It's well known that the Academy's decision to expand the Best Picture category to 10 nominees was largely based on the fury surrounding the omission of two of the best reviewed films of last year, The Dark Knight and WALL-E. Apparently the thought is that with 5 more spots, more mainstream successes will make the cut, and in turn ratings for the telecast will go up.
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This is either bang on the money or wishful thinking. The Dark Knight was an exceptional superhero film that managed to rise above genre stereotypes, and definitely deserved a nomination. But that doesn't mean there'll be a commercial success each year that makes it onto a host of critics' top ten lists. We'll find out February 2 if the expansion will make for drastic change or just more of the same.
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In the meantime, let's pretend for a moment there had been 10 spots last year. Besides the 5 that did make it, which films would have landed a Best Picture nod? Pick the five you think would have been most likely in the sidebar poll!
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(POLL RESULTS: Last week we talked about Sam Raimi's filmography, and which of his films we loved the most. Results were pretty well spread out. The winner was Spider-Man 2, with 40% of the vote, while The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Drag Me to Hell tied with 20%.)
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Thanks for voting again everyone! Let's hear your thoughts on last year's legendary Best Picture race in the new poll and in the comments section!
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5 comments:
The other nominees would have been:
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Revolutionary Road
Vicky Christina Barcelona
The Wrestler
The Dark Knight
The Wrestler
Changeling
Gran Torino
Rachel Getting Married
Rev. Road in a close 6th.
I think the trick to deciding who else would have gotten in is looking at the support they had in other categories. As much as I loved The Wrestler, it only got those two acting nods, so I doubt it would have landed a spot.
The Dark Knight for sure. I like to think it was really, really close. It landed 8 nominations, so AMPAS clearly responded to it.
WALL-E tied with Beauty and the Beast as the most-nominated animated film ever (with 6). Pretty sure it would have made it.
Doubt had 4 acting nods and the screenplay nomination, so it would have been in.
Changeling and Revolutionary Road each had three nods, and we all know that Eastwood and Mendes are Academy favorites, so I'm thinking they would have rounded it out.
Definitely not what I personally would choose, but that's my guess, anyway. :)
Doubt is the first one on. Four acting nominations and a screenplay nomination means shoo-in.
After that it gets tricky. I think The Dark Knight gets on, and WALL-E because of it's screenplay nomination.
The last two are tough. The Wrestler could not garner a nomination for Original Screenplay in a weak field, so that is out. Frozen River and Rachel Getting Married both had screenplay nods and Actress nominations, so I will go with them.
Maybe there would have been a push for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but the screenplay snub hurts.
Rachel Getting Married was (unbelievably) snubbed for screenplay, actually! I think just the one nod doesn't bode well for how the Academy felt about it...but the fun part is we'll never know!
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