Coco here, ready to talk about the Art Directors Guild and their wacky nominations.
Usually we reserve the term category fraud for when lead performances are nominated in less competitive supporting categories, but the Art Directors Guild suggests we expand the definition. The Guild divides its film categories into period, fantasy, and contemporary, which makes senses. But this year's nominations suggest the division between the three categories are rather arbitrary. (The Film Experience is on the record saying that categories only matter if you follow the rules, so maybe the ADG should read this piece by our beloved Nathaniel.)
Anyway, here are the nominations:
Production Design (Period Film)
Bridge of Spies - Adam Stockhausen
Crimson Peak - Thomas Sanders
The Danish Girl - Eve Stewart
The Revenant - Jack Fisk
Trumbo - Mark Rickner
Thomas Sanders's gothic sets are gorgeous, but Crimson Peak is a movie about ghosts. The production design is not historically accurate either unless gigantic bleeding houses used to actually exist in the real world. How is this not in "fantasy"?
The question one everyone's mind has to be "Where is Carol?" Judy Becker's designs are not only richly detailed, but they're integral in a film that's all about its precise visuals. It's worth remembering, though painful: Todd Haynes previous 50s masterpiece, Far From Heaven, did not get an Art Direction nomination from this guild or from the Oscars (!!!).
Meanwhile, Trumbo continues its inexplicable love affair with awards voters.
Production Design (Fantasy Film)
Cinderella - Dante Ferretti
Jurassic World - Edward Verreaux
Mad Max: Fury Road - Colin Gibson
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Rick Carter, Darren Gilford
Tomorrowland - Scott Chambliss
Not much to complain about here, these are all fantasy nominees. Although "fantasy" seems to be synonymous with "based on another property" this year. All five of these nominees had to base their designs on pre-existing movies or theme park attractions. That's not meant as a diss (it all requires skill), but as an observation on the state of fantasy and science fiction cinema these days.
Production Design (Contemporary)
Ex Machina - Mark Digby
Joy - Judy Becker
The Martian - Arthur Max
Sicario - Patrice Vermette
Spectre - Dennis Gassner
What does "contemporary" mean? In the case of Joy, the sixties through the nineties In the case of The Martian and Ex Machina, the future? I don't know about you, but I haven't encountered many sexy robots in my daily life. And last time I checked, humanity still hadn't gone to Mars. Honestly, I'm just worried for the confusion these nomination will bring to the people who though The Martian was based on true events. Or maybe the ADG thinks the same?
Also where is Room? Nathaniel will NOT be pleased given his conversations about how brilliant its production design is.
What do you make of these nominations?
Do they make any sense to you at all?