The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the group that hands out the Oscars, announced new details Monday about the awarding of the coveted Best Picture statuette.

We already knew that they had expanded the number of nominees in that category from five to ten, presumably to include more popular movies (like “The Dark Knight” and “WALL-E,” which got overlooked last year)–and thus to attract bigger ratings.

Now AMPAS has announced that when the 5,000 Academy members are mailed the list of ten finalists for the award, the voters will have to rank their choices in 1-to-10 order. So it’s possible that the film which gets the most first-place votes might not be named Best Picture.

Newly installed Academy president Tom Sherak says he wants to more accurately reflect the consensus of the membership. It’s all rather arcane. You can get the party line at the AMPAS home page. But I think it boils down to this: With the members free to express themselves more fully, the Oscar for the Best Picture of 2009 will go to…

“Paul Blart, Mall Cop.”

See for yourself on March 4.