Damien Chazelle and his
La La Land directorial team took top honours from the Directors Guild of America last night, all but squashing any remaining doubt as to who this year's Academy Award Best Picture winner is going to be in three weeks.
What we can still ponder in the meantime is the extent to which it will dominate the Oscars. While many still anticipate a clean sweep, there's more than enough reason to suspect it's showing weakness in some categories. For instance, will the BAFTAs (next Sunday) and WGA Awards (the Sunday after that) imply Best Original Screenplay going to something like
Manchester by the Sea, or perhaps even
Hell or High Water? Will the two design categories go to period or fantasy efforts as they tend to do?
Even Best Cinematography has been thrown slightly into question after the American Society of Cinematographer's bestowed their top honour upon
Greig Fraser for his beautiful work
Lion, a beloved player this season that voters might feel is due a consolatory win in at least one category.
For now, there's still plenty to keep my interest up.
