Can Ten Be Better Than Five?

The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences has announced that next year's Oscars will feature 10 nominated films for Best Picture. For more than 60 years, five movies have battled it out for the top honor. For more on the announcement, follow this link.

In some ways the move makes sense as it could give a foreign or animated film a chance to compete for the honor. In the past, many of those have been squeezed out of contention. The change also gives studios more films they can promote as being nominated for the top prize.

I think the downside could be how the extra nominees could affect the running time of the awards show. There are always complaints about the long show (no such thing as a fast musical number or tributes to the recently deceased) and every year it seems the Academy tries to do something new to shorten it. I can't imagine how introducing ten films could take less time than five. I'm sure the company that employees people to sit in the seats of those who are going to the bathroom are thrilled with the announcement.

Perhaps the challenge of a longer show could be solved by limiting Oscar winners to Twitter length acceptance speeches. Of course then the walk to the podium would likely be shorter than the actual speech!

The announcement may also fast track the production of my long discussed Mafia vs. Aliens motion picture.