Oscar races become clearer as the guilds and the Globes weigh in
The Golden Globes kept us humming “City of Stars.” The Producers Guild shook up the field, nominating “Deadpool.” And the Directors Guild added its own wrinkle, solidifying the standing of the tear-jerker “Lion” in the Oscar best picture race.
Welcome to the Gold Standard, the newsletter from the Los Angeles Times that helps guide you through the ins and outs of the awards season leading up to the Oscars.
I’m Glenn Whipp, The Times’ awards columnist and your newsletter host.
‘LA LA LAND’ BREAKS GOLDEN GLOBES RECORD
Damien Chazelle’s daring, magical musical “La La Land” swept its way through the Golden Globes on Sunday night, winning all seven of its nominated categories: best picture comedy/musical, lead acting honors for Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, and awards for director, screenplay, song and score.
Though there’s no overlap between the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters, I have a hard time thinking any movie can seriously challenge “La La Land” in winning the Oscar for best picture. I explain why here.
The most newsworthy moment from the evening came when Meryl Streep picked up her career honor and delivered a fiery speech decrying President-elect Donald Trump’s past bullying. Trump rebuked Streep the next day on social media, calling her “overrated.” Times political reporter Cathleen Decker covered the dust-up here, while Times television reporter Libby Hill wrote that Streep’s message “rang out crystal clear, and it was not about politics. It was more a plea to protect both humanity and the humanities, to respect one another’s differences regardless of political affiliation.”
The show’s ratings, by the way, were up 8% over last year. Maybe HFPA voters aren’t the only ones who love “La La Land.”
You can read the complete Times Golden Globes coverage here.
PRODUCERS AND DIRECTORS GUILDS WEIGH IN
The Producers Guild of America announced its 10 best picture nominees Tuesday. The movies: “Arrival,” “Deadpool,” “Fences,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Hell or High Water,” “Hidden Figures,” “La La Land,” “Lion,” “Manchester by the Sea” and “Moonlight.”
The academy is likely to nominate only eight or nine. You can probably safely cross the subversive comic book movie “Deadpool” off the list of possibilities. Also worth noting: Since the academy last revised voting on the best picture category five years ago, it has always nominated at least one movie not cited by the PGA. But looking at this list, I’m not certain that streak will continue this year. (Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 24.)
The Directors Guild put forward its nominees Thursday, selecting Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”), Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”), Kenneth Lonergan (“Manchester by the Sea”), Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival”) and, surprisingly, first-time director Garth Davis (“Lion”).
Davis’ inclusion cements “Lion’s” best picture hopes, as I note in my analysis here. Also worth mentioning: “Birth of a Nation” director Nate Parker returned to the awards-season conversation, earning a nomination in the DGA’s first-time feature film director category.
KEEPING THE FAITH WITH SCORSESE
Have I mentioned Martin Scorsese in the newsletter the last few weeks? Once or twice? Maybe more? (Sorry.) His soul-searching movie about faith, “Silence,” hasn’t gained much traction through all the guild announcements. And, yet, I remain hopeful that Scorsese and the film might do well with the academy when Oscar nominations are announced in a week and a half.
I recently spoke to Scorsese, focusing on his own faith and what he calls the “never-ending pilgrimage” of making “Silence.” You can read our conversation here. Times film critic Justin Chang mentioned the movie quite a few times in his memo to the academy, in which he offers the films and performances he’d nominate if he had a ballot.
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