Last week, I predicted that either 12 Years A Slave, Gravity or American Hustle would win the Best Picture and Best Director categories at the 86thAcademy Awards. Narrowing it down to a frontrunner out of these three was going to come down to who win the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Producers Guild Awards and the Directors Guild Awards.
Last week, I predicted that either 12 Years A Slave, Gravity or American Hustle would win the Best Picture and Best Director categories at the 86th Academy Awards. Narrowing it down to a frontrunner out of these three was going to come down to who win the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Producers' Guild Awards and the Directors Guild Awards.
On Saturday, it seemed American Hustle had cemented itself as the front-runner after taking out the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. However, on Sunday night Gravity and 12 Years a Slave amazingly tied at the 25th Annual Producers Guild Awards, levelling the field up once again.
Why do the results from these awards matter so much?
Well, unlike the Golden Globes, which are selected by the Hollywood Foreign Press, industry members vote for the guild awards – many of whom are also eligible to vote for The Oscars, giving us a clearer indication of what Hollywood is thinking. And then there are the stats.
In the previous 24 years of PGA Awards, the guild has correctly matched the eventual Oscar Best Picture winner 17 times; this is where Argo began its assault on the Best Picture category last year.
Over the last ten years, the SAG Awards have predicted the Oscar Best Picture correctly six times with their choice of best ensemble cast for film. For best actor they have tipped the Oscar winner for the last nine years, and for best actress, they have predicted six out of the last nine.
Let's just say that, at this stage of the game, predicting who will win the Oscars is a full-time job. Suddenly this Oscar race just got that much more exciting. Next to come is the Directors' Guild Awards on January 25th.
Congratulations to Peter Jackson, visual effects artist Joe Letteri and Weta Digital, who were the recipients of the PGA’s 2014 Vanguard Award. This award recognizes achievements in new media and technology and has previously been won by filmmakers such as James Cameron, Stan Lee, George Lucas & John Lasseter.
PGA Awards co-chairs Lori McCreary and Michael De Luca said: "Peter Jackson and Joe Letteri have created some of the most epic visionary fantasies in the history of filmmaking. Through the development of groundbreaking technology and software, Weta Digital has redefined the possibilities for producers to create living, breathing worlds to house even their most fantastic stories.”
Here's a list of feature film winners from the 2014 Producers Guild Awards:
The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: (Tie)
Gravity (Warner Bros. Pictures) Producers: Alfonso Cuaron, David Heyman
12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures); Producers: Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (Focus Features); Producers: Alexis Bloom, Alex Gibney, Marc Shmuger.
The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television:
Behind the Candelabra (HBO); Producers: Susan Ekins, Gregory Jacobs, Michael Polaire, Jerry Weintraub.
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:
Frozen (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures); Producer: Peter Del Vecho.
While we're on the subject of The Oscars, this week Rialto Channel screens 2013 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film – No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal & Alfredo Castro. A Chilean political satire No was the breakout film of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Based on real events, it tells the story of advertising executive René Saavedra (Bernal) who comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile's 1988 referendum.
One third of the film is archival footage, so to make the rest of the film fit and look authentic director Larrain decided to use the same format as the archival footage, an early 80s analog video system. The risk paid off, and No is a fascinating and convincing snapshot of a historic moment in time.
No screens on Tuesday 28th January, and is followed on Wednesday evening by another Chilean film The Maid bringing an end to the Rialto World double feature, where two films from the same country have been played over consecutive nights.
Rialto World reverts back to Tuesday nights, and coming up in February we stay in Central and South America, enjoying films from Mexico (Miss Bala), Argentina (Everybody Has A Plan) and Columbia (Greetings to the Devil).