Three Oscar nominees including Kirby Dick ( The Invisible War ), Malik Bendjelloul ( Searching for Sugar Man ) and David France ( How to Survive a Plague ) are among the five nominees for the Directors Guild of America’s “Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary” award. The winners will be unveiled at the 65th annual DGA Awards Dinner on February 2nd at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles. Kelsey Grammar will host the DGA Awards. “Whether shining a light on sweeping injustice or bringing us along on an intimate journey, the best documentaries challenge and enlighten us and this year’s nominees are no exception,” said DGA president Taylor Hackford in a statement. “The powerful work of these nominated directors is a true testament to the skill and significance of non-fiction storytellers.” The nominees for the 2012 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Kirby Dick , The Invisible War , (First-time nomination) Rise Films, ITVS, Fork Films, Cuomo Cole Productions, Canal Plus, Chain Camera Pictures Malik Bendjelloul , Searching for Sugar Man , (First-time nomination) Sony Pictures Entertainment, Passion Pictures Production, Canfield Pictures & The Documentary Company, Red Box Films Lauren Greenfield , The Queen of Versailles , (First-time nomination) Magnolia Pictures, Evergreen Pictures, BBC Storyville, Impact Partners, Candescent Films, Plus Pictures, DR, VPRO, Queen of Versailles LLC David France , How to Survive a Plague , (First-time nomination) Public Square Films, Ford Foundation/Justfilms Impact Partners, How to Survive a Plague LLC Alison Klayman , Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry , (First-time nomination) United Expression Media, Muse Film and Television, Never Sorry LLC
Last night’s Golden Globes cemented Argo as the People’s Film from an awards season stand-point, setting the scrappy underdog to stand toe-to-toe with the monolithic Lincoln . Theoretically, the “People’s Film” would be The Hunger Games , which won Favorite Movie at the People’s Choice Awards, but in the context of the Oscars, the populism is relative to the awards — and none of the elite awards are more populist than the Golden Globes. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association established the annual Golden Globes as an opportunity to gather Hollywood’s elite, and the awards create the appearance of a competitive event instead of simply another gala. The goal is TV revenue, ostensibly to fund the HFPA’s philanthropic endeavors. The voting is dubious, with a body of less than 100 journalists with a penchant for press junkets that hinge on the interviewee’s charisma and charm. This is why the Globes live up to their reputation of grinning, drunken swagger: they can be loose and fun, because at the end of the day, it’s not about the awards, it’s about the audience. So the HFPA awarded Argo the title of Best Motion Picture – Drama, as well as giving Ben Affleck the award for Best Director — something he cannot replicate at the Oscars, where he’s not nominated for Best Director. But the narrative is shifting in Argo ’s direction. The film has always been a contender. With just three directed films and a severe image challenge as a personality, actor-turned-director Affleck has reconfigured himself as a filmmaker who demands respect. The fictionalized true story behind Argo , tying a Middle Eastern thriller to Hollywood in-jokes, was always the sort of smart film audiences could embrace. The box office reflected this, earning more than $111 million in the United States (ignoring a probable post-Globe, pre-Oscar rerelease), which is less than Lincoln to date but still nothing to scoff at for an R-rated political thriller. Along the way, Argo has quietly been picking up awards from various critics groups. It was one of the AFI Films of the Year and made the National Board of Review’s Top Films list. It won ensemble awards from the Hollywood Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festial, took the top prize from the San Diego critics and took 2nd place from the New York critics. This past week, it scored a major win at the Critics’ Choice Awards, taking Best Picture and Best Director on the same day the AMPAS directing wing blocked Affleck out. Like the Globes, the Critics’ Choice flexed the populism muscle, despite the assumed prestige from an umbrella group of critics. The Critics’ Choice tried something new this year by being broadcast on the CW, awkwardly combining the general intelligence of film critics with the popcorn atmosphere of the network. The organization received flack for poor decisions such as cutting away from the screenplay award (which went to Lincoln ‘s Tony Kushner) and for focusing on less prestigious nominees in favor of name recognition. What all of this amounts to, however, is a critics award that was aiming for Golden Globe-style populism. Argo winning both Critics’ Choice and the Golden Globe for Best Drama has set its tone and changed the popular conversation, commanding awards-watchers to take the film seriously again after losing momentum earlier in the season thanks to the thunder-stealing Zero Dark Thirty . What remains to be seen are the results of the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTAs . Argo has received ensemble attention, so SAG’s big award isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but Argo has not received the individual acting attention that Les Miserables , Silver Linings Playbook , or even Lincoln have. This makes SAG the biggest landmark on Argo ’s horizon, because a win there would solidify the film’s narrative as the People’s Film, and the one that people want to win it all. Chime in below with your Oscar musings: With all this populist momentum, does Argo have a shot at Best Picture? MORE ON THE GOLDEN GLOBES: WATCH: Jodie Foster Wins The Golden Globes With Her ‘Coming Out’ Speech ‘Argo’ & ‘Les Misérables’ Take Top Movie Prizes At Golden Globes – WINNERS LIST High Five! The Best GIFs Of The 2013 Golden Globes John Hendel is a playwright from Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter @hendyhendel . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
UPDATE : Whoops, never mind. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter , Snyder’s rep has flatly denied the report. “While he is super flattered because he is a huge fan,” the statement says, “Zack is not involved in any way with the new Star Wars . He is currently in post on his two films, Man of Steel and 300: Battle of Artemisia .” Looks like the Internet got played by a fun-having rumor monger. I look forward to seeing if there’s any kernel of truth to anything else in the report. Original story continues below… *** In case you were wondering, you can rest easy in the knowledge that Disney has absolutely no intention of treating the Star Wars franchise like a finite resource. Instead, they plan to mine it like spice from the cruelest mines of Kessel, and the proof is the possibility of a Kurosawa-inspired film set in the galaxy far, far away, brought to you by Zack Snyder , the man currently tasked with finally bringing a post-Christopher Reeve Superman to theaters. Vulture has brought us news of a rumor blowing up like the Death Star that 300 , Watchmen and Man of Steel director Snyder is developing a new stand-alone Star Wars film based on Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai that would exist, almost certainly, separate from the planned Episodes 7, 8 and 9. The plot would replace feudal Japanese swordslingers with lightsaber wielding Jedi. And since the original Star Wars was heavily based on Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress , it would allow us to declare — and you knew this was coming — that the circle is now complete. The setting is unclear, but Vulture ‘s source claims it would take place after the events of Return of the Jedi . As we know, Episodes 7, 8 and 9 are also going to take place long after Jedi . How awesome does that sound? My mouth already waters at the notion of a live action Star Wars TV show set in the aftermath of the rebellion against the Empire. This makes me positively drool. That said, I’d prefer there just be Seven Samurai … IN SPAAAACE, without having to graft the Star Wars brand name onto it. But since Roger Corman already covered that with his schlocky B-movie classic Battle Beyond The Stars , I’ll take what I can get. Especially since it’ll be awesome exploring the idea of Jedi Ronin in the post-Empire galaxy. Bring it, and may the force be with us. And maybe next, we can get the Star Wars version of Zatoichi . Please, please hire Ian Holm for that. [via Vulture ]
Johnny Depp is still sailing toward another round in the Caribbean, but the swashbuckling will have to wait a couple years. Disney unveiled a slew of dates for a half-dozen of its anticipated titles Monday with Pirates of the Caribbean 5 anchoring July 10, 2015. [ Related: Johnny Depp Taps Keith Richards For ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ Return ] Depp will be on deck once again as Jack Sparrow with Jerry Bruckheimer producing from a script by Jeff Nathanson. The Pirates series has grossed over $3.7 billion worldwide. The last feature, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides took in a cool $1.043 billion globally. No director has been named for the next installment. Also headed to theaters from Disney is Maleficent , the untold story of the villain behind the 1959 classic, Sleeping Beauty , which stars Angelina Jolie in the title role as well as Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning and Sam Riley. It is moving to a July 2, 2014 release from its March 14, 2014 original. The Muppets 2 , starring Ricky Gervais and Ty Burrell will head to theaters March 21st in 2014, while Chris Evans starrer Captain America: The Winter Soldier will open April 4, 2014. The pic directed by Anthony and Joe Russo will be available in 3-D. Also in 3-D is Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy , set for August 1, 2014 with James Gunn as director. And 1952 (3-D)m starring George Clooney is set for December 19, 2014. Keith Richards, who appeared as Captain Teague in the franchise in On Stranger Tides and 2007’s At World’s End teased last November he may head back to Pirates once again. “I spoke to Johnny a couple of weeks ago and he said, ‘Are you up for another one?’ I can leave it at that because I know no more,” Richards told BBC 6 Music last year. “But I do have the costume!”
