My thoughts on this year's Oscars

There have certainly been a lot of changes to his year's Oscars and I think it's time Ye Olde Oscarnazi weighs in on them.

10 best picture nominees: I can't believe this hasn't gone over better. Most Oscar pundits and Entertainment reporters are chastising this as a move to simply include more "crowd pleasing fare as well as diluting the honor of being one of the nominees. I may change my mind when I see what gets nominated, but I think it's a great move! If this is what it takes for the Academy to recognize wonderfully made films which simply don't have the "pedigree" an Oscar nominee needs to have these days, so be it. Let's not forsake "Up" simply because it is Animated, or "Star Trek" simply because it is a Blockbuster. Don't forget that the likes of "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "The Right Stuff," and "Star Wars" were all Best Picture Oscar nominees. You really shouldn't begrudge a well-made movie just because it doesn't have the "I never learned to read" moment. It's easy to say "Does 'Star Trek' really deserve a Best Picture nomination?" But really, why doesn't it?

New rankings system for voting on the 10 nominees: This year, instead of selecting the Best Picture from the nominees, the Academy Members will rank them from 1 -10 and the most popular choice will win. I really don't see how this will change anything. If only enough people voted for "Up" to make it the 7th choice amongst the 10 nominees, do we really think that it - now being one of 10 choice -will suddenly rank higher? Not likely.

Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin to host: This one I'm still on the fence about. Steve Martin always does a fine job, but I've never been blown away. Alec Baldwin is a hysterical actor, and a fine SNL host, so he should do fine. Still, it's going to be a hard job following Hugh Jackman's stellar performance from last year. Of course, what do I know? I liked David Letterman.