Ten Best Picture Nominees Again!
Friday, June 12, 2020 at 1:13PM by Nathaniel R
Ah... the annual tweaking of the rules is upon us again. The Academy has been frantically trying to keep up with societal changes and has made quite a few strides with their gender parity and racial diversity inititiatives over the past handful of years. We've also seen Best Picture winners that would have seemed impossible ten years before like Moonlight (2016) and Parasite (2019). The Academy is continuing with their diversity initiatives over the next five years which you can read about here we won't attempt to summarize it as it's definitely in the planning rather than implementing stages. But a lot of it sounds really smart like unconscious bias training and screenings and discussions and industry-focused inititatives (as we've long said, the Academy can only vote on the films that Hollywood actually makes!).
Nevertheless there are two concrete pieces of news we must discuss...
One of the most celebrated tweaks in recent history was not prompted by concerns about racial diversity or gender parity but about the range of the kinds of films Oscar was willing to honor. For years and years Oscar just stuck to their message movies and biopics and war films and prestige dramas. Those types of films are still very popular with Oscar --their taste is their taste is their taste -- but in 2009 the Academy expanded the Best Picture field from 5 to 10 nominees in the hopes of widening the net of the kinds of films which might be honored. Would an expanded field help them avoid future embarrassing shutouts of non-typical beloveds like The Dark Knight and Wall*E (both of which were wildly acclaimed and received numerous BEST raves but couldn't crack a very retro feeling list of 5 Best Picture nominees in 2008 that nobody outside of the Academy seemed all that excited about.)
The expansion worked at first allowing more sci-fi films and comedies and LGBTQ films and animated films in. That tweak was in place for just two years (2009 & 2010), after which they moved to a sliding scale based on percentages of votes.
The current system allows for anywhere between 5 and 10 Best Picture nominees. But in the nine years this system has been in place thus far we have only ever seen either 8 or 9 Best Picture nominees. We've also seen some unfortunate side-effects like less films being nominated overall in the craft categories as if the expanded Best Picture list actually narrows the voters interest in their screening stacks and focuses them on maybe a dozen hopefuls overall. The Academy has no plans to addres this problem of course as it's hard to explain or even quantify but it's the truth (check out last year's Oscars for a startling example of the increasing amounts of nominations for Best Picture players and very little remaining for anyone else.)
It's no secret that we've sometimes missed the 5 wide lists, which felt more 'special' and statistics-interesting, but we'd prefer an even 10 to the sliding scale (which is too messy/inconsistent -- yes, we're looking at you Emmys). So we're happy to report that the sliding scale expansion experiment will end with this upcoming Oscars (dates still in flux due to concerns over COVID-19 and theaters still mostly being closed). The 94th Oscars honoring the films of 2021 will return to that 2009 system of a full top ten list! What'cha think?
FINALLY...
Here's one initiative that we're VERY excited and shocked about that might help with some long-standing problems we thought Oscar would never address. A quote from the Academy:
The Academy will also implement a quarterly viewing process through the Academy Screening Room, the streaming site for Academy members, also starting with the 94th Academy Awards. By making it possible for members to view films released year-round, the Academy will broaden each film’s exposure, level the playing field, and ensure all eligible films can be seen by voting members.
That change is still a year away but it's long been needed as a way to counter the problems of the December glut and increase the likelihood (even if only a little) that studios will release Oscar-calibre films in all months of the year and not just save them up to dump in a tiny window around Christmas.
Reader Comments (90)
I'm in the extreme minority who wants best picture nominees whittled back to just 5 each year. It would be interesting which ones get included as a reflection of the expanded voting membership in the Academy.
This is better knees than the imminent concluding chapters of Season of Bette!
"Owl, will you please shut the fuck up with your no-Oscars-knowledge mouth?"
Owl: Five would be my preference too, but I'll be happy with regular ten if voters can list ten on their nominating ballots.
Alyssa E.: I don't know if you're joking or serious, but Owl is one of the most thoughtful and eloquent contributors on this site and I can't see what they said that deserved any disrespect.
Edward L. "Bitch, sit yo ass down and shut the hell up, bitch!"
Alyssa just block the haters out. It's nothing more than malicious gay faggotry.
(Or reference ignorant hoes wink wink)
Sometimes I wish I could retroactively untick the 'Notify me of follow-up comments' box.
BJT: Beautiful Joyous Ten
Can somebody let me know if i'm remembering correctly, but we've had new more diverse members welcomed into the academy since the last flat ten years, so I'm excited to see how the current makeup of members uses the flat ten. Hopefully we get at least five years of sticking with it this time. Please go back to the invited to list up to ten system as well.
Celebrate good times, come on!
I will.
@Edward L. -- yeah, I guess you're right. If 10 nominees will bring spotlight to indie/foreign films, sure thing. And thanks for the kind words.
Even the Academy is making reforms to improve the state of things in it's own way. Viva La revolution. Join us or be left behind! The taste in all the best commenters rightfully favoring the ten is heartening. The taste is incredible mostly.
YES!! YES!
Juju -- sorry but the ratings and the amount of media discourse say otherwise.
Aren't there about a zillion critics groups that give prizes for the year? I wish one of them had the "guts" to experiment with their voting and divide the year say in half. Give awards or nominate films in August for the first six months, and then do it again at the usual time. This would at least create an intriguing list of films that no one else would consider.
For this entire current year, people will have to get creative with what is available. They'll have to find streaming choices, or really look at foreign films to fill their ballot. A six month window would really force people to examine what films are on offer.
BJT - Never check that box.
I'm really tired of people here at TFE claiming that we won't have a sufficient number of movies to hold the Oscars this year.
The movies we've had in the first half of the year have been on par with the typical Oscar-worthy output in the first half of the year. We have one probable nominee in top categories in Da 5 Bloods, and any number of independent films that may fill out other nominations, like Shirley, The Assistant, Bacurau, etc. We still have Tenet coming in July and films like The French Dispatch, Mank, Ammomite, West Side Story, etc. are all on schedule to open.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the only big release that was possibly an awards contender that has been moved out to 2021 is In the Heights. And there is some of that reshuffling every year.
The Oscars will be fine.
I am not a fan of the expanded Best Picture category, which makes a nomination feel less special and, in practice, does not tend to make the category significantly more interesting or diverse. In the case of 2009's Best Picture lineup, having 10 nominees dragged the whole category down with the inclusion of the wretched 'Blind Side.'
I'm foreseeing more mediocre domestic and historical dramas, a few lowbrow crowdpleasers, and whatever crappy Jennifer Lawrence awards vehicle is released in a given year to fill out future Best Picture slates.
Owl, there's no way preferring five puts you in an "extreme minority." I'm pretty sure most Oscar obsessives are desperate to get rid of the prestige-diminishing 10.
jules rules. Great points. Plus besides members the responsibility for shining light on achievements from earlier in the year or that have smaller releases is on the peripheral awards groups and especially the pundits. The self fulfilling prophecies they make by putting way too much effort and attention on predicting throughout the whole race, boosting names of actors/films that are sometimes 9 months from release, is very complicit. If you're for example a BFCA member or pundit, or have multiple major awards body members emails/direct contacts you have the power to make the push for change. This year has shown us the power of personal advocating for what is just.
Any true fan of cinema who cannot find 10 examples of exceptional or fantastic film making each year is probably not sampling or appreciating the true magic of the art form and that is sad enough. Let them whinge about being less "special" or not as "prestigious". They've already self owned by picking apart the evocative, the joyful, the powerful, to the point where every film is just watched to compare and contrast. To fill a personal quota of best. Just a misguided chore of list making.
Juju -The difference is that the Emmy has become a vital step in actresses making a case for their future film roles in the Supporting category.
bUT mORe thaN fiVe mAkes it LEsS SPECIAl!!!1!!
Has there been an article on this site that predicts what would have been the top 5 Best Pic nominations from 2009-present if the Oscar never changed the rules?
I agree with Joan Crawford. I’ve loved the Oscars since I first saw them the year My Fair Lady won. My guess is the reason for 10 nominees is to get a few blockbusters in the lineup to spark some interest in the Oscar telecast, my feeling is it’s up to Hollywood to create and produce more diverse movies that are worthy of awards....vs the academy desperately trying to find a “diverse” movie to honor. Hollywood producers need to step up to the plate. We need more Moonlights! The oscars should really make themselves be the first and best awards show of the season....2nd or 3rd week of January. By the time the oscars came on this year, we had seen Brad, and Renee and Phoenix and Laura accept the same award 2-3-4 other previous times. Yawn. Oscars are anti climatic. Coming on so late. I love the oscars / and I’m a left leaning democrat. However - I get really tired of hearing celebrity political rants on award shows....as soon as it starts - I turn it off. The oscars need a 2020 Billy Crystal type consistent host. For the most part....the hosts have been awful. I really try to like them. I Really hope Glenn Close wins in 2021. I hope she doesn’t get dressed up like a giant Oscar. That was really painful and embarrassing. Peace.
Five nominees would be best. That way, the old adage of just being nominated would really be true. It's a way of distilling the great accomplishments of one year into a truly great lineup. There's a way to do this, but it requires more work and thought.
Jamie: I'll have a go (though some I'm more sure about than others):
2009; Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, Up in the Air
2010: Black Swan, The Fighter, The King's Speech, The Social Network, True Grit
2011: The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris
2012: Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Les Misérables, Silver Linings Playbook
2013: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Gravity, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street
2014: American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game
2015: The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Spotlight
2016: Arrival, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight
2017: Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
2018: Black Panther, Blackkklansman, Green Book, Roma, A Star is Born
2019: The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, Parasite
Edward L.: I'd remove Black Panther from 2018 for The Favourite. Sorry, but the superhero genre NEVER being able to hit a flat top 5 was the entire reason they expanded in the first place. Other than that? I think you're dead on.
volvagia -- i disagree with everyone (and yourself) about that. I think BLACK PANTHER would have made a simple 5 list. I think times are a changing and with all things, it just takes momentum.
If you look at Oscar history the "lone director" nod used to be for artsy films that didn't quite have the mainstream appeal so I think BLACK PANTHER would have made the lineup but maybe THE FAVOURITE or BLACKKKLANSMAN would have been shut out for it.
Nat: Question: How often did three movies of the top 5 Best Picture...not get director nods? Answer: Of the SIXTY-FIVE times that Best Picture was a flat top 5, more than two Best Picture nominees not also having a director nod only happened 5 times. Not even 10%. I'm not taking those odds. Green Book (the winner) and A Star is Born (a self consciously acting driven project) are far likelier.
While I see the benefits I ultimately feel like five is better. More prestigious.
Thanks Edward! An interesting list
Volvagia is correct Nathaniel. As a career pundit you play the odds, and if you stick by Black Panther it will only ever be a hunch until the end of time. He's basically out pundit-ed you.
Actually, after reading all the comments and reflecting on how many movies I think are exceptional each year I can see the appeal of the ten and why it is in most ways superior. I'm a bit of a listaholic like Nathaniel and like the elegance of a majority history of five nominees, but past that bias I'm pretty much lost for a reason to prefer it. To say it's more special at five was knee-jerk and honestly a low intelligence moment for myself and I'm quite embarrassed.
If you prefer 5 you're a racist fascist who will vote for Trump
Woke P. That is hyperbole......barely.
My votes for the ten best picture nominees (personal list):
2009: The White Ribbon, A Prophet, Up, Inglorious Basterds, A Serious Man, Avatar, The Road, An Education, Hurt Locker, Up in the Air
2010: Toy Story 3, The Social Network, The Way Back, Never Let Me Go, Winters Bone, How to Train Your Dragon, Tangled, Incendies, True Grit, The Fighter
2011: A Separation, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Melancholia, Bullhead, The Skin I Live In, Drive, Young Adult, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Tree of Life
2012: Amour, Zero Dark Thirty, Skyfall, Lincoln, Beyond the Hills, Les Miserables, Anna Karenina, Rust and Bone, The Impossible
2013: Blue is the Warmest Colour, Stranger by the Lake, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Hunt, The Wind Rises, Captain Philips, Philomena, The Great Beauty, Ernest and Celestine, The Immigrant
2014: Gone Girl, Wild Tales, Leviathan, Mommy, Timbuktu, Foxcatcher, Two Days One Night, Guardians of the Galaxy, Birdman, How to Train Your Dragon 2,
2015: Mad Max Fury Road, Inside Out, 45 Years, The Revenant, Embrace of Serpent, The Club, Montage of Heck, The Act of Killing, Son of Saul, Boy and the World
2016: Arrival, The VVitch, Jackie, La La Land, Moonlight, Moana, Fantastic Beasts, Captain Fantastic, A Fantastic Woman, The Apartment
2017: Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, Phantom Thread, Mudbound, Baby Driver, Logan, The Killing of the Sacred Dear, The Shape of Water, Tree Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Call Me By Your Name
2018: The Favourite, Vice, Capernaum, Leave no Trace, The Rider, Blackkklasman, Shoplifters, Roma, You Were Never Really Here, add one more
2019: Parasite, Pain and Glory, Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood, JoJo Rabbit, Joker, How to Train Your Dragon : The Hidden World, Little Women, The Irishman, Us, The Lighthouse
10 - for me a great kaleidoscope of what moved us in the specific year ! I love to go back - and my perception on movies I wasn't so keen on in their year of release sometimes changes to my own amazement a decade later ...
As people have pointed out, the films that likely would have squeezed in under the hard 10 film rule include: CAROL, BLUE JASMINE, and COLD WAR. Maybe another middlebrow dog would have made it it once in a while, but those are easily forgotten. It would have been so nice to see: "CAROL, nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture."
Joe and Dan Humphrey just one-two punched the "Five is more special/prestigious" and "But my statistics!" crowds.
Everyone has gotten this wrong so far...Last year, “The Farewell” was in tenth place.