For the first time in Oscar/DGA history (as far as I know) I’m not entirely sure beyond a reasonable doubt that the DGA has always announced before the Oscar nomination ballots are due but I know for the past ten years they certainly haven’t. In moving their dates back, the Oscar voters will be flying blind, without the harbinger of the highly influential DGA backing them. It will go like this:
Golden Globe nominations announced-December 13,2012
Oscar ballot deadline-January 3, 2013
PGA nominations announce-January 3, 2013
DGA ballot deadline-January 7, 2013
DGA nominations-January 8, 2013
Oscar nominations–January 10, 2013
Critics Choice Awards–January 10, 2013 (anticipated date, not announced)
Golden Globes ceremony–January 13, 2013
There is a tiny possibility that the DGA might alter their dates once they get a gander at this – but the way it stands now, only the PGA might have the smallest amount of influence being announced the last day Oscar voters have to turn in their ballots. But voters will not have the benefit of the five picks from the Directors Guild and that throws a kink in the works.
That puts the focus on the two major awards that take place this year prior to the Oscar nominations. Both the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice awards are set to announce their nominations in mid-December and will hold their winners around the time the Oscars are announced. That means that the Oscar nominations will likely influence who wins those awards and conversely, the nominations by these voting bodies could very well influence the Oscars — why, because the DGA and PGA are no longer a part of the equation. Kind of scary, non?
So I went back to look over the winning directors in the various groups to find out how well they matched up. It turns out that it isn’t that much of a mismatch as I thought it would be. Both groups, the Globes and the Critics Choice have taken turns matching up with Oscar, neither particularly better or worse than the other. The difference between them and the guilds is that critics aren’t industry voters. In the Critics Choice case, they are some 200 to 300 critics, some bloggers, some TV people — like Brad Brevet of Rope of Silicon, Scott Feinberg, Kris Tapley, Jeff Wells, David Poland, Anne Thompson, Clayton Davis of Awards Circuit, Ed Douglas of Coming Soon, Robert Osbourne of TCM — it’s a hodge-podge- and the Globes are 90 or so foreign journalists. In addition to these two groups there are the reagional and metropolitan critics groups — like Los Angeles and New York Film critics, the Southeastern Film Critics, the Boston Film Critics, the Online Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Online and on and it goes. Many are crossover members in many different groups and all they do is vote on these awards and then go write about the awards they just voted on. This is the main reason I have never joined the BFCA (despite the alluring notion of free screeners). It always seemed to me a weird thing, to belong to that group and then write about that group. But others don’t seem to have a problem with it and in fact, wear their honor proudly.
At any rate, looking at the major critics wins could help determine a strong contender, especially if they align. But predicting the DGA nominees and the Oscar nominees for Directing and Best Picture is going to be harder than it has ever been. The inclination is going to be to follow the Globes or the BFCA or both. But history tells us that you can’t rely on them 100%. Still, how much will that change now that the DGA are out of the loop?
In fact, the elimination of DGA influence might derail some films that were headed for the Oscars. The Oscars themselves will then derail some — like Dreamgirls, for instance. What I find interesting in looking back is that I can see a direct influence by some of the bloggers in support of early contenders, boosted particularly by the BFCAs — like Sweeney Todd or In America. Then favor for those films dropped off once they failed to get a DGA nod. But we will have no such derailment this year and will now have to rely on instinct to predict.
Right now, some directors are already popping. How or if they will last will depend on how the race goes. But to my mind, it’s shaping up so far like this.
Frontrunners
1. Ben Affleck, Argo
2. Ang Lee, Life of Pi
3. Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
4. Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
5. David O. Russell, The Silver Linings Playbook
Second tier:
Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises
Ben Lewin, The Sessions
Michael Haneke, Amour
Still Sight Unseen:
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Peter Jackson, The Hobbit
Tom Hooper, Les Miserables
Bob Zemeckis, Flight
Gus Van Sant, The Promised Land
But the longer a movie must wait to be seen, the harder it will be to gather enough buzz to turn the Titanic away from the iceberg. The longer they wait, the more inevitable it will be that the ship keeps heading in the direction its headed in. Remember the rule about an object in motion staying in motion. These movies should be seen as early as possible so they can get their place in line.
The History
*film nominated/+ won Best Picture at the Oscars
+won
2011
Globes | BFCA | DGA | OSCAR
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist | Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist+ | Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist+ | Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist+ |
Martin Scorsese, Hugo+ | Martin Scorsese, Hugo* | Martin Scorsese, Hugo | Martin Scorsese, Hugo* |
Alexander Payne, The Descendants | Alexander Payne, The Descendants* | Alexander Payne, The Descendants | Alexander Payne, The Descendants* |
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris | Spielberg, War Horse* | Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris | Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris* |
George Clooney, Ides of March | Daldry, Loud and Close* | David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Terrence Malick, Tree of Life* |
Refn, Drive |
2010
Globes | BFCA | DGA | OSCAR
Tom Hooper The King’s Speech | Tom Hooper the King’s Speech | Tom Hooper The King’s Speech+ | Tom Hooper the King’s Speech+ |
David Fincher, Social Network+ | David Fincher, Social Network+ | David Fincher, Social Network | David Fincher, Social Network* |
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan | Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan* | Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan | Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan* |
David O’Russell, The Fighter | Danny Boyle 127 Hours | David O’Russell, The Fighter | David O’Russell, The Fighter* |
Joel & Ethan Coen True Grit | The Coens, True Grit* | ||
Christopher Nolan, Inception* | Christopher Nolan, Inception* | Christopher Nolan, Inception* |
2009
Globes | BFCA | DGA | OSCAR
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker | Bigelow, Hurt Locker+ | Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker | Bigelow, Hurt Locker+ |
Clint Eastwood, Invictus | Lee Daniels, Precious* | Lee Daniels, Precious | Lee Daniels, Precious* |
Eastwood, Invictus | |||
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air | Jason Reitman, Up in the Air* | Jason Reitman, Up in the Air | Jason Reitman, Up in the Air* |
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds | Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds* | Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds | Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds* |
Jim Cameron, Avatar | Jim Cameron, Avatar* | Jim Cameron, Avatar | Jim Cameron, Avatar* |
2008
Globes | BFCA | DGA | OSCAR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog | Danny Boyle, Slumdog+ | Danny Boyle, Slumdog+ | Danny Boyle, Slumdog+ |
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon | Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon* | Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon | Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon* |
Sam Mendes, Rev Road | Gus Van Sant, Milk* | Gus Van Sant, Milk | Gus Van Sant, Milk* |
David Fincher, Benjamin Button | David Fincher, Benjamin Button | David Fincher, Benjamin Button | David Fincher, Benjamin Button* |
Stephen Daldry, The Reader* | Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight | Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight | Stephen Daldry, The Reader* |
2007
Globes | BFCA | DGA | OSCAR
Joel and Ethan Coen,
No Country |
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country | Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country | Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country+ |
Ridley Scott, Am Gangster | Sean Penn, Into the Wild | Sean Penn, Into the Wild | Jason Reitman, Juno* |
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly |
Joe Wright, Atonement | Joe Wright, Atonement* | Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton | Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton* |
Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd | Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd | Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood | Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood* |
2006
Globes | BFCA | DGA | OSCAR
Stephen Frears, The Queen | Stephen Frears, The Queen | Stephen Frears, The Queen | Stephen Frears, The Queen* |
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel | Bill Condon, Dreamgirls | Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel | Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel* |
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima | Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima | Bill Condon, Dreamgirls | Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima* |
Clint Eastwood, Flags of our Fathers | Paul Greengrass, United 93 | Faris and Dayton, Little Miss Sunshine* | Paul Greengrass, United 93 |
Martin Scorsese, The Departed | Martin Scorsese, The Departed | Martin Scorsese, The Departed | Martin Scorsese, The Departed+ |
2005
Globes | BFCA | DGA | OSCAR
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain | Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain | Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain | Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain* |
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck | George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck | George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck | George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck* |
Woody Allen, Match Point | Paul Haggis, Crash+ | Paul Haggis, Crash | Paul Haggis, Crash+ |
Fernando Meirelles, Constant Gardener | |||
Peter Jackson, King Kong | Ron Howard, Cinderella Man | Bennett Miller, Capote | Bennett Miller, Capote* |
Steven Spielberg, Munich | Steven Spielberg, Munich * | Steven Spielberg, Munich | Steven Spielberg, Munich * |
2004
Globes | BFCA | DGA | OSCAR
Alexander Payne for Sideways | Alexander Payne for Sideways | Alexander Payne for Sideways | Alexander Payne for Sideways* |
Martin Scorsese for The Aviator | Martin Scorsese for The Aviator | Martin Scorsese for The Aviator | Martin Scorsese for The Aviator* |
Mike Nichols, Closer | Taylor Hackford for Ray | Taylor Hackford for Ray | Taylor Hackford for Ray* |
Marc Forster for Finding Neverland | Marc Forster for Finding Neverland | Marc Forster for Finding Neverland* | Mike Leigh for Vera Drake |
Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby | Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby | Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby | Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby+ |
2003
Globes | BFCA | DGA | OSCAR
Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation | Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation | Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation | Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation* |
Clint Eastwood, Mystic River | Clint Eastwood, Mystic River | Clint Eastwood, Mystic River | Clint Eastwood, Mystic River* |
Peter Jackson, ROTK | Peter Jackson, ROTK | Peter Jackson, ROTK | Peter Jackson, ROTK+ |
Peter Weir, Master and Commander | Tim Burton, Big Fish | Peter Weir, Master and Commander | Peter Weir, Master and Commander* |
Anthony Minghella, Cold Mountain | Jim Sheridan, In America | Gary Ross, Seabiscuit* | Fernando Merielles, City of God |
2002
Globes | DGA | OSCAR
Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York* | Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York | Martin Scorsese, GONY* |
Peter Jackson, LOTR Two Towers | Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings Two Towers* | Pedro Almodovar, Talk to her |
Alexander Payne, About Schmidt | Roman Polanski, The Pianist | Roman Polanski, The Pianist* |
Spike Jonze, Adaptation | ||
Rob Marshall, Chicago | Rob Marshall, Chicago | Rob Marshall, Chicago+ |
Steven Daldry, The Hours* | Steven Daldry, The Hours | Steven Daldry, The Hours* |
2001
Globes | DGA | OSCAR
Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind | Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind | Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind+ |
Peter Jackson, LOTR | Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings | Peter Jackson, LOTR* |
Robert Altman, Gosford Park* | Christopher Nolan, Memento | Robert Altman, Gosford Park* |
Steven Spielberg, AI | Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down | Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down |
David Lynch, Mulholland Drive | David Lynch, Mulholland Drive | |
Baz Luhrmann, Moulin Rouge | Baz Luhrmann, Moulin Rouge* |
To answer the question posed above ^ about “Beasts”, I can reference to things
a) SAGs refusal to even CONSIDER its’ actors because there was no SAG contract observed for them. That does NOT help Q and Dwight.
b) take a listen to the astute Anne Thompson of Indiewire and her discussion of just this on this week’s OSCAR TALK podcast with HitFix’s Kris Tapley. She really goes over all the reasons, and they are many, sadly. Obstacles that “Beasts” has to overcome with the Academy’s perception of it being just too small and too Indie a film for them to notice.
But Anne and Kris, too, do think that Q, as I said, has the best shot.
THE SAFER BETS:
1. Paul Thomas Anderson
2. Ben Affleck
3. Ang Lee
4. David O Russell
BUBBLE LINE:
Christopher Nolan- the DGA loves him
Kathryn Bigelow
Steven Spielberg-has always had a love/hate with DGA wins for Color Purple isn’t even nominated for Oscar etc
Tom Hooper- I think Les Mis will win Best Picture though
Wes Anderson- never rewarded for his direction
LONGER SHOTS:
Michael Haneke
Behn Zeitlin
Joss Whedon- think about it for a second. I know for a fact Avengers will not get nominated for any big prize, but would be a nice honor for the director who balanced 4 different super heroes and delivered the 3rd biggest film ever
Quentin Tarantino
MY DGA PREDICTIONS:
1. Paul Thomas Anderson
2. Ben Affleck
3. Ang Lee
4. David O Russell
5. Kathryn Bigelow
OSCAR PREDICTIONS:
1. Paul Thomas Anderson- a Director/picture split
2. Ben Affleck
3. Ang Leee
4. Steven Spielberg
5. Tom Hooper
If the Guild nominations won’t be announced in time to influence Oscar-voters AND the Golden Globe/Critics Choice nominations WILL, I think we should take into consideration that these two organizations tend to prefer ‘Oscar-movies’, even if these don’t turn out as well as they should have based on pedigree. This could help ‘Les Miserables’, ‘Anna Karenina’ etc.
We all know the HFPA nominates every existing musical whether it’s well-received (Hairspray, Chicago etc.) or not(Burlesque, Across the Universe, Mamma Mia!, Nine) and that could affect ‘Les Miserables’ even more so than we thought : the HFPA will announce their bunch of ‘Les Miserables’ nominations on December 13, THEN the film still has almost two weeks until its release and more importantly its official critical consensus (December 25) and it could spend those two voting-wise crucial weeks with the image as ‘the film with all those GG-nods’ even if when it’s released, it is trashed by critics (at this point, unlikely) and since there is only ONE extra week between the release date and the Academy deadline (January 3) it might get enough votes to be in main categories long before the critics have spoken. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
“For the first time in Oscar/DGA history (as far as I know) I’m not entirely sure beyond a reasonable doubt that the DGA has always announced before the Oscar nomination ballots are due but I know for the past ten years they certainly haven’t.”
–Er… what? Think we’re missing some punctuation, or have an extra clause, in there somewhere.
Spielberg, hooper, and affleck are locked, assuming the films live up to 75% of expectations.
Russell is close to locked. Possible derailment but unlikely.
That means a bloodbath for the 5th position unlike any we saw in any of the spreadsheeted years here. I wouldn’t call it now, let’s wait to see which film has the most approval of audiences and critics by new years day. I’m sensing it needs to be a director who had to do 2x as much as an average director – like Jackson, Lee, Bigelow, or Nolan. But who knows.
And to add: I think it should not be a problem, because it’s merely a nod to the series we hear in this song. I will definitely see this as an original song. But we’ll soon see what the branch will think.
It’s surely one of the better Bond themes after 3 or 4 quite bad ones. Very Shirley Bassey-like and that is what sounds like Bond the most. Unfortunately there is a possibility that it may be disqualified due to using pre-existing theme. If it’s not a problem, it could win even. Adele is popular, but then again so was Paul McCartney. The other two previous Bond nominees were among the best songs too.
Having said that, I still don’t care much about Original Song category. I just like the song.
She should. The song will likely play over the open and it is an original song written for the movie. I’d say it’s a shoe in. And it will be her too since she and one other person are the credited writers. I’d love to see Adele with an Oscar.
Does Adele have a shot at Best Song?
Both the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice awards are set to announce their nominations in mid-December and will hold their winners around the time the Oscars are announced. That means that the Oscar nominations will likely influence who wins those awards and conversely, the nominations by these voting bodies could very well influence the Oscars — why, because the DGA and PGA are no longer a part of the equation. Kind of scary, non?
The Oscar nominations come out on Jan 10, GG ceremony is Jan 13. How can Oscar nominations affect that? When are GG votes due? Surely before Jan 10 yeah?
“And its already lost what little steam it did have.”
How do you know?
This is going to be a VERY unusual year. It already is. I like it. Something new under the sun to shake up The Race. But what this does do for SURE is to make the Nabobs at the NYFCC, the LA Film Critics, and the National Board of Review, especially. Well, hell, even the Gurus o’Gold MUCH MORE influential than they EVER were before.
For instance, if the critics groups fall in love with Emmanuelle Riva’s towering performance in “Amour” she could VERY WELL be nominated, as well as Marion Cotillard for “Rust and Bone” whom everyone thinks is a given.
“Amour” has a better chance of breaking through of the smaller films than “Beasts” I’m sorry to say, love it though I did. I’m referencing Pete Hammond here who said the Academy screening did not go well in L.A. Hmmmm…
I don’t see Benh Zeitlin pushing through, though little Qu’venzhane Wallis just might be the sole nominee for the entire film. Enthusiasm has not flagged around HER.
Last year, if you remember, the New York Film Critics’ were roundly criticized(yes, Critics CAN BE Criticized, too!) for jumping the shark and going so early they didn’t even see ELAIC, for one. And they gave their award to “The Artist” which turned out to be fantastically predictive.
Or conversely, if “Beasts” wins one of these major critics awards, it’s REALLY back in the game! Just having FINALLY seen “The Master” I was thoroughly underwhelmed. My take-away? It’s a big gay movie about the closet of the 1950’s. If only it were MORE so. The movie ITSELF is in the closet. I don’t see the Academy going for it.
Nominations for Joaquim and PSH, but not necessarily for Amy Adams, and if it gets nominated for Best Picture, it’ll be a miracle.
I saw in it a theater that had barely a dozen movie goers in it. Most of them, gay, by the way.
Ben Zeitlin will not get a Best Director nomination. And the film wont get nominated for BP! Its not strong enough. It didnt make an impact like last years early film Tree of Life, and its already lost what little steam it did have.
im changing my name to just “Jake” now.
Django Unchained
(overheard at the home)
“omigod, how’m I gonna get names? I don’t go out to da shows anymore.”
“whadya mean – you see them here on the TV”
“Yeah, but the screen’s so small, I can’t see who the director is”
“what the fuck is a director?”
I think the early critics awards will be more influential this year. In the past they’ve not been as influential just because so many events happened between the NBR, NYFC and LAFC announcements that they’ve lost any predictive power.
Now I don’t have the dates those groups will announce this year, but they are usually the first ten days of December. And with Oscar noms starting on the 17th there won’t be a lot of time to sample too many of the late entries. I bet most voters will only get a shot to choose one or two. And they will probably choose the ones (if any) that nab those awards.
Also Tarantino for Django
A.I Oscar snub still hurts.