You know, when the Academy changed the nominations for Best Picture from five to a possible 10 in 2009, I thought it was the beginning of the end. It didn’t help that movies like the original Avatar (which I thought was pretty meh at the time), The Blind Side (which I thought was maudlin junk) and District 9 (which I liked, but didn’t think was “worthy” of a Best Picture nom) were sitting alongside “legitimate” Best Picture nominees like A Serious Man, Precious, An Education, Inglorious Basterds, and The Hurt Locker, the latter of which eventually won.
However, now that I’m older, I’m ashamed of the elitist attitude that I once held, especially since I now view the 10 nominee thing as a positive. Since 2009, we’ve gotten movies like Up, Black Panther, and even Joker, all getting Best Picture noms, and this might not have happened with only five nominations. In fact, I’m now angry when oddball movies like The Lighthouse get snubbed, as I definitely thought it should have been nominated.
