Did the Best Picture gamble work?

The New York Times looks into it:

“It did exactly what it was supposed to do,” said Ronni Chasen, a longtime awards consultant in Los Angeles. The broadened field includes box office behemoths like “Avatar,” inspirational fare like “The Blind Side” and genre films like the sci-fi parable “District 9,” in addition to typical Oscar bait: artful war tales (“The Hurt Locker”), the sophisticated coming-of-middle-age (“Up in the Air”) and British period dramas (“An Education”).

For the first time since the 1992 awards, the best picture nominees also include an animated film, the Pixar hit “Up,” which had crossover appeal among moviegoers and critics. And there were still spots for indie-popcorn flicks like “Inglourious Basterds,” Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist World War II adventuretainment, and “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” elevated urban grit.

And a very interesting statistic:

Will “The Blind Side,” the feel-good Sandra Bullock box office hit that was a surprise addition to the best picture list, swing votes from these contenders? Not likely, industry veterans say.

For one thing, Oscar rarely splits the vote between best director and best picture — it’s only happened, the Academy says, 21 times in 81 years — so the five films with director nods (“Avatar,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Precious” and “Up in the Air”) are considered the “real” best picture candidates.

For another, the top prize usually goes to films that have nominations across multiple categories, chiefly in acting and in editing or screenplay or both, in addition to directing. Four managed that feat this year: “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Precious,” and “Up in the Air.” (Awards watchers were quick to note one film that won best picture without a screenplay nomination: “Titanic” in 1998.)

The article continues with more information about the new voting system as well, which thankfully Ray was able to explain to me, because it can sound very confusing.