So, here we are with the Directors Guild nominations for 2012.
Here are the nominees for this year:
- Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) – 11th nomination
- Ang Lee (Life of Pi) – 4th nomination
- Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) – 2nd nomination
- Tom Hooper (Les Miserables) – 2nd nomination
- Ben Affleck (Argo) – 1st nomination
And I’m doing much better than last year in that I have already seen four of the nominees (I still need to see ZDT).
Here’s the trivia for this year:
- Steven Spielberg has 630 points from the DGA (3 wins and 8 other nominations). How far and away does that make him their most honored director ever? The next highest total is 405. In other words, only 18 other directors have earned as many points from the DGA that Spielberg has a margin of victory of over the next person. Even though the other nominees have a combined 4 wins Spielberg still has more points than all of them combined.
- Spielberg joins Scorsese as the only directors to be nominated by the DGA in five different decades.
- Top points from the DGA (all-time)
- Steven Spielberg – 630
- Fred Zinnemann / Martin Scorsese – 405
- Billy Wilder / Sidney Lumet / Francis Ford Coppola – 315
- George Stevens / David Lean / Robert Wise / Ron Howard / Woody Allen / Ang Lee – 270
- Yes, Ang Lee has now joined that chosen group with 270 points.
- This is the 15th time that at least two of the nominated directors have already won the DGA (Spielberg – 85, 93, 98; Lee – 00, 05; Bigelow – 09; Hooper – 10). It happened most recently last year (Woody Allen and Marty Scorsese), but before that, the last time it happened was in 2005 – when Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg faced off against each other (just like this year).
- This is the 5th time that at least three of the nominated directors have already won the DGA – it happened in 1956 (when there were 10 nominees), 1960, 1966 and 1984.
- But this is the 1st time that four of the nominated directors have already won the DGA. Everyone but Affleck, who is a first-time nominee.
- This is also the 1st time in DGA history that two directors will compete against each other who have already won 2 DGA awards – Steven Spielberg and Ang Lee.
- For the second year in a row we only have one first-time nominee. The whole stretch of 1989 to 2010 only had two years of only one first-time nominee. Compare these last two years to 2006 and 07 when each year had four first-time nominees.
- I will have to confirm this but if these are the five Oscar-nominated directors it might be the first time in history that an entire Oscar category is filled with Oscar winners (Affleck has an Oscar for writing).
- Unlike last year, where Alexander Payne had waited seven years for his second nomination, Bigelow and Hooper only have had to wait 3 and 2 years respectively and both did it with their next films.
Notable Omissions:
- This probably kills Quentin Tarantino’s chance for a Best Director nomination. The last person to earn an Oscar nomination with only a Golden Globe nomination before it? Barbet Schroeder in 1990 for Reversal of Fortune. There have been 315 nominated directors at the Oscars since the DGA began giving out their awards in 1948. 233 of them earned a DGA nom, 19 others won a major critics award, 8 were nominated for the BAFTA (still possible for QT but less likely) and 2 earned Broadcast Film Critics nominations. Yes, there have been wild cards who did it with basically nothing – Jason Reitman for Juno in 2007, Fernando Meirelles for City of God in 2003. But twice in 12 years isn’t good odds for QT.
- As for David O. Russell, the other big contender? Well, he was always going to have trouble because he directed a comedy. But he also missed out on a Globe nomination. So, at this point, he would have to jump from the BFCA to the Oscars without a Globe or a DGA nom, which has only been done twice since the BFCA began in 1995 – Paul Greengrass in 2006 for United 93 (which won two major critics awards) and the Coens in 2010 with True Grit.
8 January, 2013 at 6:41 pm
What did you think of Les Miserables? What is your favorite film of the year you had seen so far
8 January, 2013 at 6:58 pm
I loved Les Mis, but my #1 film so far is easily Lincoln.
8 January, 2013 at 7:07 pm
Thanks for these great stats. If Spielberg is nominated for the Oscar (and surely he will be), I think it will also be the first time that a director has been nominated in five different decades by the Academy.
And yes, I think you’re right that if these are the five Oscar nominees it will be the first time a category has been filled with former Oscar winners. I have been racking my brains to think of another example and I can’t so far.
By the way, I haven’t commented as much in the past few months as I’ve wanted, but it’s only because I’ve got so much work to do (a PhD as well as a ful-time job). I still read every post you put up. So, just wanted to say thanks for your excellent work – yours is one of the best blogs around!
8 January, 2013 at 7:09 pm
P.S. How do you rate Skyfall’s chances? I’m a masive Bond fan, and although I don’t think Skyfall’s as good as the reviews have generally had it to be, I do think it is impressive on many levels, and represents the best chance in years that a Bond film has had with the Oscars. At this stage, I am hopeful it will get nominations for Cinematography, the Sound awards and Song. And I think it has a fair chance at many other categories, including Best Picture.
8 January, 2013 at 7:15 pm
I think it is unlikely for Best Picture – Star Trek had also done well and earned a PGA nomination. I do think it has the best chance ever for a large amount of nominations for a Bond film, though, and may potentially get nominated for Supporting Actor or Actress. As for Song, I think it will win, but honestly I am not a big fan and I would much rather see Song of the Lonely Mountain win, which I think is a fantastic song and probably won’t even get nominated.
PhD in what?
8 January, 2013 at 7:32 pm
Skyfall does have a touch of Star Trek about it at this point, I agree. I have my fingers crossed for it to do OK on Thursday.
I also think the Skyfall song has a great chance. I like it a lot…but more to the point, I think it just has a certain ‘something’ that should see it through. ‘Song of the Lonely Mountain’ is good, but yes, it doesn’t seem to have much heat, though the Song category can definitely surprise so maybe?
My PhD is on the films of the Dardenne Brothers, Paul Schrader and Barbet Schroeder, analysed through the lens of the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas. I’m looking principally at their different film styles and discussing how, to me, they all manage to convey a certain (similar) ethical take on the world.
8 January, 2013 at 8:56 pm
I think Skyfall has a better shot than Star Trek, because of the potential for it to receive support from the Academy’s British contingent, but I wouldn’t bet on it right now.
I’m predicting Lincoln for the win right now (it’ll likely be the biggest domestic hit nominated, or else close, and it combines that commercial success with excellent reviews). Plus, Day-Lewis and Jones are currently the leaders in their categories (clearly, in DDL’s case, more ambiguously in Jones’, though in the latter case I have a hard time coming up with someone likely to beat him, unless DiCaprio gets in and there’s a big push in his favour), and three of the four times a film has won both male acting awards they’ve also won Best Picture (Going My Way, The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur). Mystic River is the only time that didn’t happen, and it most likely would have if not for the unique Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King phenomenon.
9 January, 2013 at 3:33 am
A disappointing lineup. I’ve never really seen what everyone else loved so much about Argo, I thought Hooper’s approach to Les Mis was all wrong, and while I liked Lincoln (though it’s far from my #1), I don’t think the direction was anything remarkable. Life of Pi was well-directed, but I had a lot of issues with the script–and honestly, I think the effects work made a bigger impact on me than anything else. I have yet to see ZD30.
I’m most disappointed that P.T. Anderson didn’t make it on here–The Master was a GORGEOUSLY directed film (either he or Leos Carax for Holy Motors wins my own award), as was Django Unchained. I’m a little worried about what we’ll see on Thursday morning.
9 January, 2013 at 11:41 am
What do you think about Speilbergs BAFTA snub?
9 January, 2013 at 6:53 pm
Very surprising and to me personally, disappointing. But it puts me in an odd spot, in that he and Hooper were passed over for two directors whose films I haven’t yet seen. So hard to quite say, but since Spielberg is my #1 of the year, it’s certainly not to my preference.
10 January, 2013 at 1:30 am
Why is no one talking about the ravishing and brilliantly directed– visually and conceptually– ANNA KARENINA by Joe Wright???? That film has been grossly under appreciated.