If you didn’t like any of the best picture nominees at this past year’s Oscars than 2010 may be your year.  The Academy has decided to nominate 10 films for Best Picture instead of just 5.  Sid Ganis, AMPAS president, explains:

“After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year. The final outcome, of course, will be the same - one Best Picture winner - but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.”

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this. On one hand it gives me hope that the non-mainstream films that critics and I like will be nominated.  On the other, we might just have a larger pool of mediocrity?

A realistic hope (I hope) is that documentaries and animated films will have a better shot at being nominated.  Specifically I’d love to see nominations for Up! and The Cove, two of my favorite cinema going experience this year.

*picture by burningkarma (CC)