Winners' Circle

Oscar Season is hilarious. No matter how open a season seems at the beginning, no matter how many surprise nominations are thrown at us in the precursors, sooner or later everything falls into step. SAGs a few weeks ago, BAFTAs last night, plus DGA and PGA in between, confirmed this. You can talk about how Brad Pitt is due, Scorsese's a legend, Woody Allen's had his biggest hit in year, etc., etc., but sooner or later you gotta wake up and smell the inevitability. I gotta say though, when the inevitable is fun, gorgeous and moving....it's not the worst that could happen.

So, the awards run-down of the past couple of months.

GOLDEN GLOBES
Drama: The Descendants
Musical/Comedy: The Artist
Actor - Drama: George Clooney, The Descendants
Actress - Drama: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Actor - Musical/Comedy: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Actress - Musical/Comedy: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Screenplay: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Score: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Song: "Masterpiece", W.E.

SAG
Ensemble: The Help
Actress: Viola Davis, The Help
Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help

DGA
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

PGA
The Artist

BAFTA
Picture: The Artist
British Film: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Original Screenplay: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Adapted Screenplay: Bridget O'Connor/Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Score: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Cinematography: Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
Editing: Gregers Sall/Chris King, Senna
Production Design: Dante Ferretti/Francesca Lo Schiavo, Hugo
Costume Design: Mark Bridges, The Artist
Makeup: The Iron Lady
Sound: Hugo
Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

So The Artist is the frontrunner. Winning big at the Globes, Guilds and BAFTAs will do that for you. Of course, there's the inevitable backlash, people claiming it's the light, safe choice. Because, really, what's safer than a low-grossing, black-and-white French silent film? Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer are locks, WGA still needs to announce, and Jean Dujardin quickly bested "frontrunner" George Clooney and "due" Brad Pitt.

The only real race now is in Actress, and it's between Viola Davis and Meryl Streep. It's always between [fill in the blank] and Meryl Streep, but this year saw a real knock-out performance from her, albeit in a film that's getting a mixed reception. Again. If we look at where Streep reigned, however, it's not too big a surprise: the Golden Globes have handed her numerous awards over the years, and The Iron Lady is (obviously) a much more BAFTA thing than The Help. Still, it's Streep's first BAFTA win since The French Lieutenant's Woman. This baby could go either way.


Oscar predictions to come, naturally.