Directors Guild Award Nominations: Was The Wrong Director Snubbed?
Quentin Tarantino and David O. Russell were edged out of the pack in today's Directors Guild Award nominations announcement, giving way to a rather conservative quintet of Oscar hopefuls. So let the DGA backlash begin: Between Ben Affleck (Argo), Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), Tom Hooper (Les Miserables), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), which nominee should have gotten the shaft to make the DGA race even remotely interesting?
Ben Affleck & Argo: A solid pick and, before ZDT came in and stole its thunder, the crowd-pleasing (and Hollywood ego-boosting) Middle Eastern true story political potboiler of choice.
Kathryn Bigelow & Zero Dark Thirty: I mean, obviously.
Steven Spielberg & Lincoln: It's three-time DGA winner Spielberg's eleventh DGA nod. Let's face it, this was a gimme.
Ang Lee & Life of Pi: Let's think for a minute on how Quentin Tarantino was not nominated for the much better, much ballsier Django Unchained (even including David O. Russell's solid rom-com Silver Linings Playbook would have suggested the DGA had more of a pulse), but — sigh — it makes complete, safe sense that Lee's breathtaking 3-D CG work earned snaps from this guild.
Tom Hooper & Les Miserables: The bigger WTF: Tom Hooper's Tom Hooperness bamboozled the DGA. I blame Claude-Michel Schönberg's music and Anne Hathaway's tears for why the DGA nominated one of the worst directing jobs of the 2012 awards season.
What say you, Movieliners?
PREVIOUSLY IN AWARDS:
Writers Guild Awards Unveils 2013 Nominees
Oscars To Fete James Bond - Finally
Producers Guild Of America Unveils 2013 Nominees
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Comments
Sorry but I agree with the DGA. My prediction put Tarantino is place of Lee, but I'm truly glad Lee got in. Tarantino was more of the same revenge/blood splash. Good subject but not great execution. He's done much better. You may not like Hooper's method, but it was unique and did put the audience up on the stage with the characters. I loved it - not for everyone - but then everything doesn't have to be.
you've gotta be kidding agreeing that les miz deserved a nom. the movie somewhat works due to the performances. even people who LOVE the film will tell you that its biggest flaw was its direction. the overuse of shaky cam. the repetitive close-ups. HES the reason his film is getting such crappy reviews. he shouldnt be rewarded. if you wanna punish QT for using revenge once again in his film then take it out with the WGA. DGA is for directing and regardless of how you feel bout the film you can't deny its better directed than les miz
I completely agree with DGA. It very naive to say the movie is good ONLY because of the performance. The direction is unique and really pushes the performance much more intense and emotional.
unique is one way to describe it. i personally thought the direction was distracting to the performances. I mean do we really need to see up everybody's noses when they have their big solo? just my opinion but the direction was the big issue that most critics had with the film.
I was surprised by the choice of Hooper because I woluld have done it differently, but it's also surprisingly effective, the closeup makes you feel much more about the character rather than seeing the beautiful set. for this musical which is all about people's feelings, I think he made the right choice, risky, but impressively exciting.
Critics don't make film so they are not so important to listen, since 14500 directors seem to like him.
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The DGA failed to recognize Pete Travis' genuinely amazing direction of Dredd 3D, therefore, this whole award is a sham.
Love ya, Winchester.
Smiley face!
(I refuse emoticons).
I'm still not over the fact that PT Anderson (not to mention Joaquin Phoenix) continues to get snubbed everywhere. It's a shame that the problematic script has overshadowed a masterful directing effort, far more controlled and beautiful than anything else he's done (which is saying quite a bit).
Whatever keeps Harvey Weinstein from getting too spoiled.
I agree with Andrew K, The Master had great performances and direction. Why does most of the people on this board think the director has nothing to do with performances? That being said, the acting is horrible in Les Mis, the singing is flat and uncompelling, not to mention snails have better pacing than this film. I was actually surprised that Killing Them Softly wasn't nominated anywhere, really. It's not for everyone, but it seemed to be a film that someone would have been nominated that was involved.
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