DGA Winner

For the films of 2012
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Re: DGA Winner

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ben Affleck has won the top film honor from the Directors Guild of America for his CIA thriller "Argo," further sealing its status as best-picture front-runner at the Academy Awards.

Saturday's prize also normally would make Affleck a near shoo-in to win best-director at the Feb. 24 Oscars, since the Directors Guild recipient nearly always goes on to claim the same prize at Hollywood's biggest night.

But Affleck surprisingly missed out on an Oscar directing nomination, along with several other key favorites, including fellow Directors Guild contenders Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty" and Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables."

Affleck's Oscar snub has not hurt "Argo" and may even have earned it some favor among awards voters as an underdog favorite. "Argo" has dominated other awards since the Oscar nominations.

"I don't think that this makes me a real director, but I think it means I'm on my way," said Affleck, who won for just his third film behind the camera.

The Directors Guild honors continued Hollywood's strange awards season, which could culminate with a big Oscar win for Affleck's "Argo." The guild's prize for best director typically is a final blessing for the film that goes on to win best-picture and director at the Oscars.

Affleck can go only one-for-two at the Oscars, though. While "Argo" is up for best picture, the director's branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences overlooked him for a directing slot.

Backstage at the Directors Guild honors, Affleck said he had nothing but respect for the academy and that "you're not entitled to anything."

"I'm thrilled and honored that the academy nominated me as a producer of the movie," Affleck said. "I know our movie, we're a little bit underdog and a little bit the little engine that could, and you take me out of it maybe helps ... it's just about that picture. I feel like it's OK, I'm really lucky, I'm in a good place."

With 12 Oscar nominations, Steven Spielberg's Civil War saga "Lincoln" initially looked like the Oscar favorite over such other potential favorites as "Argo," ''Les Miserables" and "Zero Dark Thirty," since films generally have little chance of winning best picture if they are not nominated for best director. Only three films have done it in 84 years, most recently 1989's best-picture champ "Driving Miss Daisy," which failed to earn a directing nomination for Bruce Beresford.

But Affleck's "Argo," in which he also stars as a CIA operative who hatches a bold plan to rescue six Americans during the hostage crisis in Iran, has swept up all the major awards since the Oscar nominations. "Argo" won best drama and director at the Golden Globes and top film honors from the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild of America.

Many of the same film professionals who vote in guild awards also cast ballots for the Oscars, so all the wins for "Argo" are a strong sign that the film has the inside track for best picture.

Affleck's win Saturday nicks the Directors Guild record as a strong forecast for the eventual directing recipient at the Oscars. Only six times in the 64-year history of the guild awards has the winner there failed to follow up with an Oscar. This will be the seventh, since Affleck is not up for the best-director Oscar.

Peer loyalty might play in Affleck's favor at the Oscars. The acting branch in particular, the largest block of the academy's 5,900 members, might really throw its weight behind "Argo" because of Affleck's directing snub. Actors love it when one of their own moves into a successful directing career, and Affleck — who's rarely earned raves for his dramatic chops — also delivers one of his best performances in "Argo."

Affleck has had no traction in acting honors this season, and he's joked that no one considered it a snub when he wasn't nominated for best actor. So a best-picture vote for "Argo" might be viewed as making right his omission from the directing lineup and acknowledging what a double-threat talent he's become in front of and behind the camera.

A best-picture prize also would send Affleck home with an Oscar. The award would go to the producers of "Argo": George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Affleck.

But it's not as though Affleck has never gotten his due at Hollywood awards before. He and Matt Damon jump-started their careers with 1997's "Good Will Hunting," for which they shared a screenplay Oscar.

___

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this report.
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Re: DGA Winner

Post by Jim20 »

Despite the statistics putting Argo in the Apollo 13/The Color Purple realm, this is almost a slam dunk. Onto the WGA and ACE, where, I suppose, it will translate into an Adapted Sceenplay and Film Editing Oscar.

DGA Awards: Ben Affleck Wins Best Feature Film Director For ‘Argo’

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday February 2, 2013 @ 10:23pm PSTTags: DGA Awards, Directors Guild Of America


The 65th Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards dinner is being held tonight at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles. The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally been one of the industry’s most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award. Only six times* since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the Feature Film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award. But this year may be the seventh time since Ben Affleck (Argo), Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty), and Tom Hooper (Les Miserables) were not nominated by the Directors Branch Of the Academy Awards. Affleck’s four fellow DGA nominees tonight all have won here before. Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) and Ang Lee (Life Of Pi) have won twice – Spielberg for Schindler’s List in 1993 and Saving Private Ryan in 1998, Lee for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000 and Brokeback Mountain in 2005. Bigelow won her DGA in 2009 for The Hurt Locker, and Hooper in 2010 for The King’s Speech. Martin Short introduced Spielberg’s nomination and killed with the audience. “I guess Bill Clinton was booked. Tonight, we honor Steven for his magnificent film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer.” Spielberg loved it and gave Short a big hug. He received the only standing ovation so far – and quipped back at Short: ”When you tell your assistant to contact Marty about presenting you with your DGA medallion, you’ve got to assume she’s understanding that you’re talking about Scorsese. But we can’t get Clinton, and Marty’s busy, so this is a great third choice. Thank you Marty for presenting me with this.” Noting the intense competition this year, Spielberg said, “This has been an incredible year for movies. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there have been moments when I wished it was a somewhat less incredible year for movies. But those moments pass.”

When presenting him with the DGA nomination medallion for Argo, Bryan Cranston recalled how Affleck was different “from every other director I’ve ever worked with. He was mouthing my dialogue while reciting his. Of course actors love that.” Affleck then deadpanned, “I should have gotten Marty Short.” He gave props to all his fellow nominees, including praising Bigelow for “Looking at this male-dominated world and saying ‘Fuck it, I’m gonna go out, I’m gonna make the 9/11 movie, I’m gonna win the fucking Oscar…” He also quipped, “I’d also like to thank [fellow Argo producers] Grant Heslov and George Clooney. But I won’t go on at great length because this isn’t televised and they’re not here.”

Also being recognized tonight are directors of documentaries and television and special award winners Milos Forman (Lifetime Achievement Award in Motion Picture Direction), Michael Apted (Robert B. Aldrich Award for extraordinary service to the Directors Guild of America and to its membership), Eric Shapiro (Lifetime Achievement Award in News Direction) whose 92-year-old father was in attendance, Susan Zwerman (Frank Capra Achievement Award given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager), and Dency Nelson (Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager). The DGA president is Taylor Hackford.

The DGA Awards tonight are hosted by director/actor/producer Kelsey Grammer who entertained with the usual mix of semi-amusing targeted zingers from inside showbiz. “This evening is not just an awards show. It’s a celebration of the art and craft of directing — hence, the open bar.” Addressing Kathryn Bigelow in the audience, Grammer quipped that the suspense “must be torture for you”. He went on: “Congrats to Ang Lee. In Life Of Pi, Lee had the challenge of directing a real live tiger. A wild animal who eats humans and licks himself. This prepared him for any future work with Mel Gibson.” Regarding the recent cancellation of his own Starz series Boss, he said, “The most curious part was when I received a call from someone and they’d say, ‘Kelsey, I’m so sorry about Who’s The Boss.”
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Re: DGA Winner

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DGA Winner

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Ben Affleck - Argo
"Young men make wars and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men: courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men: mistrust and caution." -- Alec Guinness (Lawrence of Arabia)
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