'District 9,' 'Up' Make Pleasant Surprises on Expanded Oscar List

I admit it: When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first announced its plan to expand the Best Picture category from five nominees to 10, I was skeptical. I thought it would just invite ever more droningly "important" entries of the sort that are already overrepresented: period pieces, Holocaust movies, and show-offy performances by stars simulating disabilities and/or accents.