Oscar Blitz 2024 – Best Picture (VIDEO)

We made it, everyone! Twenty-three categories up, 23 down! It’s the final award of the ceremony, the greatest of the Academy Awards, the highest honor in all of cinema – Best Picture! After weeks of analysis, it’s time to tackle the big one. Ten nominees go into Sunday night hoping to hear their name called, but only one will emerge triumphant… and I think we all know who it’ll be.

I’ve thought about this for a while now, but it’s been more pronounced since the COVID pandemic. I like the fact that the Academy expanded this field, but honestly, 10 is too many. Since the implementation of at least seven nominees since 2009 (after the travesty of not nominating WALL-E, The Wrestler, and The Dark Knight) the idea has been to give more films a chance, but that hasn’t really been the case. Ever since the super-sized category began we really haven’t had a legitimate title race, outside of La La Land vs. Moonlight (which was fucked up at the finish line) and Gravity vs 12 Years a Slave (which should have never been a contest). Each year, at least two or three movies (or eight of them in last year’s race) don’t deserve serious consideration, and never really have any realistic hope of victory.

So I’ll just say it. Let’s go back to five. The problem wasn’t that only five films were up for Best Picture in 2008, it’s that the WRONG five were up, thanks in large part to the campaign tactics of people like Harvey Weinstein, who have been rightfully driven out of the industry (and into a jail cell). Had the three outsiders been in the race instead of Frost/Nixon, The Reader, or Milk, no one would have batted an eye. Instead, every year this process feels bloated with also-rans that may be great, but are never truly in the conversation. Hell, this is the second straight year where one of the nominees is only up for the Screenplay outside of this category. How can you make any honest case that you’re the best film of the year if your peers only consider one element to be in the top five?

So yeah, for the sake of logic, and my sleep schedule, I think we should go back to having just five nominees. The trick is to make sure that those five are actually worthy, rather than the result of a marketing strategy.

This year’s nominees for Best Picture are… in the video below!

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All that said, I was surprised that at least the top seven in my rankings were truly deserving. Also, in a preview of my predictions, it looks like the three that have no business being here will only get token awards, if anything at all. So it balances out, I guess.

My Rankings:
Are in the video.

Who do you think should win? Vote now in the poll below!

Up next, the Blitz is on a short hiatus while I compile my final bits of precognition, and I’ll be back in a couple days with my official predictions. It’s Who Will Win?!

Join the conversation in the comments below! Should there still be 10 nominees? Should there be more? What film was left out of the field that you believe should have been in? Let me know! And remember, you can follow me on Twitter (fuck “X”) and YouTube for even more content!