Ranking the Most Nominated Oscar Films of the Past 10 Years

Scene from The Shape of Water

With this week presenting the Oscar nominations, it only seems right to continually nitpick every category to determine just how good this year is (in my opinion, it's a very good one). However, there is one piece of trivia that's likely to go unnoticed: the films with the most nominations. While it's a big deal in any given year, does anyone remember what that film was even 10 years ago? It's what inspired me to rank the last 10 years of films that lead the year with the most nominations. Ironically, it's a bit uneven as there were many ties in a given year. However, it's also 13 films - the number of nominations that The Shape of Water received this year. It's interesting to look back at the films that dominated, even if they didn't win much. The following is my ranking of the past 10 years, which has produced a lot of interesting results.

When Will There Be More Female Best Director Oscar Nominees?

Kathryn Bigelow

It is likely by now that everyone in America has heard the news. After months of contention and voting, Hillary Clinton has become the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party. This is pretty big news, especially considering that she will be the first woman to do so, and whose odds of winning seem increasingly likely. It's been an overwhelming moment for women nationwide, who are now believing in the "You can be anything you want to be." narrative more than ever before. However, there's another field that seems to have not embraced female contribution: The Academy Awards. No, this isn't about the Best Actress categories, but more in the Best Director and even Best Picture category. While there have been a few bright spots, the average year sees some absence of a certain gender in these fields. The question isn't when there will be a female directed Best Picture winner. That already happened. What's the bigger question is when will this become the normative. 

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Avatar" (2009)

Scene from Avatar

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

Nothing But the Best: "The Hurt Locker" (2009)

Scene from The Hurt Locker

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

The "Zero Dark Thirty" Trailer Shows a Best Picture Nominee Coming out of Hiding

Up to this point, there has been little knowledge of what director Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty actually looked like. Being touted as "the Osama bin Laden" movie, it has been kept under wraps in ways that reflected the subject matter. The most that had been seen was a teaser trailer in which a voice screams "When was the last time you saw bin Laden?" over and over. Not too effective, but clarified that it was in deed about bin Laden. However, with a full length trailer and some actual plot revealed, does Bigelow's follow-up to Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker stand a chance of continuing to turn current events into big prize winners?