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

WGA nominees announced

We have to remember not to put too much stock into these nominees. Many screenplays in the hunt for Oscar recognition were not signatories of the WGA, thus were not eligible. Anyway, here they are:

Original Screenplay
50/50
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris Being the only viable Best Picture contender, I imagine this is the winner
Win Win
Young Adult

Obviously, The Artist, which was ineligible, is likely to replace one of these on the Oscar ballot. I say Bridesmaids is the weak link. The Academy and I may not always agree but they usually try to keep it classy. However, Young Adult may be a bit too acerbic and sour to win them over, but if any branch is willing to give Diablo her fair shake, it's the writers.

Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants Here's your winner... (sigh)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Moneyball

The Adapted Screenplay situation looks fairly close to my predicted Oscar five. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy wasn't eligible, but I'd expect the Academy to prefer it to Dragon Tattoo. War Horse never was a writer's showcase, so it's still strong for a Best Picture nomination. But for the win? I don't know. A Screenplay nomination is uber important.

Documentary Screenplay
Better This World
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Nostalgia for the Light
Pina
Position Among the Stars
Senna Winner?

Disappointing that Project Nim didn't show up here. I thought it was quite well written. At any rate, Pina and If a Tree Falls are the only two nominees on the documentary branch's shortlist, and I seriously doubt Pina's chances anyway, so this doesn't help us much in predicting Best Documentary.

Documentary Feature finalists

The Academy's documentary branch has revealed their 15 finalists for next year's Best Documentary Feature award, and as always, they have made some perplexing snubs. Critically praised favourites like Into the Abyss, The Interrupters, and Senna (on which I was much cooler than its many fans) were left off. Notable inclusions are the German dance documentary Pina (also Germany's Foreign Language Film submission) and James Marsh's Project Nim, the latter of which is a likely nominee, and - given the omission of much of its stiffest competition - a possible frontrunner for the win.

The full list after the cut.

Review - Project Nim

Project Nim, from Man on Wire's Oscar-winning director James Marsh, tells the harrowing life story of a chimp named Nim who, back in the 70s, was separated from his mother at birth so that he could be taught sign language. The film avoids ever feeling too clinical or obsessed with the science of the situation (which is more than can be said for some of the people involved in Nim's tale). Rather, Marsh makes a point of bubbling the emotions to the surface of this sobering tale; Not only Nim's emotions, as they are perceived by the human teachers and caregivers who surrounded him for years, but their emotions as well, if not more so. While there are strategically manipulative moments of optimism and joy to be had, it's ultimately an appalling and very sad saga that raises serious questions about what standards should exist for the humane treatment of animals, and also the dangers that working so closely with animals pose to people. It would make a fascinating double feature with this summer's Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

*** out of ****