# Oscar Poll: What films will be nominated for Best Picture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-what-films-will-be-nominated-for-best-picture/524698 "2010-01-12T19:30:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-what-films-will-be-nominated-for-best-picture/524698/21 "2010-02-02T13:50:51Z")
Looks like we basically nailed it. I’m betting invictus came in 11th, even. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-what-films-will-be-nominated-for-best-picture/524698/22 "2010-02-02T21:44:01Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Also - > > 2 science fiction flicks and a cartoon nominated! YEAH! Not bad at all. Still…“Look at us, America! We’re still relevant! We’re still relevant! We nominated something _besides_ a ‘rich white people are stupid and bad’ movie! Please watch the ceremony!” (Sorry, that might have been a _little_ unfair to the Academy. But I am glad to see Up and Avatar nominated.) ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-what-films-will-be-nominated-for-best-picture/524698/23 "2010-02-02T23:45:46Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > This year, the ballot slate expands to 10 nominees. I missed this until I saw the huge number of nominees for the year. Why the change? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-what-films-will-be-nominated-for-best-picture/524698/24 "2010-02-02T23:58:12Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > I missed this until I saw the huge number of nominees for the year. Why the change? The general feeling was that by widening the net, it’ll make more room for popular movies to be in the running (and thus, improving the rather dismal ratings the awards show has gotten recently). This was largely seen as a response to both _The Dark Knight_ and _WALL-E_ last year getting major box office returns, fantastic critical reception, and a major haul of nominations (8 and 6 respectively) but neither getting a Picture nod because of the rather narrow, calcified prejudices (anti-genre, anti-animation) that persists among some Academy members. The result? Of the 5 films this year that would’ve likely been excluded if they had kept the slate to only 5 films, one is animated (_Up_), one is a standout genre pic (_District 9_), one is a box office sensation (_The Blind Side_), one is a critical darling (_A Serious Man_), and one is a foreign indie (_An Education_), all of which would’ve probably been overlooked before. So that part of the plan (spreading the wealth) seems to have worked. But given that _Avatar_ is in the running, it’s impossible to tell this year if broadening the field will improve the ratings, since a lot of people are likely to watch anyway because of the Cameron film. But I suspect a lot of people in the industry are happy with the result, so it looks like they’ll probably keep it for now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-what-films-will-be-nominated-for-best-picture/524698.md?page=1)