Big Oscar News

I saw this article today on my Yahoo News page and it's very interesting to me. This is a big change and I wonder what it will do to acting races which will still have only 5 people. I'm looking forward to seeing how this will play out. Also, read on to discover how many wonderful movies came out in 1939 - 70 years ago. Do you think we're making the dramatic and creative movies today like they did then? Does technology make a better picture? I don't know that they do. Think of how different Gone With the Wind would look if it were made today.

Star Trek for Oscar? Academy Expands Best Picture to 10

E! Online – Star Trek for Oscar? Academy Expands Best Picture to 10(E! Online)

Marcus Errico Marcus Errico – Wed Jun 24, 3:40 pm ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) – It's a year too late for The Dark Knight, but maybe those Hangover guys will have something extra special to celebrate.

This year's Best Picture field will be expanded to 10 contenders, the Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today.

The move could mean typically overlooked genres like sci-fi, comedy and animation could get a crack at the big prize—and could spell good news for this year's biggest hits, Star Trek, The Hangover and Up.

While the Best Picture category, like the rest of the Oscar fields, has traditionally been limited to five nominees in recent decades, it hasn't always been so.

During the early years of the Oscars, there were 10 (and sometimes more) nominees, up until Casablanca beat back nine rivals at the 16th Academy Awards at the 1943 ceremony.

Today's announcement comes as the Academy continues to mark the 70th anniversary of "Hollywood's Greatest Year"—1939 saw the release of such classic films as Best Picture winner Gone With the Wind, along with fellow Oscar nominees The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Ninotchka, Dark Victory, Love Affair, Of Mice and Men, Wuthering Heights, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards will be announced Feb. 2, 2010, with the ceremony set March 7.

(Originally published June 24, 2009, at 10:35 a.m. PT)