The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to have 10 nominees in the best-picture category this year in order to draw people to an awards show whose ratings have plummeted in recent years. The academy noticed that when box-office champs win nominations the number of Oscars viewers goes up, and when the majority of nominees have already moved on to DVD after a short run, the numbers drop substantially. The hope was that having 10 best-picture nominees would increase the chance that academy members would nominate films that have inspired blockbusting lineups.

That has happened this year with the hits The Blind Side and Up winning nominations that would have been closed to them had there been just five openings. Avatar would probably have won a nomination in a field of five, but this is a long-term plan. It’s unlikely that most future megahits will have much of a chance competing for just five spots in the best-picture race. Although this version of the Academy Awards, to be hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, should draw an audience, the question that needs to be asked is, will anyone care? They may have seen Avatar, but will they stay tuned for three hours if James Cameron and his techies keep marching to the podium?

This year’s Super Bowl set ratings records in the U.S. because so many Americans were rooting for the New Orleans Saints. So who do you root for on March 7? Here are some of the films and people whose victories would make the show memorable. They range from sentimental favourites to locally produced talent and fortunate individuals who beat the odds just by winning a nomination. If they succeed, expect some standing ovations and a few tears, both at the podium and in living rooms.

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
The major studios won the battle this year. Of the 10 nominated films, only Precious, The Hurt Locker, and Inglourious Basterds are from truly independent distributors: Lions Gate Pictures, Summit Entertainment, and the Weinstein Company. (Most “independent” films are picked up at festivals by the “art house” divisions of major studios.) Lions Gate was founded in Vancouver but is now American enough that it has to go through Canadian distributor Maple Pictures to release films in Canada. Since rooting for Harvey Weinstein is just bad form, let’s cheer for Kathryn Bigelow’s courageous indie about a U.S. military bomb-disposal unit assigned to Iraq.

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Want your daughter to grow up to be a film director? A Bigelow win would be a healthy precedent. Only three other women have been nominated in this category. Lina Wertmí¼ller (Seven Beauties), Jane Campion (The Piano), and Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) were also-rans. Bigelow and ex-husband James Cameron are cofavourites. Bigelow won the Directors Guild award, while Cameron won the Golden Globe.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Streep has lost 11 straight Academy Award nominations. Only Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Jack Nicholson have even won that many nominations in the acting categories. Streep, a two-time Oscar winner, has one best-actress win, for Sophie’s Choice. That puts her behind Hilary Swank, who has two. Expect a standing ovation if she beats out cofavourite Sandra Bullock for the prize.

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Bridges has won four Oscar nominations dating back almost 40 years, to 1971’s The Last Picture Show. His only nomination in this category was 25 years ago for Starman. A win for his performance as a down-on-his-luck country singer would be well received by both the industry elite inside the Kodak Theatre and the viewing audience.

Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious: Based on the novel ”˜Push’ by Sapphire
If you like your winners to make emotional speeches, talk-show host Mo’Nique is a proven commodity, having given memorable talks during all three of her televised victories. She can relate to the character she plays, a woman who knows her daughter is being sexually abused by her father, having spoken openly about her own abuse by her brother.

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
It’s unlikely that anyone will beat Christoph Waltz of Inglourious Basterds, but good Canadians should be cheering for one of our greatest actors. Surprisingly, Plummer has never even been nominated. In fact, this is just the 11th acting nomination received by a Canadian since the Oscars were first telecast in Canada in 1953.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, District 9
Vancouver’s Tatchell, who, like Blomkamp, is a Rainmaker Entertainment and Vancouver Film School alum, would become a member of a very elite group if she won an Academy Award. The only Canadian-born screenwriters to win a screenwriting Oscar are Crash’s Paul Haggis and Pulp Fiction’s Roger Avary.