Oscars to Have 10 Choices in Best Pic Category

From the announcement on Oscars.org:

"The 82nd Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 7, 2010, will have 10 feature films vying in the Best Picture category, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis announced today (June 24) at a press conference in Beverly Hills.

'After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,' said Ganis. 'The final outcome, of course, will be the same – one Best Picture winner – but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.'"

I don't like it.

This is going to crush any chance of films like Crash or Slumdog Millionaire have of winning the award for a long time. The problem is exposure. Check this out:

1. Last Five Best Pics and Their Worldwide Box Office Numbers:

• Slumdog Millionaire - $359,247,749
• No Country for Old Men - $162,113,329
• The Departed - $289,847,354
• Crash - $98,410,061
• Million Dollar Baby - $216,763,646

Total: $1,126,382,139

2. Highest Grossing Movies for the Last Five Years (numbers are for the Worldwide take)

• The Dark Knight - $1,001,921,825
• Spider-Man 3 - $890,871,626
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - $1,066,179,725
• Star Wars Ep. III - $848,754,768
• Shrek 2 - $919,838,758

Total: $4,727,566,702 (numbers from boxofficemojo.com)

The highest grossing movies for the last 5 years have made 4 times as much as the Best Picture winners. Hell, Pirates alone was just shy of the total mark of all 5 movies. This is an obvious attempt to include more popular films a part of the marquee category, and then in turn get a boost in the ratings. But take 2007's Crash as an example. You add five more films to the pool that year, it doesn't get enough votes to pull the upset over Brokeback Mountain.

I'm just saying, you start putting bullshit comic book movies in a category that pretty much guarantees a film immortality, it fucks the whole thing up. I saw Frost/Nixon because it was nominated for Best Picture. Add five more nominees, I probably overlook it.

It also takes away my ability to bitch about snubs (American Gangster, Wall-E.) THAT is what I am really pissed about.