Writers and producers nominate the best in their fields2005 is over, and everyone and their blog is reflecting on the best of the year, including Hollywood types. A slew of 2005 award nominations from the Writers Guild and Producers Guild were recently announced. But wait – there's more. Thursday, the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild will step up with their nominees. In the entertainment industry, it seems the holiday season was a mere diversion in the midst of awards season.
The Golden Globes get their nominations out early, and the venerable Oscars get the last word with their nomination announcements on Jan. 31, but in between, there are a number of more targeted entertainment industry awards where peers vote for peers. Though that should give them more credibility than, say, the Golden Globes, these are the awards that tend to get only passing notice from the public, lumped together as precursors to the awards that count - the Oscars.
But some of us do care at least a little - maybe because they’re a barometer for the Oscars, maybe because we want our favourites to be nominated for any accolade that exists, maybe because we just can’t get enough of Hollywood congratulating itself.
According to the collective wisdom of the writers and producers, some of the big contenders would appear to be Brokeback Mountain; Crash; Good Night, and Good Luck; and Capote.
Writers Guild of America awards
The Writers Guild announced their film awards on Tuesday, and will name the winners at a Feb. 4 awards ceremony. (The WGA television and radio nominations were announced in December.) There is at least one major surprise here - The 40-Year-Old Virgin is on my list of “I’ll see it eventually," but even without knowing if I’ll like it, I have to admire the writers for nominating a pure comedy amid the weightier dramas, something the Oscars rarely do.
See the Writers Guild of America website for all the nominees in film, television, and radio.
Best original screenplay:
- Cinderella Man
- Crash
- Good Night, and Good Luck
- The 40-Year-Old Virgin
- The Squid and the Whale
- Brokeback Mountain
- Capote
- The Constant Gardener
- A History of Violence
- Syriana
Producers Guild of America awards
Wednesday, the PGA announced nominees for producer of the year, in two movie categories – best theatrical motion picture and best animated motion picture. I would be embarrassed to admit that I don’t exactly know what producers do, except that the Producers Guild themselves acknowledge that’s a bit of a problem, too. The title is given out so freely, it has become almost meaningless (well, they might not quite say it that way). But these awards acknowledge the people who control “all aspects of the motion-picture and/or television production process, including creative, financial, technological and administrative." Oh, crystal clear now.
Awards will be handed out Jan. 22. For a complete list of nominees, including for television, see the Producers Guild of America website.
Best theatrical motion picture:
- Brokeback Mountain
- Capote
- Crash
- Good Night, and Good Luck
- Walk the Line
- Chicken Little
- Madagascar
- Robots
- Corpse Bride
- Wallace & Gromit:The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
(Cross posted to Blogcritics)
