What a shock! For the first time since 1943, there will be ten Oscar nominees for Best Picture and not five. The 2010 Academy Awards will have 10 movies in the Best Picture category. Wow– that was way out of left field.

It’s a little late for “The Dark Knight” and  “Wall-E,” but at least everyone can stop wondering whether Pixar’s “Up” will get a Best Picture nomination next year, because it’s pretty much guaranteed now. I actually like this idea a lot because it opens the door for a lot of edgier movies (like “The Wrestler,” last year’s best movie) to get the “big guns” nomination that they deserve. On the other hand, this is going to seriously throw off Oscar prediction pools and allow a niche movie to possibly take home the big prize!

NYTimes’ Media Decoder is reporting that in a Q&A session that followed the announcement, AMPAS president Sid Ganis said: “I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words ‘Dark Knight’ did not come up.”

More thoughts: Will this make choosing the best movie of the year easier? I don’t think so. If anything, it’ll make it harder. So we’ll have a worse winner (although it doesn’t get much worse than “Crash), but they’ll nominate some better films in the process (which will all split the vote so something mediocre and inoffensive can win)! Feeling queasy again…

From Oscars.org:

Beverly Hills, CA (June 24, 2009) — The 82nd Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 7, 2010, will have 10 feature films vying in the Best Picture category, Academy 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.”

For more than a decade during the Academy’s earlier years, the Best Picture category welcomed more than five films; for nine years there were 10 nominees. The 16th Academy Awards (1943) was the last year to include a field of that size; “Casablanca” was named Best Picture. (In 1931/32, there were eight nominees and in 1934 and 1935 there were 12 nominees.)

Currently, the Academy is presenting a bicoastal screening series showcasing the 10 Best Picture nominees of 1939, arguably one of Hollywood’s greatest film years. Best Picture nominees of that year include such diverse classics as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “Stagecoach,” “The Wizard of Oz” and Best Picture winner “Gone with the Wind.”

“Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize,” commented Ganis. “I can’t wait to see what that list of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.”

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2. The Oscar® ceremony honoring films for 2009 will again take place at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.

Tags: 10, 2010, 5, 82nd Academy Awards, best picture, Feature, five, new, nominees, Oscars, ten

For a complete list of 2009 Academy Award nominees, click here.

The bias against superheroes and animated films continues, despite “The Dark Knight” and “Wall-E” reaping major awards this season. “The Dark Knight” was robbed of a Best Picture and Best Director nomination!! It was stolen by “The Reader,” not even “Wall-E,” which some people predicted (and would have been way more deserving). “The Dark Knight” got seven technical awards and one acting award, for Heath Ledger as Supporting Actor, who will no doubt win.

Sally Hawkins was left out for a Best Actress nom for “Happy-Go-Lucky,” despite winning 11 critic’s awards, the most of any actress in this category. Read a full list of every critic’s award and awards show leading up to today here.

On the plus side, Melissa Leo was nominated in the Actress category for “Frozen River,” a tiny little indie film, and Richard Jenkins got a Best Actress nomination for “The Visitor.”

Clint Eastwood didn’t get an Actor nod despite “Gran Torino’”s unexpectedly big box office, and the movie failed to get a screenplay nomination, which was expected. In fac, “Gran Torino” was completely snubbed, with a total of zero nominations.

Kate Winslet scored for “The Reader,” which she won a Golden Globe Supporting Actress award for, but for not Best Actress in “Revolutionary Road,” which she also won at the Globes.

“The Reader” is a Weinstein film, and Harvey really knows how to campaign for this stuff. Despite mixed reviews,  “The Reader” received five nominations. Four of those were in the major categories. This is more than likely due to the weighted ballots that the Academy gives out. If lots of people put “The Reader” at number one, and more people put “The Dark Knight” at a lower spot on their ballot, “The Reader” gets in. That said, it has absolutely no chance of winning Best Picture or Director.

Dev Patel was left out of the Supporting Actor race, despite the 10 total nominations for “Slumdog Millionaire,” but Michael Shannon’s nomination for “Revolutionary Road” is a bit of a surprise.

It’s too bad Rosmarie DeWitt didn’t get noticed for Supporting Actress in “Rachel Getting Married.”

“In Bruges” and “Frozen River” surprise “The Wrestler,” “The Visitor,” and “Rachel Getting Married” by taking their predicted Original Screenplay nominations. Jenny Lumet’s screenplay for “Rachel Getting Married” was tied for the most wins in this category in critic’s awards, with Dustin Lance Black’s “Milk,” which is now by far the favorite to win.

Werner Herzog scored a Documentary nomination this year for “Encounters at the End of the World,” despite his film “Grizzly Man” getting a surprise snub in 2006.

They snubbed The Boss! Bruce Springsteen, who already won the Golden Globe for best song for “The Wrestler,” didn’t even get an Oscar nomination this morning, while “Slumdog Millionaire” got two.

Now eight-time nominee and DP extraordinaire Roger Deakins got a nod for “The Reader,” but the Academy missed out on his sumptuous work in “Revolutionary Road.”

Total nominations for multiple-nominated films:

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” 13 nominations
“Slumdog Millionaire” 10 nominations
“The Dark Knight” 8 nominations
“Milk” 8 nominations
“Wall-E” 6 nominations
“Doubt” 5 nominations
“Frost/Nixon” 5 nominations
“The Reader” 5 nominations
“Changeling” 3 nominations
“Revolutionary Road” 3 nominations
“The Duchess” 2 nominations
“Frozen River” 2 nominations
“Iron Man” 2 nominations
“Wanted” 2 nominations
“The Wrestler” 2 nominations

Tags: 2009, 2009 Oscar snubs, academy awards, academy awards snubs, and, complete list, jan. 22, nominations, oscar snubs, oscar surprises, Oscars, who got snubbed

Complete list of 2009 Oscar nominees. Complete list of 2009 Academy Awards nominees. The bias against superheroes and animated films continues, despite “The Dark Knight” and “Wall-E” reaping major awards this season. Read a full list of Oscar snubs and surprises here. Win your Oscar pool. Play the odds! We tallied them all this year, so you wouldn’t have to! For a full list of every awards winner and nominee this season, click here.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations were announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

BEST PICTURE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Gus Van Sant, “Milk”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”
Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”
Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Marttin McDonagh, “In Bruges”
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, “WALL-E”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
David Hare, “The Reader”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“The Baader-Meinhof Complex” (Germany)
“The Class” (France)
“Departures” (Japan)
“Revanche” (Austria)
“Waltz with Bashir” (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“Wall-E”

BEST ART DIRECTION
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button”
“Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Revolutionary Road”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling” Tom Stern
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Anthony Dod Mantle
“The Reader,” Chris Menges
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” Claudio Miranda
“The Dark Knight,” Wally Pfister,

BEST FILM EDITING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
“The Dark Knight,” Lee Smith
“Frost/Nixon,” Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
“Milk,” Elliot Graham
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Australia,” Catherine Martin
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” Jacqueline West
“The Duchess,” Michael O’Conner
“Milk”, Danny Glicker
“Revolutionary Road,” Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“The Garden”
“Man on Wire”
“Trouble the Water”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Jai Ho,” A.R. Rahman
“Slumdog Millionaire,” “O Saya,” A.R. Rahman & M.I.A.
“Wall-E,” “Down To Earth,” Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” Alexandre Desplat
“Defiance,” James Newton Howard
“Milk,” Danny Elfman
“Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman
“WALL-E,” Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Colleen Callaghan, Fionagh Cush
“The Dark Knight,” Peter Robb-King, John Caglione Jr.
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

BEST SOUND EDITING
“The Dark Knight,” Richard King
“Iron Man,” Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Tom Sayers
“Wall-E,” Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
“Wanted,” Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Mark Weingarten, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce
“The Dark Knight,” Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
“Wall-E,” Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick
“Wanted,” Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Eric Barba
“The Dark Knight,” Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber
“Iron Man,” John Nelson

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
“Manon on the Asphalt”
“New Boy”
“The Pig”
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)” 

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“La Maison en Petits Cubes”
“Lavatory - Lovestory”
“Oktapodi”
“Presto”
“This Way Up”

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
“The Final Inch”
“Smile Pinki”
“The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306″

Tags: 2009, 2009 oscar nominees, 81st, academy awards, announced, complete list, dark knight, jan. 22, new, nominations, nominees, oscar nominations, Oscars

Huh?

OK, I know Jon Stewart’s two years as host didn’t exactly bring in the ratings and the Chris Rock year made everybody uncomfortable when he started poking at fun at Jude Law, but Hugh Jackman? ABC announced today that Jackman will host the Oscars on Feb. 22, 2009.

Earlier in the year, I was hoping for Ricky Gervais (from the UK “The Office” and “Extras”), but when his underappreciated grumpy-man romantic comedy “Ghost Town” tanked this fall, I knew that idea was dead in the water. I still think that he would be the absolute best host, even though I know he won’t bring in any kind of viewership.

Hugh Jackman is a genial chap. He’s got a musical theater background (so maybe he can do an opening number like best-host-ever Billy Crystal’s classic Best Picture medleys), he’s hosted the Tonys three times and received glowing reviews. He makes a great Wolverine, and…and perhaps the most important thing of all to ABC producers…he was recently named The Sexiest Man Alive. His reps are already saying that he won’t be doing an opening standup rouutine, though, so I assume he’s going to sing. (Maybe a duet with Snow White?)

What this means is that the running time for the show could be way less, but what will that make way for? Let’s just hope its not accepting awards at the back of the room like they did a couple years back. Oh well. Look at the bright side. Anything’s better than “Australia.”

Tags: 2008, 2009, academy, awards, host, Hugh Jackman named as host of 81st Academy Awards, Hugh Jackman named as host of Oscars, oscar, Oscars

The upcoming Academy Award telecast on Feb. 22, 2009 will have contain something during the station breaks that no other Oscar broadcast has in 50 years.

Ads for other movies.

Any movie up for an award is still prohibited form advertising during commercials, but during this downturn in the movie business, the studios are hoping that they will be able to promote big spring and summer releases on the show, which attracts exactly the kind of market they want to reach– moviegoers. From the LA Times:

Looking to save its primary source of revenue, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has lifted its longtime ban on running commercials for movies during the Oscars.

Board members voted late Tuesday to ditch a tradition that stretches back more than 50 years and — in the eyes of some — was a relic from a simpler and less competitive era. The move comes amid concerns over the softening TV advertising market and lower ratings for Hollywood’s biggest event of the year.

“The revenue from the show fuels our programs all over the world,” Academy President Sid Ganis said. The academy generates more than $65 million a year in TV license fee revenue from Walt Disney Co.’s ABC television network and foreign channels.

“That’s a lot of dough, and it’s very important to us,” Ganis said. “Since the show is a celebration of movies, why not let upcoming movies represent themselves in a way that is intelligent and smart and not offensive to anyone?”

The ban was put in place in the early 1950s, when the Academy Awards were first broadcast. At the time, the academy fretted that commercials for films during the show would be unseemly and viewers could conclude that the awards were influenced by the studios that bought the ads. In recent years, some — including ABC — have lobbied to reverse the prohibition.

Read more here.

Tags: 50-year ban, and take, commercials, end, movie ads, Oscars