Link(s) of the week:
When an Oscar race seems all but sewn up for a film you aren’t necessarily rooting for, there comes a time where you must accept it, make peace with it, and move forward with your predictions. That’s exactly what The Film Experience’s Nathaniel Rogers did this week following Argo’s win at the DGA.
Read more on Around the Circuit: February 2nd – February 8th…
Categories: Around the Circuit Tags: AMPAS, Art Directors Guild, DGA, Directors Guild of America, Disney's Star Wars, House of Cards, oscar predictions, Oscars, Star Wars, VES Awards, Visual Effects Society, Visual Effects Society awards
 It looks like it’s really happening. Ben Affleck took home the Directors Guild of America last night for his work on Argo. With Argo taking the DGA, PGA, SAG, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice, it’s the most rewarded film of the year.
Some other cool, and probably overlooked winners. Lena Dunham won her first DGA for directing the “Pilot” for HBO’s hit-show “Girls.” Her and that show is a non-stopping machine at this point and could upset and break the streak of “Modern Family” at next year’s Emmy Awards.
Rian Johnson, writer of Looper (2012) won his first DGA for directing an episode of “Breaking Bad” along with Oscar-nominated director Alejandro Gonzalez Inaritu for directing two hit commercials.
Read the Full Press Release down below along with other winners: Read more on Ben Affleck takes the Directors Guild of America…
 They are starting around 8 p.m. Pacific Time. Have a theory about who is going to win? Put it down in the comment section.
I’m calling Ben Affleck with Steven Spielberg as the spoiler. Read more on Directors Guild of America Winners – To Be Announced…
 The Directors Guild of America will be announcing their winners later today. The big question is Ben Affleck and Argo making the uphill climb to win Best Picture on Oscar night. While, I’m not totally convinced yet, I do believe it is very much in the running with Lincoln.
A lot of money has been put behind Lincoln’s campaign and it is the type of film that usually gains voters attention à la The King’s Speech and Shakespeare in Love. The period piece with an outstanding performance by one of the greatest living actors is sure to pull some votes. If Argo is winning Best Picture though, who is winning Best Director?
Speculation exists that Spielberg could be winning in a walk but I think if Spielberg is winning Director, Picture should come without question. If Lincoln is in fact, losing Best Picture, I’d expect someone like Ang Lee or even more surprising, Michael Haneke or David O. Russell to pull it off.
The DGA will prove Argo’s power. We’ll be talking in-depth analysis on Sunday’s Power Hour, so make sure you stand by for that.
My predictions are down below: Read more on Directors Guild of America Predictions – Is ‘Argo’ on Top?…
 I was speaking with some of my writers recently about who and what could be winning Best Picture and the subject came up about Argo. With Argo winning Best Picture and Director at the Critics Choice Movie Awards and Golden Globes, Ben Affleck’s film is in a position to make unprecedented history and I’m not just talking about being the first film to win without a Director nomination since Driving Miss Daisy (1989).
When it comes to the Producers Guild of America, this is when you can really start talking up the Daisy example. Critics and Oscar-lovers love to cite the missing Director fact but not many remember that Driving Miss Daisy was the first film to win the Producers Guild of America award in 1990. The group didn’t choose nominees for the first three years of its inception but the light-hearted comedy managed to best Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July, Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, and Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot. Granted, the film was announced as the winner after the actual Oscar ceremony, three days to be exact, so this is a unique circumstance to say the least.
Read more on The Unprecedented Nature of ‘Argo’…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Argo, Ben Affleck, Best Director, DGA, Directors Guild of America, oscar predictions, PGA, Producers Guild of America, SAG, Screen Actors Guild
 Below are some of the reactions from our nominated directors from the guild earlier today.
“I am proud and humbled to be receiving this nomination from my guild. It means so much to be recognized by my peers and I am truly grateful for this honor. Life of Pi was a true collaboration that involved gifted artists both in front of and behind the camera. I share this nomination with every person that I had the good fortune to work with on this film.”
-Ang Lee, Life of Pi
“The privilege of making LINCOLN, combined with this absolutely tremendous recognition from my peers, is humbling. I thank everyone for including me on this short list of extremely unique and gifted filmmakers.”
-Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Read more on Directors Guild Nominees Reactions…
The nominees are:
- Ben Affleck – Argo
- Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty
- Tom Hooper – Les Miserables
- Ang Lee – Life of Pi
- Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
Read the Full Press Release Down Below:
Read more on DGA Nominees Announced!…
 The Directors Guild of America will be announcing their nominees tomorrow. I’m including my predictions down below. Last year, the wrench thrown in the works was David Fincher for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Perhaps we get another curveball tomorrow but I’m anticipating we’re going get answers we already knew like the top five films are firmly in there give or take an Ang Lee.
I think on a mass level (at least directorial), the guild may not warm up to Tom Hooper along with Paul Thomas Anderson. David O. Russell would likely receive the biggest boost from the guild since he seems extremely vulnerable for a Director’s bid. If you listened to the podcast earlier, I expressed my feeling about the possibility of Benh Zeitlin having an opportunity to pop up since his stamp of the film was in many way, the poster board for DIY for future directors. I guess we’ll see.
Read more on Directors Guild of America Predictions…
On Saturday, February 2, 2013, the Directors Guild of America will present their 65th annual awards for achievements in feature film, television, commercials, and documentaries. They have once again appointed Frasier star Kelsey Grammer the task of hosting the ceremony (he had the job last year as well). Have a look at the official press release after the jump.
Read more on Kelsey Grammer to Host the 65th Annual DGA Awards…
The next big film festival of the year has started in the Big Apple ladies and gents, and I’m proud to be covering it for The Awards Circuit alongside our fearless leader Clayton. The high-profile titles begin screening next week, but there’s already things being shown at P & I (Press and Industry) screenings with the On the Arts and Cinema Reflected sidebars. Thursday had On The Arts sidebar films “The Savoy King: Chick Webb & The Music That Changed America,” “Ingrid Caven: Voice And Music,” as well as “Becoming Traviata.” Friday focused on the Cinema Reflected sidebar with “The War Of The Volcanoes,” “The Rolling Stones: Charlie Is My Darling,” and “Casting By,” a documentary about the unheralded work of the casting director on films. It was followed by a press conference by director Tom Donahue. Read more on NYFF: The 50th New York Film Festival gets underway!…
Categories: Article Tags: casting, Casting By, casting director, Casting directors, Charlie Is My Darling, Chick Webb & The Music, Cinema Reflected, Directors Guild of America, documentary, Entertainment, Entertainment/Culture, Ingrid Caven, joey's articles, Lynn Stalmaster, Marion Dougherty, New York City, New York Film Festival, New York Film Festival diaries, Oscar, Side by Side, Tom Donahue, Voice And Music
Sean Penn in “This Must Be the Place”
Is there any question left that Sean Penn is the finest actor of his generation? Can there be any further doubt that Penn stands alongside Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, early Al Pacino and early Robert de Niro as one of the screens greatest actors? Read more on Why is Nobody Talking About Sean Penn?…
Categories: Article Tags: Clint Eastwood, Directors Guild of America, Dustin Hoffman, Gus Van Sant, I Am Sam, In the Valley of Elah, Into the Wild, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, mystic river, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Allen
 As described in the superb nd telling book, The Men Who Would Be King the excellent story of Dreamworks and the inner power struggles, the studio brought American Beauty (1999) to the festival with little or no hope for the film. It seemed destined for a straight to DVD release, despite the casting of Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. Only Steven Spielberg believed in the film and admired what director Sam Mendes had created, and to appease Spielberg it was agreed to screen the film in Toronto. The truth might have been that they had no clue how to market the film.
Minutes after the first press screening, the film was the hottest movie of the festival, and there was no more discussion about a straight to DVD release. You could feel the buzz growing as the film unfolded, and by the end, in the hallways of the theaters, everyone who had been in the screening was talking Beauty. I mean everyone. Read more on TIFF Golden Moments Part 3…
Categories: Article Tags: Allison Janney, American film directors, Annette Bening, Chris Cooper, Denzel Washington, Directors Guild of America, Dreamworks, Entertainment/Culture, Fight Club, Films, Kevin Spacey, Mena Suvari, Oscar, Sam Mendes, Shakespeare in Love, Steven Spielberg, The Academy Awards, The Cider House Rules, The Hurricane, Toronto International Film Festival, Wes Bentley
 If you still weren’t willing to call the Oscar for “The Artist,” you should now. Not sure if this will necessarily translate to an automatic Directing win for the French director but the film is signed, sealed, and delivered for Oscar gold. Here’s the press release:
Read more on Michel Hazanavicius wins DGA Award!…
Categories: News, Precursors Tags: Alexander Payne, Best Director, David Fincher, DGA, Directors Guild of America, Hugo, Martin Scorsese, Michel Hazanavicius, Midnight in Paris, news, Precursors, the artist, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo, Woody Allen
 The Nominees Are:
Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist”
Alexander Payne – “The Descendants”
David Fincher – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Martin Scorsese – “Hugo”
Woody Allen – “Midnight in Paris”
Prediction: Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist”
Alternate: Martin Scorsese for “Hugo”
Read more on Directors Guild of America Predictions…
Categories: News Tags: Alexander Payne, David Fincher, Directors Guild of America, Hugo, Martin Scorsese, Michel Hazanavicius, Midnight in Paris, news, Precursors, the artist, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo, Woody Allen
 JOE BERLINGER & BRUCE SINOFSKY
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
STEVE JAMES
The Interrupters
JAMES MARSH
Project Nim
RICHARD PRESS
Bill Cunningham New York
MARTIN SCORSESE
George Harrison: Living in the Material World Read more on Directors Guild of America Documentary Nominees!…
 The exclusion of Steven Spielberg and War Horse from the DGA race is a big deal indeed. Big enough to impact the entire Oscar race.
It stands to change entire fabric of the current race right down to Best Picture. A nomination for Spielberg as Best Director could have easily become a win and at that moment War Horse becomes the favorite for Best Picture. No more. While I admit I am shocked that Spielberg was ignored, especially by a guild that has made him the single most nominated and winning director in their history, let’s not forget they did not nominate him either A.I. – Artificial Intelligence (2001) or Minority Report (2002). War Horse was a different matter however, because he seemed to be a lock. An absolute lock.
I suppose on one hand it sends out the message that no one is a lock.
The nominees held a couple of major surprises, but more for who is not there than for who is. I fully expected Spielberg to be there, along with Allen, Payne and Scorsese, but admit that I did not see David Fincher in the running at all. Does this mean The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a potential Best Picture nominee? Maybe. Maybe not. Does it mean the DGA feel they owe Fincher for the debacle of last year when he lost for The Social Network (2010) to Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech (2010)??
Does Spielberg’s exclusion mean he’s out of the Oscar race??
Read more on A Word About Spielberg’s DGA Snub…
David Fincher – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
No SPIELBERG! Holy crap.
Read more on DGA Nominations…
Probably the most important precursor of them all, the Directors Guild of America announces their nominees tomorrow. With the field of Best Picture anywhere between five and ten, the names called tomorrow morning will be essential to making the final cut in both Motion Picture and Director. Last year, the group chose Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David Fincher (The Social Network), David O. Russell (The Fighter), Christopher Nolan (Inception), and eventual DGA and Oscar Winner for Director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech). Four out of the five men were nominated with Christopher Nolan, yet again, missing out at a nomination. Will this year be more telling?
Read more on Directors Guild of America Preview & Predictions…
Categories: Article, Editor Tags: Article, Directors Guild of America, Editor, Hugo, Martin Scorsese, Michel Hazanavicius, Midnight in Paris, predictions, Steven Spielberg, Tate Taylor, the artist, The Help, war horse, Woody Allen
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