Can Sean Penn upset the Coens at DGA Awards?
I'll be at the Directors Guild of America Awards on Saturday night — blogging results live here — and fully expect, as most pundits do, to be informing you that the Coens just won the feature-film trophy. But, beware: upsets are possible by Sean Penn and Paul Thomas Anderson.
First, let's dish Anderson. "There Will Be Blood" is the biggest surprise of derby season: nothing at all like "Boogie Nights" or the pix he's done in the past. It's been declared best picture by the National Society of Film Critics and L.A. Film Critics Association (by comparison, "No Country for Old Men" claimed New York Film Critics' Circle and Critics' Choice — not quite as snooty or close to Hollywood home) and it has more of a big, serious epic sprawl. "Blood" is fresher — it spilled out at Christmastime; "No Country" came out in November. This latter factor could actually be a drawback, though, since fewer voters have probably seen "Blood" compared to "No Country." There are 13,000 DGA members scattered across the U.S. where "Blood" has been in limited release, compared to 370 members of the Oscars' directors' branch who have easy access to local screenings, private or theater, across L.A. Sometimes it helps to be out of the gate early, but "Blood" still, surprisingly, mustered a nomination, so that means voters are paying attention.
But "Into the Wild" came out before both of those other pix (September) and has a sexy edge: it's helmed by a Cool Actor. Believe it or not, DGA is even more star-struck than academy members! Yes, both groups gave directors' kudos to Robert Redford ("Ordinary People"), Kevin Costner ("Dances with Wolves") and Clint Eastwood ("Unforgiven," "Million Dollar Baby"). In 1995, DGA didn't hail actor/director Mel Gibson ("Braveheart") because they gushed over a different thesp: Ron Howard ("Apollo 13").
But over the years the guild has nominated many more actor/directors than the Oscars. Below is a list of stars nommed by DGA since 1990, which includes a few names snubbed by the academy in this race: Rob Reiner, Barbra Streisand and, yes, Sean Penn. However, please note that in 1995, even though he wasn't nominated at the Oscars, an actor (Ron Howard) won DGA. It could happen again. Just how star-struck are they, really?
* = winner
(X) = not nommed by Oscar
* Kevin Costner, "Dances with Wolves," 1990
(X) Barbra Streisand, "The Prince of Tides," 1991
* Clint Eastwood, "Unforgiven," 1992
(X) Rob Reiner, "A Few Good Men," 1992
Robert Redford, "Quiz Show," 1994
* (X) Ron Howard, "Apollo 13," 1995
Mel Gibson, "Braveheart," 1995
Roberto Benigni, "Life Is Beautiful," 1998
* Ron Howard, "A Beautiful Mind," 2001
* Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby," 2004
George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck," 2005
(X) Sean Penn, "Into the Wild," 2007
