By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
About The Saturday Awards
So, is Sideways a lock yet?
Not quite yet.
It will be fascinating to see how things go with the New York Film Critics Circle on Monday, because only once in the shared period of history of both LAFCA and NYFCC has a film won with both of those groups and failed to get a Best Picture nomination… Leaving Las Vegas
In any case, Sideways is not so bleak, not so tough. Like Leaving Las Vegas, it has two inevitable Oscar nods for acting coming… and one more for Giamatti still a hopeful and deserved possibility… and sure bets for screenplay. Director is pretty likely and if the film gets a Best Picture nod, Payne will surely be in.
The other HUGE winner this weekend was Imelda Staunton, who swept the European Film Awards, the NY Online Film Critics and LAFCA. She was the only one to achieve that feat, albeit Tom Church was not eligible for The Euro. Ms. Staunton made it very clear in her early interviews for this film that she prioritized her real life over her professional life. She was not posing. And it is a fairly closely held story that Ms. Staunton’s mother passed away in the last month. This is not a story that she would ever want to have become a part of her Oscar push. But the loss has kept Ms. Staunton from being back in America for publicity during this critical period. And as it goes, the adulation of the critics will keep her from being forgotten as the race tightens. Sony Classics will wait for the Golden Globes and, I’m sure they hope, NYFCC to officially launch Ms. Bening’s campaign. Of course, this may all be for naught as, in the end, Hilary Swank may be unbeatable, regardless of the critics groups.
LAFCA gave a boost to what seemed like a waning interest in Liam Neeson as Best Actor. He is expected to get a Globes nomination tomorrow, though he could use one or two more feathers in his awards season cap before feeling too secure.
Michael Giacchino scored an important win with LAFCA for his The Incredibles score, if only to establish his name in the ears of an Academy used to voting for the same people over and over again.
The problem is you cannot name 5 better movies.