HUGE news out of Hollywood today. First off, the Oscars are desperate to boost ratings -- this much has been obvious for the last few years -- but this little stunt is going to far, Mr. Ganis. The Academy announced that they will now be considering TEN films for the coveted Best Picture prize rather than five.
Obviously, this is a ploy to get more wide audience-friendly movies in the running. A criticism of the show has been that all the nominated movies have been difficult, artistic films that don't have great box office numbers and which the general public doesn't care about. That's why people watch the red carpet fashion stuff, and then tune out. Under this new structure, there is double the chance of a "Dark Knight", for example, getting into the game.
I think this is an enormous mistake. Nothing about this will guarantee ratings and will only serve to decrease the prestige currently associated with the ceremony and the awards. Call me an elitist, but I think that this will discredit the Academy Award -- since, in essence, it makes it doubly easy to get nominated. In any case, people won't be watching television at all in 5 years, so...kind of a moot point.
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