George Clooney features heavily in Oscars 2014 predictions: Monuments Men and Gravity

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Premature Predictions: The 2014 Best Director Nominees

FEATURES BY OLIVER LYTTELTON

MARCH 1, 2013

In recent years, trying to predict the Oscar nominees in the Best Director category has been especially tricky. In the past, you could just translate over your Best Picture nominees, maybe swap one out for a better-known or showier filmmaker, and you were relatively likely to be correct. But ever since the Academy made the switch to having more than five nominees in the top category it's become more unpredictable, especially if you're trying to make your predictions a year in advance.

We've never done a long-range pick of the potential directing nominees before, but rest assured that if we'd done such a thing twelve months ago, we would not have suggested that Michael Haneke would make it in. But having already picked out Best Picture, Actor, Actress and the Supporting categories, we wanted to close out our week of 2014 Oscar long-distance predictions with a challenge, so you'll find our guesses below. You can find out if we're right early in 2014, and in the meantime make your own predictions in the comments section. Our Oscar coverage is going into hibernation for a little while (they might resurface briefly at Cannes, but that'll be it otherwise), but look for it to pick up towards the end of the summer, by which time many of our early questions will have been answered.

Alfonso Cuaron - "Gravity"
While adored by geeks and cinephiles, Alfonso Cuaron isn't necessarily a name that rings many bells with the Academy; his last three films were a raucous coming-of-age sex comedy ("Y Tu Mama Tambien"), a "Harry Potter" film, and an apocalyptic sci-fi ("Children Of Men"), none of which is exactly typical Academy material. But the latter made a fair Academy impact despite being undervalued by many, earning three nominations including a screenplay nod shared by Cuaron himself. And if he ever breaks through further, a showy space picture starring Academy darlings Sandra Bullock and George Clooney would seem to be a good bet. If rumors are to be believed, it raises Cuaron's long, impressive takes from "Children Of Men" to a whole new level, with the opening shot said to last as long as twenty minutes, so it'll be a showcase for him as much as for Bullock, and it's the kind of 3D extravaganza that just won Ang Lee the Oscar. Now, the film could end up on a knife-edge; maybe seen by some as too commercial, and by others as too arty. But if Cuaron can get the balance right and the film works, this could well be a good bet.

George Clooney - "The Monuments Men"
If there's one thing we've learned over the last decade, it's that the Academy are head-over-heels in love with George Clooney. The multi-hyphenate has eight nominations over the past seven years, and when he didn't actually appear on-screen in a film, he STILL managed to win Best Picture, as a producer on "Argo." So with three films expected to be in the heart of the awards season -- he's also in "Gravity," and is a producer on "August: Osage County" -- you'd be a fool not to expect him to be in play for his fifth effort as director, "The Monuments Men." The film has a certain amount of bona fides: an all-star cast, a WWII backdrop, the kind of quirky true story that saw "Argo" have such success. But there's a question of tone at play. If it's closer to an "Ocean's Eleven"-style caper (as cast-members like John Goodman, Jean Dujardin and Bill Murray might suggest), it's probably not going to be a player. If it's a more serious affair (as the presence of Daniel Craig and Cate Blanchett, and a late-December release would suggest), then Clooney could be more of a competitor than we think. With the race looking tight at this stage, we're leaning towards him missing the cut, but unless it's a "Leatherheads"-style misfire, he'll certainly be snapping at the heels of the competition.

Katiedot wrote:Yup. I think it's a nice topical editorial story with a twist that film publications run when the Oscars are on.

A cynical side of me also whispers that this is a great way to get an Oscars campaign under way. After all, how do you convince all the members of the Academy which films to nominate? They're going to pay attention to the films with the buzz about them and what better way to create a buzz than have a long-time 'Oscar potential' reputation slapped on?

party animal - not! wrote:Couldn't agree more, Katie. He's picking up tips from Harvey!