In what is largely seen as an effort to boost declining ratings, this year’s Academy Awards ceremony is going to be different. While the overall feel of the program is going to be similar, the biggest change is definitely the increase in the number of nominees for Best Picture from five to 10.
This change resulted in an increase of popular films nominated for Best Picture. More crowd-pleasers (like “The Blind Side” and “Up”) were nominated, instead of films that are commonly seen as Oscar bait, like “Precious” and “The Hurt Locker.”
“Expanding the Best Picture nominees from five to 10 is definitely a strategic move for sales of DVDs, Blu-ray and the like,” said Aisha Ragheb ’12, co-president of the Film Club. “The covers can all say ‘Oscar nominated’ and potential buyers definitely will put them under more consideration, but, this waters down the award’s relevance.”
The expansion of the category means some films were nominated only because they were crowd pleasers, not because they were artistic achievements that usually occupy the category. “The Blind Side” being equated with Best Picture nominees like “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) or “Apocalypse Now” (1979), for example, is rubbing many people the wrong way.
However, cinephile Stephanie Tanner ’10 thinks otherwise. “I think the expansion of Best Picture nominees is good,” she said. “Being nominated for an Oscar is a huge achievement, and with so many great movies coming out these days, it’s nice to give some more the honor.”
Another problem that many have with the ceremony is that the Academy Awards are typically the last film awards to be presented. After four months of ceremonies like the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards, the suspense is somewhat diminished.
This is especially true considering that most award categories have had consistent winners this season. For example, Mo’Nique’s performance in “Precious” and Christoph Waltz’s performance in “Inglourious Basterds” have essentially been the only winners across the board in the Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor categories, respectively. It would be very shocking if one of them did not walk away with an Oscar.
However, there can always be surprises. “‘Crash’ beating ‘Brokeback Mountain’ for Best Picture (2005), Adrian Brody beating Daniel Day-Lewis (2002), those were big surprises,” Jason Teiken ’10 said.
The current odds-on favorite to win Best Picture is director Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq War thriller “The Hurt Locker.” However, in my opinion, “Inglourious Basterds” could pull off an upset. This year, Academy members are being asked to rank their choices on a preferential ballot system. Because of this, if more Academy members rank “Inglourious Basterds” as their number one choice as opposed to “Hurt Locker,” it could win, and according to most of the Oscar fan websites, the momentum could be heading that way.
Either way, the glitz and glamour of the ceremony shouldn’t be missed. This is especially true this year, with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin hosting. The Academy Awards will be live on ABC on Sunday, March 7, beginning at 7 p.m.
collinst@stolaf.edu
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