"Indies have dominated the best picture nominations in the last two years with 'Brokeback Mountain,' 'Capote,' 'Goodnight and Good Luck' and eventual winner 'Crash' scoring four of the five nods in 2005," Pete Hammond notes in his feature article for The Envelope - CLICK HERE. "'Babel,' 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'The Queen' grabbed spots in 2006. Although, Warner Bros.' 'The Departed,' riding sentiment for perennial loser Martin Scorsese, was the big winner in the end.

"In fact, you have to go back to 1991 to find a year when the majors dominated the best picture category ('Beauty and the Beast,' 'Bugsy,' 'JFK,' 'Prince of Tides' and the winner 'Silence of the Lambs').

"This has been a fairly dismal time for independent movies.

"One indie Oscar hopeful after another seems to be struggling financially just to stay alive during awards season. 'Gone Baby Gone,' 'Into the Wild,' 'The Darjeeling Limited,' 'Lars and the Real Girl' and 'Lust, Caution,' to name a few acclaimed titles, all lost theaters this week (some significantly)." READ MORE