One of my very trusted film friends and I are always discussing the awards. It's kind of our thing. Nobody else listens to us, but we listen to each other and we like it that way. Someday when we're rich and famous and everyone falls all over themselves to get our interviews, we'll look back and remember when we were the only two film students who teamed up and chatted about things we like without caring what other people thought of us. (I'm exaggerating, of course, but nobody believes me anyway.)
Our current discussion is around the Golden Globes. It's rather entertaining. Just in case you're interested in hearing yet another set of opinions:
CS: The Globes are the Oscars' little annoying brother who wants attention. I expect a large showing for Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, and hopefully Les Miserables on Thursday.
CS: Although to be fair: Amy Poehler and Tina Fey hosting > Seth McFarlane hosting
AH: AGREED!!!! I am actually super-excited about Poehler and Fey! Is McFarlane the host for the Oscars?
CS: Yep yep
AH: I used to say that anyone is better than the horrible Franco/Hathaway disaster of '11. I hope I don't have to revise that statement.
CS: Well, all you really need to do is show up and you're better than Franco/Hathaway. Even Franco failed to do that. Look on the bright side: this is the most wide-open award season since 2006!
AH: Agreed. It could literally be ANYONE. There are a few things people are talking Oscars, but for the most part we're all kindof scratching our heads. And it's awesome. Also, have there been changes in the Academy in the past few years? They seem like they are more open to some things than they used to be.
AH: HAHAHA I just saw your comment on the Globes being the annoying little brother...And yet somehow the Globes are the party that nobody respects but everyone wants to go to.
CS: The ones I remember: 1. Best Picture can be anywhere from 5 - 10 movies, depending on who can get at least 5% of the number 1 votes. Last year was the first time doing this and we (miraculously) had 9.2. Visual Effects and Original Song will be 5 nominees instead of 2 or 3.
CS: And on the topic of the Globes: it's because it's very star heavy. If you look at its nominees in the past, it LOVES nominating star names over Oscar contenders who are unknown.
AH: 1) I LOVE that new rule. It eliminates the "filler" nominees and allows flexibility for "good" and "bad" years. 2) I am pretty excited about those cats also. 3) The Globes are nothing more than a popularity contest, but somehow it's funny. It's more lighthearted, it seems.
AH: I dunno, it just seems like the Oscars are a teensy bit less pretentious than they used to be. That, and it seems that there is a notable increase in foreign/international productions. (Can we just say these past few years have been the new British invasion?)
CS: I don't know, I go back and forth on how the most recent winners fare with past years. It's true that the past 12 winners feature a very wide range of genres as opposed to 80s and 90s where most of the winners were dramas or period dramas. (From 2000 - 2012, you had four dramas, two thrillers, one sandals epic, one fantasy, one sports movie, and one war movie.) Who do you think will win this year for Best Director/Picture?
AH: For the Globes? I don't even know. The buzz is all over the place. For Drama, I'm thinking either Lincoln or Zero Dark Thirty. (But Argo had a decent run, so I'm not sure.) For Comedy/Musical, I'm guessing Les Miserables or Silver Linings Playbook. (As much as I think Moonrise Kingdom had a good shot, the opera is more "awards friendly" and the Book has people talking.) For Director...Idunno, bro, Spielberg is always a good candidate, but Tarantino has a good bid this time, and Affleck and Bigelow have alot of buzz.
CS: I agree for the most part on all counts except I don't know if the critically lauded Zero Dark Thirty will make BP/BD or if the easier-to-swallow Lincoln wins kudos for Spielberg's return to dramatic fare, especially since Lincoln has Best Actor, Supporting Actor, and Adapted Screenplay close to victory. (I hear you on Moonrise Kingdom. There's still a few us who believe it could get a BP nomination come Thursday considering it was nominated for the Producers Guild this past weekend.) What about the Oscars? Also, Director's Guild nominated today: Affleck, Spielberg, Hooper, Ang Lee, and Bigelow!
AH: Well, Spielberg was awfully talked-up for War Horse, which I think had a stronger bid for BP than Lincoln does...but unfortunately for War Horse, the horse couldn't factor into the acting awards, so Day-Lewis adds to Lincoln's bid there, as does the glowing nostalgia pervading the whole thing. To me, Spielberg is kindof like Scorsese in that he can always be a contender who may or may not win. I'm thinking it's Lincoln, but ZDT is still in the race as far as I can tell. Moonrise seems to be a dark horse contender that doesn't really belong but everyone would be happy anyway if it won...and, as we all know far too well, dark horse nominees can often sweep the awards right out from under the "big" players. I just don't think it has a good enough campaign and the grassroots movement for it is subdued. For the Oscars, I think the nominations will be mostly on par with the Globes noms, even though it happens every year that films/filmmakers who win surprise Globes are the new big players for Oscars. After the Globes on Weds, I think it will be a little clearer for the noms but still murky as to who might win. I just think it's all really up in the air, much like last year...which makes for fun debates, yes?
CS: Mhmm, I think Lincoln has a chance too considering how long it's been since they've given the nom/win to him (a la Scorsese in the aughts.) However today's Bafta nominations are troubling: once again Lincoln is in the lead, but they failed to honor Spielberg in directing! Interestingly enough, Life of Pi is doing extremely well all over the place. Have you seen it? Me neither, sadly. Although there is some good news for us Moonrise lovers: it still has a shot at nabbing Original Screenplay for the win, depending on how much the Academy loved Zero Dark Thirty. Well, last year's did throw everyone for a loop with the inclusion of "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and "Tree of Life". I'm expecting at least one huge surprise tomorrow.
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