Well, it seems I was off by one. Could this be the first year ever that the PGA matches with Oscar 5/5? We’ll soon find out. DGA on Thursday (the real precursor to watch), as well as the BFCA Awards.
And the nominees are:
Motion Picture
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
Animated
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“WALL-E”
Documentary
“Man on Wire”
“Trouble the Water”
“Standard Operating Procedure”
Comments
45 responses to “PGA nominations announced”
Very good news for Milk and The Dark Knight after fairly mediocre precursor tallies.
Frost/Nixon now looks like a lock, with Slumdog and CCBB more entrenched than ever.
Bad news for Wall-E, but I suppose they figured the animated category was enough. I think we have our lineup.
naw, Frost/Nixon won’t make it. I think Doubt takes that spot.
yay for benjie button!
Great for TDK!
I think one of these will be snubbed, but which one? Argh! I hope it isn’t TDK, but with WALL-E syphoning off more populist votes, Doubt could userp TDK’s rightful spot in the final five (pleeeaaase God, don’t let that happen!)
Kris, you might have missed on your PGA by one, but hopefully it just confirmed your Best Pic predictions as these seem like the final 5 come Jan. 22nd.
I think Doubt will be in over F/N…
Do you really think John Patrick Shanley is going to be a DGA nominee? Because without PGA or DGA, a SAG Ensemble means as much as it did for The Birdcage, The Station Agent and 3:10 to Yuma…
They never went 5 to 5 with the oscars.
nailed it 5/5! so proud of myself. happy for ben button.
I’m starting to feel like Frost/Nixon’s chances are waning. it seems like many many people like it a lot… but who loves it? how many #1 votes is Frost/Nixon gonna pull in? at that note, how many #2’s? I think this is a film that may be on tons of ballots but around the 3, 4, and 5 spots
Yawn. Not that I expected the PGA to be very adventurous, but still.
Casey: That’s exactly what I thought about “Frost/Nixon” when I saw it — I couldn’t imagine it being anyone’s favourite. Yet it still keeps landing in every crucial lineup. I’m confused.
The DGA isn’t really going to clear anything up as animated movies are ineligible. WALL-E is going to be a mystery until the day the Oscar nominations are announced.
well are the guilds done voted on the same preferential ballots as oscar? because personally i think its a lame system. way to complicated and i dont think it necessarily reflects the overall voting.
They did match 5/5 in 92, 93, and 94.
No “Waltz With Bashir” in animated? I’m hardly the film’s biggest champion, but that looks a bit silly.
They didn’t nominate Persepolis last year.
To me, “Frost/Nixon” is clearly the “Michael Clayton” of this year. A competently-made drama that, despite not having a passionate following that pulls in #1 votes, makes the final five anyway.
In fact, doesn’t it seem like there’s one of those every year? “Michael Clayton,” “The Queen,” “Capote,” “Finding Neverland,” etc. I think “Frost/Nixon” fits perfectly in this spot, and I think it will make the top 5.
Frost/Nixon is in the position of Michael Clayton of last year.
I still think that WALL-E will make it come oscar morning. Maybe many of the PGA members wanted to put wall-e on their ballot, but didn’t due to eligibility rules, but they will for the Oscar
Yeah, as others have said, they have indeed matched up 5-5 with the Oscars before.
I agree Liz and John, Frost/Nixon is DEFINITELY the Michael Clayton of this year. It matches up perfectly with previous character-driven Oscar films that seem much more respected than loved. I think this year is curious, however, because there are two films that are ecstatically loved by people: The Dark Knight and Wall-E. Could they kick out Frost/Nixon, a film, like someone said earlier will most likely get a lot of 3, 4, and 5 spot places on their ballots? IMO-Probably not. But it will be exciting to see come Oscar announcements.
No Waltz with Bashir in the Animated category?
Just take out Button and put in WALL-E. Then you have 5 of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. Button was a mess in my opinion and people have been hot and cold on it anyway, so I would have no problem with WALL-E, or even The Wrestler or Happy-Go-Lucky, getting in over it.
And thus I hope Frost/Nixon is ousted for WALL-E, or The Wrestler, or Doubt, or Revolutionry Road, or Happy-Go-Lucky, or Rachel Getting Married, or any movie that isn’t as painstakingly average.
If the last three years are any indication (and why not?), we’re looking at this:
One of these five won’t be nominated for an Oscar. Like The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Dreamgirls and Walk the Line before it, it will be a nominee we consider to be a good bet at this point. I’m thinking Frost/Nixon or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
It will be replaced by a big, typically Oscar-baiting film we were shocked (just shocked!) didn’t make this list — just as it came a shock to us with Atonement, Letters from Iwo Jima or Munich before. So look for Doubt, and not Rachel Getting Married or The Wrestler to crash the party.
But then, this is anything but a typical Oscar season, though there is still time for boring choices to surprise us.
I don’t think anything is crashing the party. These are the five. The only other film with a real shot is “Doubt” and without a DGA berth, it’s dead in the water.
PGA missed Lost In Translation, The Hours & The Pianist? That’s weird.
And Liz don’t bracket The Queen with Michael Clayton & Frost/Nixon, its a great film unlike the other 2.
Yep I believe too that this is the final 5. Thank god atleast Milk’s in.
Great list and the Oscar 5 as well. Now like I said before Frost/Nixon is a great and entertaining film. Perhaps not as heavyweight as the rest but still very well made and most importantly nobody seems to really hate it or have a backlash against it.
I can’t imagine Frost/Nixon getting dumped for Doubt. Doubt is clearly an “Actor’s Film” and I can’t imagine it making a lot of traction as anyone’s “Favorite film” which is crucial to getting in the Best Picture scene. At any rate, Frost/Nixon won’t get snubbed at the DGA. They like Ron Howard
Also, Goldderby is reporting that Andrew Stanton isn’t eligible for the DGA.
According to awardsdaily, PGA and Oscar has matched up 5-5 in both 1993 and 1994.
Take a look:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/?p=5534#more-5534
I can’t see Doubt getting nominated. That seems to be a movie where the acting is better than the film itself.
red_wine,
Believe me, I didn’t want to give the impression that I thought those movies were not worthy. “The Queen” was my number three favorite movie of that year! “Michael Clayton,” on the other hand, was totally mediocre. I can’t speak for “Frost/Nixon,” since I haven’t seen it, but it seems to be cut from a similar cloth. I’m really looking forward to see it.
Hm, well I don’t know why IMDb has only the winners listed then. If that’s the case (it very well may be), then I certainly beg your pardon.
Frost/Nixon is totally mediocre, Liz. No two ways around it. As for “The Queen” and “Michael Clayton,” I think we agree quite a bit, though I may have liked MC a touch more than you.
Just saw Frost/Nixon today (damn the delayed film rollouts in Australia!) It is definitely a very well-produced film in every aspect (ie. direction, writing, acting). I’m not an old person at all (only 18) but I found myself liking it very much and admire the attention to detail Ron Howard invested in the film. It’s also rather sad that no one is mentioning Kevin Bacon’s excellent, understated but completely dead-on performance as Nixon’s aide/advisor. He was brilliant in a small role.
I am convinced now that it a certainty for a best picture, director, actor, and screenplay nominations and could pull in score as well (Hans Zimmer did some great work in the film). This would parallel Michael Clayton’s Oscar run (a film Frost/Nixon is being frequently compared to) last year, when its seemingly overlooked score was nominated.
I do hope for a Zimmer nod too but the field’s just too strong outside a possible TDK nod.
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Glad to hear it Jonathan (finally someone agrees with me on the score!) I don’t think it’s too much of a gamble, after all, Michael Clayton did manage an original score nomination which few saw coming. It had Best Picture clout and its Oscar trajectory seems very much in the vein of Frost/Nixon (ie. the well-made, contemporary character drama)
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