OSCAR LUVS NEW YORK. At last year's Oscar ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences showed its love for New York City. But was it merely paying lip service to the city—most memorably through Woody Allen's lips?

This year's nominations give me the impression that maybe the Academy really, really does love the Big Apple. The city (or a facsimile of the city) appears in at least eleven nominated films from 2002: Frida, Adaptation, Spider-Man, The Hours, Twin Towers, Winged Migration, Bowling for Columbine, Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can, The Collector of Bedford Street, and Why Can't We Be a Family Again? If Unfaithful qualifies, the tally would go up to twelve nominees.

Despite industry squeamishness about including footage of the World Trade Center in movies made post-9/11, the Academy didn't forget the Twin Towers, either. I estimate that they appear—if only for a moment—in at least seven nominees: Spider-Man, Twin Towers, Winged Migration, Bowling for Columbine, Gangs of New York, The Collector of Bedford Street, and Why Can't We Be a Family Again?

I would be more confident about all of this if I had more of an opportunity to fact-check, but I trust that these "best guesses" make the point anyway. Perhaps, someday, I or another diligent scholar will clarify any ambiguities.