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Oscars

(©A.M.P.A.S.)

The announcement last June that the 82nd Academy Awards would feature not five, but 10, Best Picture nominees may have been a blip in the lives of casual movie fans, but for Oscar aficionados it was huge. Growing criticism that the Academy’s artsy picks don’t mirror the movies favoured by the general public was becoming an embarrassment for organizers. Although the ceremony was never designed to be a popularity contest, in years when the nominees are erudite indie dramas rather than box-office hits, the show’s ratings plummet.

The Academy itself poked fun at this disconnection during the 77th Awards when host Chris Rock went to an urban L.A. movie theatre and asked patrons whether they’d seen any of that year’s Best Picture nominees — Million Dollar Baby, Finding Neverland, Sideways, The Aviator, Ray. They hadn’t.

So what does it mean to have 10, instead of five, Best Picture nominees? The shine that comes with being able to splash “Nominated for a Best Picture Oscar” across DVD ads will certainly dull. And from this point on there will be an asterisk — if not real, implied — next to every mention of a Best Picture nominee: “Yes, it was nominated, but only after they went to 10.” On the upside, it’s less likely that two favoured films will cancel each other out, allowing a lesser title (yes you, Crash) to zip in between and capture the big prize.

Truth is, the Academy Awards has never been static. Over the past eight decades it has evolved, devolved, shifted and stretched more than you might think. In fact, in the 1930s and early ’40s having between eight and 12 Best Picture nominees was the norm.

We take a look at how the Oscars gradually became the show we know today.

10 ways the Academy Awards’ structure has changed since 1929’s inaugural ceremony:

1930}

In only its second year, Academy Awards’ organ­izers are already trying to trim the show and reduce the number of categories from 12 to seven. They are left with Outstanding Picture, Directing, Writing, Cinemato­graphy, Art Direction, Actor and Actress.

1935}

New categories Film Editing, Music Scoring and Best Song are introduced. Unfortunately for the latter, *Randy Newman won’t be born for another eight years.

1937}

More glam! Realizing that actors are the ones we really want to see giving weepy acceptance speeches, Oscar adds Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress to the big night.

1940}

The award for Best Special Effects is introduced. Without the benefit of 3D or CGI, the winner is The Rains Came, a Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power drama featuring torrential downpours, flooding and an earth­quake. Somewhere, Roland Emmerich just yelled “Ha!”

1942}

Best Documentary is added to the ballot, and the show’s attendees finally have a good time to take a bathroom break.

1949}

Awards for Best Costume Design are given out for the first time — two, in fact. One for a black-and-white movie (Hamlet) and the other for a colour flick (Joan of Arc).

1956}

The world gets a little smaller as the award for Best Foreign Language Film becomes a regular category. *La Strada8 wins. Previously, eight foreign-language films had been given “special awards” outside of the officially mandated prizes.

1982}

Rick Baker wins the inaugural award for Best Makeup for his work on An American Werewolf in London. Baker goes on to win five more times, for films ranging from Harry and the Hendersons to Ed Wood.

2002}

DreamWorks pulls out to an early lead when Shrek wins in the first new category since 1982, Best Animated Film. Pixar has won four of the seven years since.

And the Oscar Used to Go To...}

As new awards were added, old ones were made defunct. Your grand­parents may remember these early categories:

• Best Engineering Effects (1927 to 1928)

• Best Title Writing (1927 to 1928)

• Best Short Film: Novelty (1932 to 1935)

• Best Assistant Director (1934 to 1937)

• Best Dance Direction (1935 to 1937)

Duelling Hosts

More change — actors Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin share the hosting duties this year. The last time Oscar had more than one host was in 1987 when Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase and Australian shrimp-barbecuer Paul Hogan shared the duties. Like Hawn and Chase (Foul Play, Seems Like Old Times), Martin and Baldwin have proven they work well together. This year, they co-starred in the Golden Globe-nominated rom-com It’s Complicated, and in 2008 Martin guest-starred as sham business magnate Gavin Volure on Baldwin’s "30 Rock". Plus, the pair is one-two atop the list of frequent "Saturday Night Live" hosts, with Martin’s 15 appear­ances nudging out Baldwin’s 14. --

Check our our full Oscars coverage here!



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