 |
| Illustration by Concepción Studios. |
The Oscars are almost set up to invoke controversy. With twice as many Best Picture spots as Best Director spots, someone’s bound to be left out. It gives movie lovers something to talk about, it’s good for publicity and no news is bad news. Just like no blogs are bad blogs - don’t think about that last sentence, just keep reading.
This year, the Best Director category includes Michael
Haneke for "Amour," Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild," Ang Lee for "Life of Pi," David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Steven Spielberg
for "Lincoln." The big guns here are Lee,
Russell and Spielberg. And all three have done amazing work this year. Lee helms
the tale of a young, shipwrecked man who is forced to share a small boat with a
Bengal tiger, Russell directs the story of two troubled outsiders who find hope
with each other after striking an odd deal, and Spielberg tries to make us forget
about “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
It’s a bit harder to poke fun at Affleck’s directing resume. True, the odds are with him with a shorter filmography than someone like Spielberg, but still, he’s no one hit wonder. His directorial debut, "Gone Baby Gone" and his follow-up, "The Town" both scored 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. "Argo," which has hit 96 percent on the Tomatometer, is based on the true story of the CIA’s attempt to extract hostages from a post-revolution, Khomeini-led Iran. At this year’s Golden Globes, Tina Fey joked, “Ben’s first two movies took place in Boston, but he moved this one to Iran because he wanted to film somewhere that was friendlier to outsiders.”
 |
| Getty Images |
So far this award season, "Argo" has done fairly well for itself. The film has won Best Picture
or Best Film from the AFI Awards, the BAFTA Awards, the Golden Globes, the Florida
Film Critics Circle Awards, and the San Diego Film Critics Society Awards. The ensemble
cast, Alan Arkin, editing, score, screenplay and set design have all been shown
appreciation from critics and awards. Ben Affleck won the Best Director award from
the Golden Globes, the Australian Film Institute, BAFTA Awards, Broadcast Film
Critics Association Awards, Florida Film Critics Circle Awards, and a Special
Achievement in Filmmaking Award from the National Board of Review. Winning Best
Director at the Globes without an Academy Award nomination seemed oddest of
all, as it often seen as a bit of a precursor of what can be expected on Oscar
night. During his acceptance speech at the Critics Choice Movie Awards, Affleck
said, "I would like to thank the Academy... I'm kidding, I'm kidding. This
is the one that counts."
And it’s not like the Academy has any prejudice against actors-turned-directors.
Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood and Ron Howard have proven that unequivocally.
This year, "Argo" has been nominated
for Best Picture. The film has been deemed worthy of that consideration, so
where’s the love for the film’s creator? I don’t think it’s the political aspect
of this story, I don’t think it’s the slight tinkering of history within this
story, and I certainly don’t think it’s the precision in which this story is
told.
It looks like Affleck is going to have to sit this one out,
but some have brought up the point that a nomination could be secured at the zero
hour via a write-in vote. In 1935, Hal Mohr, cinematographer for "A Midsummer's Night Dream," became the
first and last person to win an Oscar by these means. The concept of allowing a
write-in vote has now nearly been all but forgotten by the Academy. But the way
things are looking for Affleck, I think Bryan Cranston’s character in "Argo" said it
best - “this is the best bad idea we have, sir… by far.”
 |
| Affleck as Tony Mendez - Photo by Keith Bernstein |
No comments:
Post a Comment