This question has been posed to me a couple of times, so I figured I would post my response.

Why are there 10 movies up for Best Picture this year?  And do you think there were any glaring omissions in the nominations?

$$$$$$$$$ is the easy answer.  Basically, they alienated the main stream crowd last year when they did not nominate The Dark Knight.  So the plan for this year was to nominate 10 films, and therefore be more likely to catch the one that is “your” favorite and give you a reason to watch.  It also means more films in the industry can claim to be nominated for Best Picture and claim more revenue from people going to see them before the awards.

I think it is a pretty lame move and really dilutes the importance of the award.  I mean, what would baseball stats mean if this year we just decided it was 4 strikes and you’re out.

There were not many “blow me away” movies this year – and the only one that really did was A Serious Man and I am really happy to see that got the Best Picture nod – even though it does not have a prayer of winning.  I am a little disappointed that (500) Days of Summer and Sugar did not get one single mention…

(Thanks to S.E. for posing the questions above.)