Rethink.

Last week, Rethink. reported AMC is continuing its Best Picture Showcase , even with twice as many nominated films. I've attended the event two times now and it's pretty fun, if you don't mind sitting in a theatre all day. Whether you'd like to take a full dose of Oscar nominees all at once or two doses a week apart, AMC Theatres is the place to be. This year fans went to AMC's Web site and more than 86,000 votes were cast for the schedule of the ten Best Picture nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards, according to AMC.

Outgoing Academy President Sid Ganis made a surprise announcement Wednesday morning in Beverly Hills, Calif. As most media outlets reported, the number of nominees for the Best Picture category will be doubled to 10 at the 82nd Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 7, 2010. At the beginning of the press conference, Ganis said, "This morning's event is about the Academy Awards, but it may not be exactly what you think it is. “We'll be casting our net wider and in casting that net wider who knows what will turn up,” he said, adding that a documentary, animated or foreign language film could be included in the larger field. "And what do you know, maybe even a comedy in that group of 10," Ganis added sardonically. The reason for the change is somewhat retrospective and retroactive. For nine years there were 10 nominees; the 16th Academy Awards (1943) was the last year to include a field of that size; “Casablanca” was named Best Picture. In 1931/32, the...