World Sits on Tenterhooks as Awards Season Nears Its Climax

Now that (almost) all the guilds have given out their awards—The Writers Guild of America awards go down on Feb. 19—and the Golden Globes have come and gone, it’s high time to turn our attention to the One Awards Show to Rule Them All, the Academy Awards.

In Hollywood Sunday night, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) presented Frenchman-after-our-hearts Jean Dujardin with the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for The Artist, while Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer from The Help cleaned house by winning the awards for female actors in leading and supporting roles, respectively. Toronto-born Christopher Plummer, meanwhile, won the award for male actor in a supporting role for The Beginners. And for an ensemble in a motion picture? You guessed it! The cast from The Help took home that award. 

Picture of celebrities getting their picture taken.  

Over at the Directors Guild of America, (DGA) Michel Hazanavicius won the award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for The Artist. James Marsh received the award in the documentary category for Project Nim, though, interestingly enough, the film wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award. He was previously nominated for Man on Wire in 2009, which won the Oscar for documentary feature.

The Producers Guild of America similarly rewarded The Artist and producer Thomas Langmann for being outstanding with its foremost award, while The Adventures of Tintin (from producers Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg) took home the award for animated film, though its only Academy Award nomination was for Music (original score). Another Oscar-snubbed documentary feature, Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, won the award in the documentary feature category.

If you compare these results with what went down at the Golden Globes earlier this month, where The Descendents from Sideways-director Alexander Payne won the grand prize in the drama category and The Artist rose to the top as a comedy or musical, and consider the fact that both are equally represented in the Oscar’s screenplay, lead actor and directing categories, it could really go either way at the Oscars. Considering Dujardin’s SAG win and Hazanavicius’ DGA award, however, The Artist may have a slight lead.

Meryl Streep and Michelle William’s wins for biopics Iron Lady and My Week with Marilyn at the Globes don’t match up with the SAG results, but the latter tends to predict Oscar winners better, so your bets are probably safe with the women from The Help. As for the guys, since Dujardin and Plummer both dominated at the SAG awards and the Golden Globes, they could definitely claim a couple of Oscars for France and Canada come Feb. 26. Vive le Oscars!