Catching up with this Oscar race in 2011

Happy New Year. Wishing everyone the best in 2011!

Here we go. We are now in the home stretch of the Oscar race. The holiday release rush is over and things are getting more and more clear by the day. I have been able to see the few remaining contenders that I had yet to see: True Grit, The Fighter, and Blue Valentine.

Since we left off before the new year we had yet to see the Director's Guild of America nominees, the Producer's Guild nominees and The National Society of Film Critic Awards. Every day a new set of Guild nominations come out but I see The DGA and PGA as the most prolific in terms of their affect on the Oscar race.

DGA noms went as followed:
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Christopher Nolan, Inception

Reactions: The big shock here is the lack of the Coen Brothers for True Grit. I am not entirely surprised as the Coen Brothers have put out so many superior efforts over the past decade. I am very surprised to see David O. Russell on this list for The Fighter. The Fighter seemed to me to be a film that would be recognized for its performances and left out of the larger categories but it seems there has been a shift of support for the film. I expect Russell to be left out of the top 5 come Oscar time in favor of the Coen Brothers. Would have loved to see Debra Granik for Winter's Bone, but we can't win them all. I am also surprised to see Danny Boyle left off this list for what I feel is superior work to his DGA winning Slumdog Millionaire.

PGA Noms:


127 HOURS
Producers: Danny Boyle, Christian Colson

BLACK SWAN
Producers: Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver

INCEPTION
Producers: Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas

THE FIGHTER
Producers: David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Mark Wahlberg

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Producers: Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray

THE KING’S SPEECH
Producers: Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Producers: Dana Brunetti, Ceán Chaffin, Michael De Luca, Scott Rudin

THE TOWN
Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Graham King

TOY STORY 3
Producer: Darla K. Anderson

TRUE GRIT
Producers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin

Reactions: No major shockers here, although I am very disappointed to see Winter's Bone left out here. I consider it to be the kind of film that the PGA would want to reward. A small, indie movie whose producers worked their butts off for it to get national attention and accolades it deserves. Hopefully come Oscar, it squeezes out The Kids Are All Right. Otherwise I think these films are a good representation of the best of the year.

NSoFC
Here are the winners of the last major critics group to announce in 2010:

* Best Film:
o The Social Network

* Best Director:
o David Fincher – The Social Network

* Best Actor:
o Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network

* Best Actress:
o Giovanna Mezzogiorno – Vincere

* Best Supporting Actor:
o Geoffrey Rush – The King's Speech

* Best Supporting Actress:
o Olivia Williams – The Ghost Writer

* Best Screenplay:
o Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network

* Best Cinematography:
o Roger Deakins – True Grit

* Best Foreign Language Film:
o Carlos

* Best Film - Non-Fiction:
o Inside Job

Reactions: So it seems that The Social Network could not be beat. It swept all 4 major critic awards. I think it will be pretty tough to beat for Best Picture come Oscar day. Jesse Eisenberg has gone from potential nominee to potential spoiler for Colin Firth. I am sure Giovanna Mezzogiorno is thrilled to win this, but this doesn't help us Oscar junkies as we decipher between the head to head battle of Portman and Bening. Rush is wonderful, but the Oscar is still Bale's. Could Williams be a spoiler? I've been hearing her name a lot lately. Hmmm???


Those were the major developments over the past few weeks. The Golden Globes are Sunday and that will really kick things into high gear. Will The Social Network continue to reign or will The King's Speech knock it off it's pedastle? Who will win the laughable comedy awards? And who will win Supporting Actress? Leo, Adams, or Carter?