So we've already established that The Artist is going to pretty much dominate next month's Academy Awards -- a certainty that we've seen reflected in the behavior of certain awards-season foes who've taken aim at the silent film's ubiquitous wonder dog Uggie. Christopher Plummer led the offensive last week on behalf of his Beginners co-star (and Uggie's fellow Jack Russell terrier) Cosmo, joined over the weekend by an unlikely ally hoping to raise another dog's profile as we sleepwalk toward Oscar.
Martin Scorsese -- yes, the Martin Scorsese, master filmmaker and current Best Director nominee for Hugo -- put his name on a cheeky L.A. Times op-ed asking viewers, voters and especially the organizers of the inaugural Golden Collar Awards to consider his film's fierce Doberman, Blackie. It's all kind of priceless:
OK, let's lay all our cards on the table. Jack Russell terriers are small and cute. Dobermans are enormous and — handsome. More tellingly, Uggie plays a nice little mascot who does tricks and saves his master's life in one of the films, while Blackie gives an uncompromising performance as a ferocious guard dog who terrorizes children. I'm sure you can see what I'm driving at. [...]
I'm proud of Blackie, who laid it on the line and dared to risk the sympathy of her audience. Let's just say that on the set, she had a fitting nickname: Citizen Canine. The bath scene alone is a masterpiece of underplaying, with Blackie's wonderfully aquiline face accentuated by the 3-D.
Ohhhh, boy. You really need to read the whole thing, for both a refreshing glimpse at Scorsese's sense of humor and a bracing example of how dogs -- dogs! -- have politicized this year's awards race. Dog News Daily has agreed to add Blackie to its Golden Collar nominees if she receives 500 write-in endorsements today on Facebook. I mean, come on. Blackie is fantastic and all, but Uggie's 10,000 fans on Facebook say all anyone needs to know about the year's most formidable four-legged awards contender.
Oh, right: Did I mention that Movieline's Consider Uggie campaign has eclipsed 10,000 supporters worldwide since its launch two months ago? It's true! With a little less than 30 days remaining before the Academy Awards, we're on pace for around 15,000 Uggieheads by the big night. I'd hoped for something a little closer to 20,000, so if you haven't yet joined up, please consider heading over to Consider Uggie HQ and giving our boy a little boost. Tell your friends on Twitter to #ConsiderUggie as well, and continue keeping track of everything he's up to via Facebook and/or Uggie's own Twitter page (@Uggie_TheArtist).
Or as always, keep on eye on Movieline for all your Consider Uggie news and to learn about the next great director to fire across Uggie's bow. Go ahead, Terrence Malick, I dare you.
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