Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Limited Performance

Why it should exist: This is actually a crucial category since “supporting” isn’t a very definitive term, meaning that actors with essentially bit parts like William Hurt (“A History of Violence”) and Mark Wahlberg (“The Departed”) get lumped in with people who actually appear throughout most of their films. It’s a great way to single out scene-stealers and reward them for outstanding work in a small yet significant role.

Why it doesn’t exist: Aside from the obvious problem of adding additional acting categories, would a screen time limit need to be imposed? Would there be one category, or two, one for men and one for women? Could actors be nominated in supporting and here (I vote no, which means some of my nominees below would have only been recognized here)? On top of that, there are just too many contenders since this opens up the field infinitely.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: Kathy Bates (Midnight in Paris), Adrien Brody (Midnight in Paris), Judy Greer (The Descendants), Charlotte Rampling (Melancholia), Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
2010: Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom), Rooney Mara (The Social Network), Cillian Murphy (Inception), Guy Pearce (The King’s Speech), Pete Postlethwaite (The Town)
2009: Judi Dench (Nine), Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds), Heath Ledger (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Sophia Loren (Nine), Rosamund Pike (An Education)
2008: Patricia Clarkson (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Tom Cruise (Tropic Thunder), Viola Davis (Doubt), Emile Hirsch (Milk), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
2007: Sacha Baron Cohen (Sweeney Todd), Ruby Dee (American Gangster), Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement), Paul Schneider (The Assassination of Jesse James), Tilda Swinton (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Blockbuster

Why it should exist: Expanding the Best Picture field to more than five nominees has allowed for a “people’s choice” award of sorts, and it’s worthwhile to recognize not only intimate independent films, but also the big-budget movies that draw millions of people to the theatres each year. This could also be a huge pull for new audiences to watch the Oscars since it would reward films that a wider spectrum of films people know.

Why it doesn’t exist: It’s likely that many feel that box office successes earn their due through dollars rather than critical praise, and it’s not entirely common that high gross numbers and quality coincide, especially not on an Oscar-worthy level. There could also be overlap with the Best Picture category, which isn’t necessarily problematic but is noteworthy.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: Bridesmaids, The Hangover Part II, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
2010: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Inception, Iron Man 2, Shrek Forever After, Toy Story 3
2009: Avatar, The Blind Side, The Hangover, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek
2008: The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E
2007: The Bourne Ultimatum, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I Am Legend, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie.

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Foreign Performance

Why it should exist: It’s rare that room is made for foreign actors to break into the acting races, usually no more than one or two per year, and it would be a great way to bestow an American award on an actor from another country.

Why it doesn’t exist: This is one category that would almost certainly have faces rather than names for the average viewer. Also, would eligible nominees have to be from submissions for Best Foreign Film (I’ve decided no below)? Also, could a nominee be recognized in this category as well as a regular acting race (I’ve said yes, since a Best Foreign Film nominee can also be nominated for Best Picture). Throwing all performers, no matter how significant to a film, into just one category could cause problems as well.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live In), Bérénice Bejo (The Artist), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Peyman Moaadi (A Separation), Michelle Yeoh (The Lady)
2010: Lubna Azabal (Incendies), Javier Bardem (Biutiful), Mikael Persbrandt (In a Better World), Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Tilda Swinton (I Am Love)
2009: Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces), Ricardo Darin (The Secret in their Eyes), Kim Hye-ja (Mother), Tahar Rahim (A Prophet), Catalina Saavedra (The Maid)
2008: François Bégaudeau (The Class), Ronit Elkabetz (The Band’s Visit), Sasson Gabai (The Band’s Visit), Bard Owe (O’Horten), Kristin Scott Thomas (I’ve Loved You So Long)
2007: Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Tony Leung (Lust, Caution), Anamaria Marinca (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), Belen Rueda (The Orphanage), Tang Wei (Lust, Caution)

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Casting

Why it should exist: The role of the casting director is a crucial one, since assembling an ensemble makes the existing Oscar acting categories possible. The Casting Society of America has a handful of separate categories for productions of different financial and thematic natures. Enough people believe that this category is worthwhile that it’s been suggested three times in the past fifteen years, last rejected in 2011.

Why it doesn’t exist: The Academy’s justification was that it was too hard to determine who did the casting in a movie (the director, for instance, might also have been involved), and that there shouldn’t be any new categories (an irrelevant objection for our purposes). Most importantly, average viewers aren’t particularly interested in hearing speeches from other faces they don’t recognize.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Margin Call, Moneyball
2010: The Fighter, The King’s Speech, The Kids Are All Right, The Social Network, The Town
2009: Inglourious Basterds, The Hurt Locker, Nine, Sherlock Holmes, Up in the Air
2008: The Dark Knight, Doubt, Milk, Revolutionary Road, Star Trek
2007: Hairspray, Into the Wild, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Comedic Performance

Why it should exist: Without adding a slew of acting categories akin to the Golden Globes, this would recognize the fact that comedies are, by and large, ignored by Oscar voters. It would also help to spotlight individual achievement by recognizing an actor or actress with comedic chops, and having Oscar reward comedy would be really cool.

Why it doesn’t exist: Most years, one comedic performer does break through, be it Diane Keaton in “Something’s Gotta Give” or Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder,” and I think that’s about as far as Oscar voters will want to go in terms of both legitimizing comedy and admitting that they are biased towards much more serious fare.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: Jean Dujardin, Brendan Gleeson, Melissa McCarthy, Charlize Theron, Kristen Wiig
2010: Annette Bening, Jim Carrey, Rachel McAdams, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone
2009: Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock
2008: Penelope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr., James Franco, Sally Hawkins, Frances McDormand
2007: Katherine Heigl, Ellen Page, John C. Reilly, Seth Rogen, John Travolta

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Family Film

Why it should exist: Family-friendly films don’t always get embraced by Oscars, and this category would underline the fact that not all movies for kids are animated, and vice-versa. There would have to be a rating requirement (G or PG only), and it would recognize heart-warming films for all ages. Both Best Animated Feature and Best Picture nominees would be eligible since a film can be both (or all three).

Why it doesn’t exist: Aside from the main fact that only one Best Picture category exists, it probably wouldn’t seem necessary to recognize family achievements. The Best Animated Feature category didn’t get added until 2001, long after animation had taken off, so it doesn’t seem likely that another category, which could also include the Best Picture choices, would be anyone’s priority. This category could also end up as a clone of the Best Animated Feature race.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: The Adventures of Tintin, Hugo, The Muppets, Puss in Boots, Winnie the Pooh
2010: Alice in Wonderland, Flipped, How To Train Your Dragon, Tangled, Toy Story 3
2009: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Coraline, The Princess and the Frog, Up, Where the Wild Things Are
2008: Bedtime Stories, Bolt, High School Musical 3, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E
2007: Bee Movie, Enchanted, Hairspray, Ratatouille, Surf’s Up

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Stunt Coordination

Why it should exist: This would be a great way of recognizing action movies, which tend not to get nominated in many Oscar categories, and of rewarding those involved in the planning and execution of stunts. Sound, sound editing, and visual effects don’t quite capture the visual efforts involved with stunts. The Screen Actors Guild actually instituted a category for Stunt Ensemble starting in 2007.

Why it doesn’t exist: This category has actually been proposed three times, all in the last fifteen years, and rejected each time. While it would arguably present some of the best nominee clips during the Oscar show itself, it would also increase the number of awards given to people that most viewers don’t care about, which just wouldn’t make for great television.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: Captain America: The First Avenger, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Salt, X-Men: First Class
2010: Green Zone, Inception, Iron Man 2, Tron: Legacy
2009: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2012
2008: The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, Quantum of Solace, Wanted
2007: 300, The Bourne Ultimatum, I Am Legend, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Red, Transformers

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Choreography

Why it should exist: There are a handful of musicals each year, and, beyond that, a good deal of dance numbers and other important staging that goes on in a good percentage of films each year. Both the Emmy Awards and the Tony Awards give out such a prize, and it would be a worthwhile endeavor for Oscar voters as well.

Why it doesn’t exist: There actually isn’t a good answer to this question. I suppose the best argument is that it might be hard to fill the list each year (I’ve illustrated that below, as nominees range from two to five depending on the year), and that musical films would dominate while those with only a number or two wouldn’t have much of a chance. Otherwise, I think this one is the closest of any to actually truly existing, not that it would be instated any time soon, of course.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: The Artist, Footloose, The Muppets
2010: Burlesque, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
2009: 500 Days of Summer, Nine
2008: Hamlet 2, High School Musical 3, Mamma Mia
2007: Across the Universe, Enchanted, Hairspray, Music and Lyrics, Sweeney Todd

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Worst Movie

Why it should exist: The Oscars recognize the best of cinema each year, so why not honor the worst? Smaller critics’ organizations have such categories, mostly designed for a bit of comic relief in an otherwise high-minded ceremony. It would also allow Oscar voters to have some fun recognizing the failed Oscar contenders and taking down actors phoning it in for a paycheck.

Why it doesn’t exist: It wouldn’t behoove the Oscars to stoop to the level of bad movies, and those films nominated would likely already be a step up from the truly awful films avoided entirely by Oscar voters. A group already exists to trumpet the worst in film each year – the Razzie Awards – and they’ve become all about sequels and films that would really give Oscar a bad name.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: Jack and Jill, New Year’s Eve, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Sucker Punch, Transformers: Dark of the Moon
2010: Alice in Wonderland, The Expendables, The Last Airbender, The Tourist, The Wolfman
2009: All About Steve, Amelia, The Lovely Bones, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2008: Australia, The Happening, Smart People, W, The Women
2007: Hannibal Rising, Lions for Lambs, Next, Norbit, 300

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Breakthrough Performance

Why it should exist: Every year, there are a number of actors or actresses who break out, either from “Hey! It’s That Guy!” status or from true obscurity with their debut film role. It’s worth recognizing such an achievement, and it’s a great way to recognize younger actors who might otherwise not have a shot in the process. Highlighting a great start in the business would be a fantastic way of recognizing rising stars.

Why it doesn’t exist: There are too many complications to eligibility, since someone might come close to a nomination one year and then be even closer the following year (Michael Cera comes to mind below), even though they’ve theoretically already broken through. I’ve compiled the imagined nominees to include only actors that weren’t nominated in other categories, but that’s another issue. As was true with Best Multiple Performances, having more than the four core acting categories just isn’t Oscar’s style.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: Thomas Horn (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), Ezra Miller (We Need To Talk About Kevin), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Harmony Santana (Gun Hill Road), Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
2010: Elle Fanning (Somewhere), Katie Jarvis (Fish Tank), Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Emma Stone (Easy A), Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right)
2009: Abbie Cornish (Bright Star), Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Tom Hardy (Bronson), Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds)
2008: Michael Cera (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist), Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Anton Yelchin (Charlie Bartlett)
2007: Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray), Glen Hansard (Once), Marketa Irglova (Once), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad), Ed Sanders (Sweeney Todd)

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Scene

Why it should exist: Individual scenes are often the most memorable parts of lesser movies, and it’s worthwhile to recognize a film’s ability to capture undivided attention for a few minutes due to the action on screen. The MTV Movie Awards hand out trophies for Best Fight and Best Kiss, and this represents a more overarching award for the best single segment in a film.

Why it doesn’t exist: It’s hard to pick just five scenes from an entire year’s lot, and, somewhat like the Best Foreign Film race, there might have to be a rule that each film only gets to submit one choice scene to be recognized. That could result, however, in just awarding the top five films and their individual segments, but let’s hope that voters could be more open-minded and creative than that. The way I do it is by ranking the best scenes (more than five), but Oscar categories don't tend to work that way.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: The Artist, Drive, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo, Moneyball
2010: Black Swan, Inception, The King’s Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network
2009: Avatar, 500 Days of Summer, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Up
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler
2007: The Assassination of Jesse James, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No Country for Old Men, Once, There Will Be Blood

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Comedy

Why it should exist: Traditionally, less serious films haven’t been honored by Oscar voters as much as more dramatic material. The Golden Globes have a comedy category that also rewards – and often favors – musicals, and those films usually get relegated to the screenplay race and maybe an acting field. It would be a great way to recognize films that make people laugh and might otherwise not be considered as seriously.

Why it doesn’t exist: Aside from the perception that comedies aren’t as good as dramas, there’s just one top category at the Oscars that rewards films as a whole. It would be jarring to see another big race added, and it might mean that nominees in this category wouldn’t be eligible for, or wouldn’t have as much luck in, the Best Picture race if they got recognized here.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: The Artist, Bridesmaids, The Guard, Midnight in Paris, Young Adult
2010: Barney’s Version, Easy A, The Kids Are All Right, Love and Other Drugs, Toy Story 3
2009: 500 Days of Summer, The Hangover, It’s Complicated, Julie and Julia, The Proposal
2008: Burn After Reading, Happy-Go-Lucky, In Bruges, Tropic Thunder, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
2007: Charlie Wilson’s War, Juno, Knocked Up, The Savages, Walk Hard

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Soundtrack

Why it should exist: Currently, two musical categories exist – Best Original Score and Best Original Song. The former was split up in the 1990s into drama and comedy/musical, but nothing exists to award songs and soundtracks that are not original in nature. Stringent rules have discounted some notable scores and original songs over the past few years, and this could be a great way to honor composers and songwriters whose work doesn’t fit into a box, and also a fun way to recognize musicals with great music and less impressive acting and writing.

Why it doesn’t exist: There’s a reason there are rules, and clearly efforts have been made in past years to expand the field to include more choices. Though they’re arguably more interesting to the casual viewer than some of the other technical categories, most of the names aren’t all that known, and honoring even more non-actors during the Oscar ceremony probably wouldn’t go over too well with the general populace. Also, the award for Best Adapted Screenplay represents original material based on a previous work, whereas this category might just reward putting together preexisting music.

Who might have been nominated the past five years: 2011: Drive, Hanna, Midnight in Paris, Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows, Super 8
2010: Blue Valentine, Easy A, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Somewhere, Tangled
2009: Away We Go, An Education, 500 Days of Summer, Nine, Watchmen
2008: The Dark Knight, My Blueberry Nights, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Wanted, The Wrestler
2007: Hairspray, Into the Wild, Once, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Trailer

Why it should exist: This is an already an AFT Award category, designed to recognize movies that look the best from the outset in a theatrical trailer. My choices don’t fully jive with Oscar voters’, but the main thing that could be achieved with this category is to reward films with Oscar pedigree that don’t end up being Oscar-caliber. There are awards for short films and editing; this is a masterful and appetizing combination of both.

Why it doesn’t exist: A trailer is not a complete film, feature-length or short subject, and as a result it’s a strange thing to honor. It might also be too disparate from the rest of the awards which recognize concrete excellence in production, and trailers are often so disconnected from, and unlike, the movies themselves. Also, are teasers eligible too? It would be a cool inclusion, but I can’t imagine it ever being given out.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: The Artist, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Tree of Life, War Horse
2010: 127 Hours, Black Swan, Inception, The Social Network, True Grit
2009: Inglourious Basterds, Invictus, The Lovely Bones, Nine, Up
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Doubt, Revolutionary Road, The Wrestler
2007: American Gangster, Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Multiple Performances

Why it should exist: Perhaps this category needs a better name, like Hardest-Working Actor, something to explain that it cites a performer who has turned in several (at least two) quality performances in a calendar year. It would reward those that might not fit neatly into one category or that might not have one solo performance that enables them to break into one of the acting races. Nathaniel from The Film Experience already gives out this trophy, so check out his nominees for a great argument for this category’s existence.

Why it doesn’t exist: The rule, as it currently stands, is a performer may only be nominated once in a single category. Rewarding a diverse year or work could result in honoring those that have made many movies and not necessarily underline quality. There are plenty of questions: Would there just be one gender-blind category? Would having three or four films get you more points than having only two? Also, could a performer be nominated here and also earn a single-performance nomination? I don’t make the rules, I just dream them up.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: Jessica Chastain, Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, John C. Reilly, Mia Wasikowska
2010: Ben Affleck, Annette Bening, Ryan Gosling, Rosamund Pike, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts
2009: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Clive Owen, Paul Schneider, Stanley Tucci, Sam Worthington
2008: Josh Brolin, Penelope Cruz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ben Kingsley, Kate Winslet
2007: Casey Affleck, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones, James McAvoy, Paul Schneider

Who do you think might have been nominated?

Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Ensemble Cast

Why it should exist: This one actually makes the most sense given that the Screen Actors Guild hands out this very award, recognizing a cohesive cohort of thespians on their collective work rather than individual merit. It’s different enough from the Best Picture race, which rewards an overall rounded film instead of all the onscreen players.

Why it doesn’t exist: Unlike the Emmys or the Golden Globes, the Oscars hand out a small number of acting trophies each year: four. That makes the achievement of winning an Oscar for acting all the more esteemed, and awarding an entire cast would prove much more difficult and diminish from its impact. It’s also possible that these nominees would mirror the Best Picture nominees too closely.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris
2010: The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King’s Speech, The Social Network, True Grit
2009: The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Nine, Precious, Up in the Air
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler
2007: Hairspray, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood