So, the Director’s Guild of America have spoken in their infinite wisdom. Since expanding their membership upwards of 11,000 members a few years back, they’ve been a much stronger bellwether of the ‘top 5′. Long gone are the days that they’d nominate an up and comer from England on a small film like Memento. Seeing how TV heavy the guild is, part of me even expected Paul Feig get in for Bridesmaids on industry goodwill alone. As it were, we’re left with a standard list of Nominees….
EXCEPT FOR ONE!!! The DGA have committed the ultimate blasphemy. They’ve shunned their own deity, left him out in the cold. For January 9th 2012 will live in infamy as the day the DGA neglected to nominate Steven Spielberg for a War epic. I for one never thought this day would come, and for all the nights I’ve lain awake at night, crying tears of fury begging for this moment… this moment is a confusing one. It’s Oscar bait for sure, but this time I actually liked it. Go figure that I’d like the one Spielberg film everyone else seems to be turning against.
Anyway, sneaking in like an overdue serpent comes David Fincher to steal the nomination away from O Holy One. The thing is, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is inferior Fincher, destined to be remembered with Panic Room as ‘one for them’. It’s still a very good film, possibly the best that could be made of the subpar material Fincher and Zaillian had to work with. If the 155 minutes had the energy, vibe and peversion of the first 2 then it could have been a masterpiece. Anyway, you’re not here to read my belated thoughts on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo… There’s definitely a vibe of “we dropped the ball last year” about the film’s strong guild showing so far, especially here. It’s a shame as there has arguable been more deserving film-makers this year, those behind passionate and exacting films such as Moneyball, The Tree of Life, We Need to Talk About Kevin,Shame, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Fast Five who the guild could have shone a spotlight on, recognising excellence in their craft. At least Tate Taylor bit the bullet for The Help. Charming as it is, it’s not a director’s showcase.
Back in September though, I went out on a limb saying The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo could win Best Picture and got a load of flack for that… while that may not come to pass (it’s still just an above average procedural), it’s strong guild showing suggests I wasn’t too far too. Still get more wrong than right though…
Anyway, here’s the nominees for the DGA Award 2011:
- Michel Hazanavicius – THE ARTIST
- David Fincher – THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
- Martin Scorsese – HUGO
- Woody Allen – MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
- Alexander Payne – THE DESCENDANTS
Look for THE ARTIST to reign triumphant.
Also this week, the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) announced their nominees and they were as follows:
- THE ARTIST – Guillaume Shiffman
- THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Jeff Cronenweth
- HUGO – Robert Richardson
- TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Hoyte Van Hoytema
- THE TREE OF LIFE – Emmanuel Lubezki
I’d expect either Lubezki (deserving) or Richardson (overdue) to win here. Richardson has gone 0 for 6 so far at the ASC with 2 Oscars under his belt. The Tree of Life is clearly the favourite although the Academy at large, not knowing what Cinematography actually is, will probably just go for their favourite pretty film… in which case this award is once again The Artist’s.
For those keeping count at home, this is only TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY and THE TREE OF LIFE’s second guild mention each.
And no, no comment on the BAFTA Rising Star short list. Deserving nominees all of them, troubling list all the same.
