The Artist wins DGA

It should come as a surprise to precisely no one that Michel Hazanavicius all but officially confirmed The Artist's stranglehold on the Best Picture Oscar with a victory from the Directors Guild of America last night, despite being up against four more recognizable names. It's not incredibly dissimilar to last year's event which indicated The King's Speech as the film to beat when newcomer Tom Hooper triumphed over four much more established directors, only this year it's been apparent from the outset of the awards season that The Artist was "the one".

As for Documentary, James Marsh received a consolatory prize after Project Nim was shockingly snubbed by the Academy. Glad to see him walk away from the season with something substantial, but that should totally have been Steve James'.

My Awards nominations: Documentary

Inevitably, I never get out to as many documentaries a year as I would like. I usually only see five or six a year, so a nomination from me isn't always an indication of how good I think a doc is (last year's atypically rich crop being the exception). So if I catch other docs later on that I really dig, I'll retroactively amend this slate of nominees Best Documentary accordingly.

Buck (Cindy Meehl):

A nicely shot biography of an inherently likable character; the warm and humane Buck Brannaman, the expert horseman who inspired The Horse Whisperer. His way with the animals is fascinating to observe.

Hell and Back Again (Danfung Dennis):

Given it's thematic similarities to The Hurt Locker or Restrepo, it would be dangerously easy for viewers to dismiss this topic as old hat, but Hell and Back Again possesses an equally potent emotional gut punch, not to mention an artistic quality that previous Iraq war films have not.

If a Tree Falls (Marshall Curry):

A very interesting account of how peaceful environmental protest degenerated into destructive acts of so-called eco-terrorism. The film is carefully objective, simply presenting the situation and the players to the audience, allowing us to make our own judgements on the many debatable grey areas.

The Interrupters (Steve James):

A gripping but upsetting time-capsule version of Chicago at its most horrifying. We actually witness conflicts unfold in front of the camera. At the same time, his film is an inspiration, replenishing our hope with his tactful exposition of the interrupters' own redemptive backstories.

Project Nim (James Marsh):
The film avoids ever feeling too clinical or obsessed with the science of the situation. Rather, Marsh bubbles the emotions to the surface of this sobering tale; Not only Nim's emotions, but those of his human teachers and caregivers.

Just missed: Senna

DGA doc nominees

DGA Documentary nominees
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

If you ask me, Steve James deserves this hands down, but will the fact that his film was rudely excluded from the Oscar shortlist influence voters to go with someone else?