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Why the Academy shouldn’t go back to five Best Picture nominees

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One of the most fiercely debated subjects when it comes to the Oscars, aside from the actual films and performances in contention, is what the Academy should do with the size of their Best Picture slates. Recently, rumors have been swirling that AMPAS members have been considering again adjusting the potential lineup, perhaps even going back to having five nominees in Picture. I know there are plenty of fans out there who back that idea, while there are plenty more who want Oscar to go back to a straight ten. I certainly know which one I prefer, but I don’t agree that either idea beats the sliding scale that we currently have. Personally, I feel that going back to five would be a big mistake. In fact, I want them to do the exact opposite. Why do I say that? Well, I truly believe that a bigger group of Best Picture nominees leads to better selections. There’s a ripple effect that I’ll discuss in the next paragraph, but when more films are in contention, it creates a better group overall. Especially when there was a guaranteed ten, you knew that voters were looking at their favorite movies of the year and keeping their minds open about what they traditionally thought a Best Picture nominee should be. That got us District 9 in a lineup, for example. I also reject the notion that it led to poor choices. If The Blind Side and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close are the worst nominees in an expanded field, we’re still doing pretty well. They’re weaker nominees, but far from bad ones. The Academy has plenty of history with ten nominees, if not quite as much as it does with five. It’s just the sliding scale that’s new and not well liked. If Oscar goes back to five, it runs the risk of diluting the overall field, in a way I’m not sure they’re even considering. For example, the biggest issue with going back to five is how much it would impact the smaller contenders. Look at just this past year and consider the case of Whiplash. If there were only five spots, I doubt it gets a big campaign coming out of Sundance like it did, leading to perhaps only J.K. Simmons getting in, if that. No nomination for Best Picture. It definitely doesn’t overcome category confusion to show up in Best Adapted Screenplay. The [...]

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