Wednesday Oscar Retrospective: Five to Ten for 2002

Welcome back to a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Wednesday Oscar Retrospective. Five to Ten is the fifth in a series of projects looking back at the past eight years of the Oscars, dating back to the first ceremony I watched and closely followed.

On the heels of the Academy’s announcement that this coming year will feature anywhere from five to ten films in the Best Picture list, I thought to look back at the most recent decade to determine what number of films would have ultimately earned a slot in the top category. Obviously, this is all guesswork and designed, above anything, to be fun. In the new system, films will need to earn at least 5% of the first-place votes. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments!

Five to Ten for 2002

The actual lineup: Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Pianist, The Two Towers

The locks: The above five, and that’s it.

The benefactors: I’m not sure anything was that close to a nomination, though the three films that might have been the most ahead were probably My Big Fat Greek Wedding, About Schmidt and Adaptation.

The longshots: A few foreign films likely garnered some votes, like Talk to Her and Y Tu Mama Tambien. Also, Far From Heaven and Road to Perdition could have been placed.

And the nominees could have been… Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Pianist, The Two Towers

The takeaway: It’s fitting for the final installment of this series that we’d reach a year where the new system would have produced the same output. It’s a fine list, and while I would rank “Chicago” last out of these five, they’re all great films.

That’s a wrap for the Five to Ten series, and the Wednesday Oscar Retrospective for now. Stay tuned on future Wednesdays for the return of the Wednesday Oscar Watch.