HOT OSCAR BUZZ

As an Oscar nerd, I feel compelled to comment on AMPAS's decision to expand the field of Best Picture nominees from five to ten. My initial reaction: why, that's silly! My second reacton: hmmm, maybe it's not as silly as I thought.

The Academy needed to do something, obviously, if they wanted to keep the Oscars from going the way of the Miss America pageant. Each year brought lower and lower ratings. I think that my roommate and I were the only people who watched this year's telecast from beginning to end.

This move will probably bring in some new viewers. More nominees means that more popcorn movies can make the cut. If they had picked ten nominees last year instead of five, "The Dark Knight" would have gotten a nod. "Iron Man" too, most likely. Big name nominees equals more viewers. No one tunes in to watch "Capote" duke it out with "The Aviator." They want to see Batman win some statues.

The decision also marks an end to the ghettoization of animated films--probably. The last (and only) animated film to receive a Best Picture nomination was 1991's "Beauty and the Beast." Nothing since then--not "Toy Story," not "The Incredibles," not even "Wall-E." But I can't imagine a high-quality film like "Up" being left out of the new, expanded field. Again, that means more viewers. People love Pixar films. They'll watch the Oscars, if only to catch a few clips from their favorite animated movie.

But this is only a start. If the Oscars really want to win back viewers, they have to start trimming fat from the telecast. Academy officials need to plant a time bomb beneath the stage. It'll be rigged to the host's mike. If he can't wrap it up in less than four hours, the whole theater goes sky-high. Agreed? At the very least, this plan will rid the world of the increasingly reptilian Jack Nicholson.