Six is the number of the day so here are six different stats involving that number for distraction & fun.
1. BlacKkKlansman is the only movie this year with exactly six nominations. The other movies this decade with with exactly that number of nominations: Darkest Hour, Phantom Thread, Manchester by the Sea, Lion*, Hacksaw Ridge, Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, Carol*, Boyhood, American Sniper, Captain Philllips*, Nebraska*, Dallas Buyers Club, War Horse*, Moneyball*, and 127 Hours*. I was hoping to discover that one of those titles had EXACTLY the same category nominations as BlacKkKlansman but none did. Titles with an asterisk lost all their nominations but the bulk of the six-time nominees won at least 1 Oscar which is good news for Spike Lee's Adapted Screenplay bid for BlacKkKlansman, the category its most likely to win in this coming Sunday.
2. Carol is the only six-time nominee in the past decade not to score a Best Picture nomination...
It currently holds the record for 'most nominations for any film without a corresponding Best Picture nod in the expanded Best Picture era.' The all time record holder for most noms without a Best Picture citation is They Shoot Horses, Don't They (1969) with 9 nominations (but back then there were only 5 nominees for Best Picture). Fun fact: Like Carol, which holds the new era record, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is better than any of the actual Best Picture nominees in its year.
3. There are a dozen movies in history which won exactly six competitive Oscars. Those titles are:
- Mrs Miniver (1942)
- All About Eve (1950)
- A Place in the Sun (1951)
- An American in Paris (1951)
- A Man For All Seasons (1966)
- The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
- Star Wars (1977)
- Forrest Gump (1994)
- Chicago (2002)
- The Hurt Locker (2009)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
- La La Land (2016)
Of those twelve only four lost Best Picture: A Place in the Sun, Star Wars, Mad Max: Fury Road, and La La Land which all happen to be films we adore. That's not a record for most wins without winning Best Picture but it is a four-way tie for the second runner up spot. The all-time most wins without taking Best Picture is Bob Fosse's masterpiece (well, one of them at any rate) Cabaret which won 8 Oscars but lost 1972's top prize to The Godfather while Gravity, which won 7 oscars but lost to 12 Years a Slave (2013) is in the runner-up position.
4. There are exactly six actors who never won competitively despite six or more nominations: Peter O'Toole with 8 nominations... plus one honorary award; Glenn Close and Richard Burton with 7 nominations each; Deborah Kerr with 6 nominations... plus one Honorary; and Thelma Ritter and Amy Adams with 6 nominations each. This statistic could fall apart on Sunday, of course, since both Glenn Close and Amy Adams are nominated again this year.
5. Films that won Best Picture in the '6 years, ranked:
Best of the Best: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Also Wondrous: Moonlight (2016)
Pretty Damn Good: The Departed (2006)
Dont Obsess Over It Like You But Definitely Don't Hate it Like Elaine: The English Patient (1996)
Satisfying Entertainment Even Though It Had Zero Business Winning Over its Miraculous Competitors: Rocky (1976)
Can Barely Remember/ Should Rewatch? [TIE] Platoon (1986), Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
AMPAS Has Always Had Boners for Bad Biopics: The Great Zeigfeld (1936)
N/A "Haven't Seen It," He Said With Embarrassment: A Man For All Seasons (1966)
6. Six multiple-nominated actors who we'd be most thrilled to finally see win in the next few years should the right role surface (ranked by guesstimated enthusiasm level): Michelle Pfeiffer, Annette Bening, Ralph Fiennes, Laura Dern, Michael Fassbender, and Sigourney Weaver.