Academy Awards Changes Rule to Make the Number of Films Nominated for Best Picture a Surprise

For most of its history, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science allowed just five films to be nominated for its top prize for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Then came the realization that most of the films that get nominated just aren't that interesting to two generations raised on the MTV Movie Awards. And so the list was expanded to ten films so that movies that would never in a million years have been nominated under the old rule, like "Toy Story 3" and "District 9," would bring in younger audiences who would probably be unfamiliar with films more likely to receive a nomination like "A Serious Man" or "Winter's Bone."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's Board of Governors voted to change the rule in order to insert a little more surprise into the process. Since the actual awards show is aired after every other movie awards show has indicated who the winners will be long before the envelope is opened, the number of films receiving nominations for Best Picture may be the only surprise left at the Oscars.

The new rule mandates that only movies that receive at least 5% of the nominating votes will receive a nod for Best Picture. The upside is that this means that some movies that should never be nominated for Best Picture in this or any other realm will not get in on the act simply because the show must fill out 10 slots. The downside is that there are still likely to be movies that get nominated that just simply aren't one of the best movies of the year. Of course, as "Titanic" proved, even a movie that wins a tiebreaking number of Oscars under the old rules isn't necessarily one of the best movies of the year.

The application of this new rule change to the nominating process of the past few years reveals that 10 nominations for Best Picture based on voting merit seems to be a pipedream. From 2001 to 2008, the number of movies that would have received a Best Picture nomination, respectively, are 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Then again, at this rate, it would seem that next year might see as many as 13 films nominated. Heh -- funny -- the idea that 13 movies made in any year in the past decade would be good enough to receive a nomination for Best Picture.

The rule change seems unlikely to stir up interest among the decreasing audience for the Oscar telecast. After all, by the time the show rolls around, not only will moviegoers already know how many movies will be nominated, they are likely to have a very good idea of which of those movies will actually win. If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences really want to add some surprise elements to the Oscar telecast that results in an increase in audience, they should schedule the show before the Golden Globes and SAG Awards so that the actual winners will not already essentially be known by viewers.