Would you be surprised to learn that the Academy’s goal of opening up the Oscars to a wider array of films with its expansion of the Best Picture field has hit a brick wall and that the complete obvious has, in fact, been the result? Mark Harris hit it out of the park yesterday with “The Christopher Nolan Effect,” an analysis of how that simple rule change a few years ago has yielded, increasingly, the smallest assortment of Oscar nominated films in history. Key quote: “…there”s zero evidence that the expanded field has done anything but dilute the prestige of a nomination.” The dilution has been my stance from the beginning but now there’s data to back it up. Is it time for the Academy to do away with this dubious little experiment? [Grantland]
And here’s Nick Davis’ Tweet that sent Harris down that line of reportage. [Twitter]
The Academy, meanwhile, has cleared up producing credits for “The Wolf of Wall Street” in a departure from the PGA ruling. Martin Scorsese, therefore, picks up his 12th Oscar nomination to date, and Leonardo DiCaprio his fifth. [AMPAS]
How George Clooney pranked Matt Damon into thinking he was gaining weight on the set of “The Monuments Men.” [People]
Scott Tobias double-features “Gravity” and “All is Lost.” [The Dissolve]
Up in Park City, Peter Knegt talks to “Love is Strange” stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina. [Indiewire]
Speaking of Sundance, team RogerEbert.com reports from the festival premiere of Ebert-focused documentary “Life Itself.” [RogerEbert.com]
And Gareth Evans’ “The Raid 2” appears to be the leading contender for the Palme d’Ork up there in the Utah mountains. [/Film]