try to dress up the ceremony, you're never going to be perceived as appealing to the more youthful demographic when a movie as square and old fashioned as The King's Speech is your big winner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

They might as well pick the nominees by lottery.

Hah, you read my mind, dude.

They should just take every movie that was released that year and every actor that appeared in them, write the names on white balls, and throw them into a spinner. I want to see shit like:

Best leading actress - Peter Dinklage

Best musical - Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Achievement in special effects - Midnight in Paris

Best film - Fast Five

Then pick random people, living and dead for the In Memoriam montage. Have Neil Patrick Harris host and sing songs about his big white balls, in between announcing winners.

Then... I might watch it.

But, why should I, or rather a general I, care?  I'm not voting on it, it's not like it's meant to be a populist vote.  So pandering for viewers for something that's an industry award just seems ridiculous.  I get that people like movies and celebrity and all that, but at this point if they want to get more younger viewers they might as well just try to become more like the MTV Movie Awards and open up the vote.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilTwin 

The thing that's hurting the Academy Awards is that the core Baby Boomer membership is mostly out of touch with anything that could be considered hip and cutting edge. It doesn't matter how many gimmicks and ways you try to dress up the ceremony, you're never going to be perceived as appealing to the more youthful demographic when a movie as square and old fashioned as The King's Speech is your big winner.

I want the Oscars to do something that William Goldman's been preaching for years.  Let us see the vote breakdowns.  They'd never do it, but I'd be interested in seeing how these things go.  It would hurt some feelings, sure.  Learning that you got the least amount of votes by a wide margin would be crushing.  But still... hahahaha

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

I want the Oscars to do something that William Goldman's been preaching for years.  Let us see the vote breakdowns.  They'd never do it, but I'd be interested in seeing how these things go.  It would hurt some feelings, sure.  Learning that you got the least amount of votes by a wide margin would be crushing.  But still... hahahaha

They'll never do that with the acting nominees, but they should definitely post these for Best Picture.  It would foster discussion after the ceremony at minimum.  Example:  I'd love to see how narrow a victory Crash had over Brokeback. 

All this variety of nominations wont' mean a thing to the general public, unless A) it seems like a real horserace (unlike this year) and B) a likeable, competant host (unlike this year).   I really don't think the number of nominations means a damn to most casual fans.  Give them a modicum of suspense/unpredictability and some solid entertainment and the ratings will reflect that.
 

Is there really anything they can do to get people to watch it? I haven't watched the ceremony since Jon Stewart hosted. Constantly trying to connect to an audience through odd choices of hosts and changing the amount of best picture nominees isn't going to change the fact that people just don't seem to care to sit through the show anymore.

What about cutting down on the time between the announcing of nominees and the actual awards?  If you announce the nominees a week or two before the ceremony, you might cut down on the likely hood of a certain movie jumping way out in front where there's no suspense.  Also, it would eliminate some of the politicking that goes along with this thing.

It really doesn't help that there are waaaaay too many televised award shows for this industry.  It's goofy.

They should just invite everyone, then have Oprah come out on stage, and tell everyone to look under their seat.

Everyone gets an Oscar!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

It really doesn't help that there are waaaaay too many televised award shows for this industry.  It's goofy.

That's one of the main problems.  Golden Globes, everyone seems to accept, but having the Broadcast Critics Awards and the SAG Awards cockblock the Academy by only a couple of weeks, it kills a lot of suspense and/or stargazing.  When you read that Christian Bale has sailed through eight different ceremonies and won each of them, then there goes your Oscar drama out the window.