The Directors Guild of America announced their nominees today and Spike Lee is on the list – his FIRST ever DGA nomination. Which...probably isn’t a surprise considering Spike has never been nominated for Best Director at the Oscars and many of the members of the DGA are also members of the Academy. Alfonso Cuaron, Peter Farrelly, and Adam McKay were nominated too. As was Bradley Cooper. Actually, Coop was nominated twice – for Feature Film Director and First-Time Feature Film Director. Basically Bradley Cooper has been recognised double by the DGA on his first try and it took Spike Lee 30 years to get here, in case you needed a reminder of how the industry works, or worked, if you’re trying to be optimistic. Your optimism might need bolstering when you also note that there are no women mentioned here.
Speaking of women, Yorgos Lanthimos, who directed an Oscar-contending film about women is not on the list. Neither are Ryan Coogler and Barry Jenkins. So the DGA hasn’t helped the Oscar chances for The Favourite, Black Panther, or If Beale Street Could Talk. But Green Book has had a very, very good 3 days, with its win at the Golden Globes and now the DGA nomination for its director. It’s a nice little bounce-back too for Bradley after the Globes disappointment.
Bradley and Lady Gaga stepped out together yesterday for Sam Elliott’s hand and footprint ceremony. Great timing for this, obviously, the day after the Globes and on the first day of Oscar nominations voting which, of course, is probably how they intended it all along. I guess, at this point, Bradley won’t be recreating Jackson Maine’s look for the Oscars since you would think he’d have to start growing out his hair now to get it long enough for February 24?
I’ve been on this since October about Coop and Gaga performing “Shallow” at the Oscars and what that might look like. They made this a campaign promise in November. Coop had already started thinking about it back then and he has an idea for a “cool, unorthodox” way to do it. I’ll say again what I said then…
If this is going to be the first and only time Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga do “Shallow” together live, I’m not sure anyone out here is needing for it to be cool and unorthodox. It’ll be f-cking cool enough just to see him up there with a guitar in front of all his peers. But, you know, they’re artists. They have to art their art. So start preparing yourselves for whatever cool and unorthodox might mean, and a very UN-Jackson Mained Bradley Cooper up on that stage singing it.
