This weekend everyone is a winner! So many awards. And SAG continues the trend tonight (we'll be live blogging right here). Can clapping for 30 days straight give you carpal tunnel?
Let's start with the biggie, the DGA Awards. Last year's winner Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) passed the baton, in the shape of that golden eagle plaque, to this year's winner Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist). Tom Hooper got ambitious post awards flurry as is busy on Les Miserable. Hazanavicius will chase The Artist with another film inspired by Old Hollywood. He's going to remake The Search (1948) which The Film Experience readers will know as Montgomery Clift's debut. (All we can say is good luck finding another Monty. That's an irreplaceable star in Hollywood's firmament.) Given that The Search is a post World War II drama about an American soldier and a child who survived Auschwitz, maybe Hazanavicius won't be a one hit wonder with AMPAS. Time will tell.
One of the best things about the more specific awards night like the DGA is that there is time to honor the nomineees as well, so even if you don't win, the night is still about you. Each director takes the stage to receive their plaque. Kathy Bates accepted in person for Woody Allen who never shows up at this sort of thing although he did speak via satellite this time.
Michelle Williams with James Marsh's prizeDGA PRIZES
- Director, Feature Film: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
- Director, Documentary: James Marsh, Project Nim (which was recently shut out of the Oscar nominations in its category)
- Director, MiniSeries: John Cassar, The Kennedys
- Director, Drama Series: Patty Jenkins, The Killing "Pilot"
- Director, Comedy Series: Robert B Weide, Curb Your Enthusiasm "Palestinian Chicken" (wow. people are still excited about this show? Who knew?)
- Director, Variety: Glenn Weiss, the 64th Annual Tony Awards
- Director, Reality Show: Neil P Degroot, Biggest Loser
- Director, Commercial: Noam Murro (Biscuit Filmworks)
- Director, Daytime Television: William Luel, General Hospital "Intervention"
- Director, Children's Television: Amy Schatz, A Child's Garden of Poetry
Does this mean Hazanavicius has the Oscar sewn up?
Not necessarily... More after the jump including stats and photos.
Still with me? Good.
The DGA is a great barometer of who will win the Best Director Oscar but like everything to do with the crashing competing waves of congratulatory love in awards season, you can crest at the wrong time or drown. In the past 30 years, for example, 4 DGA winners have lost at the Oscars. Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard for The Color Purple and Apollo 13 respectively (neither were nominated for the Oscar) and then Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) and Rob Marshall for Chicago (2002). So Hazanavicius is foolish to bet against but nothing is locked up. Very roughly speaking the Oscars go a different way from the DGA (in terms of winners) about once a decade. Their longest stretch of total agreement when it came to "winner!" was 1949 through 1967.
PHOTO OP!
Their royal highness, King of the DGA (i.e. "President") Taylor Hackford and his wife, The Queen herself, Dame Helen Mirren
Directors love a good supporting actress: Octavia Spencer, Bérénice Bejo and Shailene Woodley
Last Year's Rivals, Hooper & Fincher, Chatting at the DGA breakfast.
Small Screen Hotties: Deborah Ann Woll, Kathleen Robertson and Amber Heard. Honorary Member: Jennifer Aniston. Big Screen career but she'll always be "Rachel" to us.
P.S. all photos via Zimbio.
P.P.S. No time to do a DGA fashion review what with SAG coming right at us tonight (be here for the live blog), but please to note that Jennifer Aniston's trademark look, sleek gazillion dollar hair, clingy black dress (only variations allowed are silvers and greys) with a lotta lotta lotta leg is still very much with us, as consistent as the very sunshine in Los Angeles.