• “The King’s Speech” continued its cruise through phase two of the season with a widely unexpected Directors’ Guild victory…
• … and scooped top honors at a surprise-free Screen Actors’ Guild Awards ceremony.
• Following this brace of wins, this week’s Off the Carpet column said what we were all thinking: the race is over.
• Meanwhile, in his Long Shot column, Guy concluded that the royal biopic was likely the film to beat all along.
• Carolyn Giardina floats the possibility of “How to Train Your Dragon” beating “Toy Story 3” for Best Animated Feature with nothing but those (not unexpected) Visual Effects Society wins to justify it. [The Race]
• James Cameron thinks Christopher Nolan should have been nominated for Best Director this year. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Steve Pond explains the voting procedure of the five categories not on the ballots that went out yesterday. [The Odds]
Four for “Inception,” three for “How to Train Your Dragon” (which beat out “Toy Story 3” every step of the way). “Hereafter,” meanwhile, took the supporting effects award.
Key quote from Christopher Nolan, who received the inaugural Visionary Award:
I know visual effects people pride themselves on doing the impossible. I’d just like to encourage you to say “no” to the unreasonable.
(Courtesy: David Cohen)
Check out the full list of winners at The Circuit.
[Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures]
Just a note, a few goings-on at The Circuit. First up, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists have gone with “The Social Network” as the year’s best. The North Texas Film Critics Association (Dallas-Fort Worth wasn’t good enough?) opted for “Inception.” Speaking of which, Christopher Nolan’s film predictably dominated the Visual Effects Society’s list of nominees.
Christopher Nolan keeps racking up the kudos along the circuit. Here’s the latest, from the press release, in part:
The Visual Effects Society will honor Academy Award® nominated filmmaker Christopher Nolan with the inaugural VES Visionary Award at the 9th Annual VES Awards on Friday, January 28, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles , CA . The award is designed to honor an individual who has uniquely and consistently employed the art and science of visual effects to foster imagination and ignite future discoveries by way of artistry, invention and groundbreaking work.
“Christopher Nolan has been at the forefront in using vfx to help tell complex and astonishing stories that change the way we think about the world around us,” said Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Awards Committee. “His body of work inspires and he continues to push the envelope both technically and in storytelling. Given the amazing work he’s already created in such a short span of time, he is absolutely the best person to receive our inaugural Visionary Award.”
[Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures]
• “Avatar” and “The Hangover” took top honors at a very populist Golden Globes ceremony — Off the Carpet reported from the party circuit.
• The Academy revealed the nine films shortlisted for Best Foreign Language Film; we sized up the race.
• BAFTA announced their nominations, with “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker” and “Avatar” topping the list.
• The Long Shot, meanwhile, pondered the identity crisis of this particular awards institution.
No surprises there. James Cameron’s film landed 11 separate mentions from the Visual Effects Society (some more specifically indicated than others). “2012” and “District 9” each landed three nominations, while “Sherlock Holmes” and “Star Trek” each landed two.
The nominees in the main field, “visual effects in a visual effects driven feature motion picture,” are:
“2012”
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“Star Trek”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
Check out the rest of the nominees (feature film categories only) at our somewhat more streamlined Circuit page.
Holy crap, how many lifetime achievement awards are there in Hollywood? More than there are people, apparently, since they’re now having to share recipients.
Anyway, mere hours after the announcement that James Cameron is to receive the Lucky Brand™ Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara fest (it’s the ™ that makes it special, in my opinion) comes the news that Cameron will also receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Visual Effects Society at their annual awards shindig on February 28. Previous recipients include George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
Fair enough, given all Cameron has done to advance the effects artform over the last quarter-century. But if “Avatar” storms the awards anyway, might it not seem like overkill? (I’m standing by “District 9” for the Oscar, mind.) More here.
• In case you’ve just emerged from a coma or something, the nominations for the 81st annual Academy Awards were unveiled.
• And it’s fair to say we weren’t impressed. At all.
• OK, maybe a little impressed.
• Amid the chaos, Kris took a stab at what/who we should expect to emerge victorious on Oscar night.
• With the rise of “The Reader” the week’s big story, Tech Support presciently chatted with the film’s craftsmen.
• Meanwhile, scripter Sir David Hare told the film’s critics where to get off.
• This week’s Off the Carpet column laid out our final (and, as it turned out, slightly off-target) predictions.
• You probably didn’t notice, but the Razzie Awards did their thing as usual.
• “WALL-E” picked up what was to be its last Best Picture gong of the season.
• Ahead of the nominations, yours truly filled out his own imaginary ballot. Suffice to say, there was little overlap.
• The Visual Effects Society announced their nominees, showing “The Dark Knight” surprisingly little love.
• Reflections on how the Academy’s top award has fared this decade.
• Finally, amid this week’s Oscar hysteria, Sundance buzz suggests Carey Mulligan could be one to watch for next year’s derby.
Oh yeah, another guild (well, industry award I should say) this week: the Visual Effects Society (VES). The group’s typically unnavigable list of kudos contenders can be found below and after the jump.
It’s interesting to note “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” having a decent showing throughout, yet failing to make it to the final bake-off round. Ditto “Cloverfield.” Meanwhile, bake-off survivor “Australia” is nowhere to be found.
“The Dark Knight” looked to be shut out until the miniatures and special effects categories came to its aid, but even with the four nominations to its credit (two of them in the same category — that’s not a typo), I’m tempted to think “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” might be breathing down its neck. After all, in-camera wizardry isn’t often recognized by a visual effects branch that likes to award innovative CGI. Then again, after the VES nods were announced two years ago, I might have thought “I Am Legend” was set for a nomination.
The big winners throughout are, of course, Paramount’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Iron Man.” The former is still looking strong to walk away with the Oscar in about a month.
The awards will be handed out on February 21. “Button” producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall have already been announced as lifetime achievement award recipients.
The nominees (I’m just listing the film categories):
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Cloverfield”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“Iron Man”
(more categories after the jump)