THE ACADEMY AWARDS sure has lower standards than People Paper movie critic Gary Thompson.

Academy President Sid Ganis said at a news conference yesterday that the academy's board of governors has decided to expand the slate of best-picture nominees from five to 10.

Ten?! It's tough enough to think of five. But in a tough economy the move allows more films to proclaim "Nominated for Best Picture" whether deserving or not.

The change takes effect with next year's Oscars on March 7.

The Associated Press noted that the move is a return to Oscar traditions of the 1930s and '40s, when 10 nominees were common. What it didn't note was that in the '30s and '40s, Hollywood churned out 500 movies a year.

Ganis said the board looked at last year's slate of films and decided there was room for more in the top category. "We nominated five, but there were many other great films last year," he said.

There were?

"The Dark Knight" was good, but best picture? Come on.

Ganis made the point that in 1939 the 10 best-picture nominees were "Gone With the Wind," which won; "The Wizard of Oz," "Stagecoach," "Wuthering Heights," "Love Affair," "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Of Mice and Men," "Dark Victory" and "Ninotchka."

It doesn't really help Ganis' point that he chose perhaps the greatest year in movie history, but try to find 10 movies from last year to put up against that group and it's going to be twice as embarrassing as trying to find five.

A free cell-out

Billboard.com reports that the 2009 Virgin Mobile Festival, to be held Aug. 30 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, in Columbia, Md., will have a price in line with hard times.

Organizers say 35,000 FREE tickets will be given away to the newly branded Virgin Mobile FreeFest, to be headlined by Weezer and Blink-182.

Other performers scheduled include Franz Ferdinand, Public Enemy, Jet, the National, Girl Talk, the Bravery, the Hold Steady, St. Vincent, Wale, Taking Back Sunday, Holy --, Pete Tong, Danny Howells and Lee Burridge.

"The idea was to do something that nobody else is doing," said Seth Hurwitz, chairman of independent concert promoter I.M.P. "It really comes from a sincere desire to make people happy."

Tickets to the FreeFest will be available Saturday through ticketmaster.com but Virgin Mobile customers and previous ticket-buyers to Virgin Mobile Festivals will get first crack at them today and tomorrow.

In a move even more shocking than a free concert, Ticketmaster has agreed to waive its "convenience" fees for concertgoers who pick up their tickets at the Merriweather Post Pavilion or the 9:30 Club in Washington.

* This can't be a good sign for the

music business.

When the Jonas Brothers' last album, "A Little Bit Longer," debuted at No. 1 last August, it sold 525,000 copies.