5 Days til Oscar. "5" being the Sacrosanct Number.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 1:32PM 
OSCAR VOTING CLOSES TODAY! CEREMONY THIS SUNDAY.
The Film Experience had quite a scare earlier this season when it was suggested that the Academy might change the number of nominees per category (ostensibly to promote diversity though it would send a terrible message of "now, you might be worthy with more slots. might not" We still don't know if they'll spring this ghastly proposition on us and whether it will ruin every chart and stat for the future. The varying number of nominees in Best Picture already makes for messy comparisons from year to year which used to be half the fun.
The sacrosanct number is 5 and it should not ever change. Any deviation from 5 feels blasphemous as in those years when Original Song or Short Films kept changing the number or the continued satanic tradition of denying the Makeup and Hairstylist branch two of their deserved nominations each year - the only category with 3.
So here's to five, the best number. Five forever. FIVE BY FIVE. Never change the number, Academy! Never.
Just for fun here are the 5 categories this year with the highest across-the-board quality
- Best Actress - All wonderful. And from mostly great films, too!
- Original Score - When the worst nominee is __ you've got playlist heaven
- Adapted Screenplay - Mostly wonderful and filled with films about women: Brooklyn, Carol, Room. And the two most deserving screenplays are written by women, too: Phyllis Nagy & Emma Donoghue
- Cinematography - Don't quite understand what Robert Richardson is doing here again but he's no slouch in general and otherwise this is a list for the all time list of great lists in this particular category.
- Visual Effects - It was a toss up for this fifth slot but it's worth including to point out that for once they didn't go "Most" and actually included two films with very convincing effects (Ex Machina & The Revenant) that would work without those visual effects, too. Worthy Best Supporting Visual Effects is a nice change of pace here.
5 of my favorite Oscar nominee interviews this season in case you missed any: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), Deniz Gamze Ergüven (Mustang), Phyllis Nagy (Carol), Sandy Powell (Carol), and Jack Fisk (The Revenant)
Reader Comments (13)
Those are some strong categories. I, too, like the fact that visual effects actually opted for films where the FX served the story rather than overwhelm it.
It's too bad the Best Actress category couldn't make room for someone like Blythe Danner, Lily Tomlin, Kiki Rodriguez, Bel Powley or Emily Blunt instead of another throw-away JLaw nom, but it is an exceptional category.
I dunno, I can't say I dislike any of the nominated scores, but few of them inspire passion in me. The Williams and Newman nods in particular smack of laziness. And to leave out Giacchino's "Inside Out" and Tom Holkenborg's "Mad Max: Fury Road" just boggles my mind, especially when the latter film received so many nominations.
Animated feature is my favorite category this year. Five films covering a wide spectrum of styles and interests, and all very, very good.
"Oscar was born, yes it was born, born to be Five, born to be Five..."
--Sylvester
Now, let's get Best Pic back to that kick-ass digit.
I know it would never have happened but a nom for the score for IT FOLLOWS would have been, you know, Rad.
brookesboy: I used to feel that way about having just 5 films up for BP, but I got used to the expanded roster soon enough. I actually like that movies like Brooklyn & Room get nominated now, when in years past that likely wouldn't have happened. I do miss the purity of just 5 (and heaven forbid they should expend the # of nominees for the acting categories), but I feel like the trade off - more exposure for more films - is generally worth it.
Rob - well said, I am a convert to the expanded BP nominations and would not mind if it went to 10. The Academy started with 10 BP nominations so it's the most traditional change that could happen. I wouldn't expand any other categories.
I love that there are so many great female-centric films and that this was an unprecedentedly great year for "actressing," but I just can't get behind this blog's prevailing idea that female-centric films are inherently better or that female actors are inherently more interesting. This is my favorite place to go to read about film and my one complaint is that short shrift is given to the many unbelievable male actors working today. I realize that the conversation everywhere else is very much in the other direction, but when the discussion is of the quality it is here I wish it was more equal-opportunity, even if it means sometimes going in the direction where everyone else's bias tends to go too.
Hi Rob, I know what you mean and I agree that wider exposure is good. But I just don't think in most years such a crop of really great films exists. Keeping the field to just five means this--the ones that got in really earned it and are special. BEST is the operative word. JMO.
Kyle -- appreciate the input. i have considered doing an "actor month" since it's true we don't talk about them much.
brookesboy: believe me, I hear you. Some years are padded out with genuinely unworthy films (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and The Blind Side spring instantly to mind), and pretty much every year has at least one or two comparative mediocrities, but so many other cool movies like District 9, The Tree of Life, and Beasts of the Southern Wild got that little extra boost from the Oscar recognition that they benefited from–audiences as well. (I also like that more BP nominees makes me go see more films–this year I managed to see all 8 of them). Finally, for me personally there's the fact that I've just gotten all used to the expanded roster. I wonder if they ever would go back to five at this point?
I like to think of TFE's actressing obsession as much-needed affirmative action.