The Cheapening of the Oscars

Am I the only one who thinks that expanding the Best Picture nominees to 10 has cheapened the Oscars a little?  I think it used to be, back in the day, pretty difficult and prestigious to get an oscar nod.  Not to say it still isn't, but it seems to me that it's lost some of its "specialness".

I thought there were 5 noteworthy movies this year that should be recognized:

AVATAR
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
PRECIOUS
UP IN THE AIR

But the rest?  Not to say they weren't good movies, but Best Picture nominee worthy?  THE BLIND SIDE?  Really?  I love inspirational stories, but come on.  And I thought AN EDUCATION was lovely, but is it really in the same league as the five movies I just mentioned?  The one exception, in my opinion, is DISTRICT 9 - I really do think it deserves the recognition it is getting.  It will change the way movies are made.  And the fact that Neill Blomkamp made a movie for only $30 million that looks like it was made for over $100 million, and the fact that the movie actually made over $100 million in the box office.

If the Academy had just kept it at five, I think everything would have been ok.  AVATAR broke every box office record and deserved the Best Picture nomination it got.  And even INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS made a penny or two.  I know they shafted THE DARK KNIGHT last year and want to make the Oscars accessible to a more broader audience, but I don't think this was necessarily the best year to have expanded to 10.  I'm shocked THE HANGOVER didn't get a nod (which I'm not dissing, I absolutely love this movie).