Damien Chazelle won the Directors Guild Award last night for “La La Land.” His Oscar, and the Best Picture Oscar, do seem inevitable now. The 31 year old wunderkind, whose previous film was the upstart favorite “Whiplash,” is on a roll. And considering how good the film is on every count, it’s all good news.
The other feature film winner last night was Garth Davis for “Lion,” for Best First Feature. “Lion” is still the underdog in this Oscar race. It’s only made $20 million, but with other awards and nominations, and terrific performances from Nicole Kidman, Dev Patel and little Sunny Pawar, “Lion” is the film to see this season. Everyone loves it.
Ezra Edelman won for Documentary for “OJ: Made in America,” the inevitable Oscar winner also.
In television, awards went to “The Night Of,” “Game of Thrones,” Tina Mabry for Children’s Programs, Saturday Night Live, the Tony Awards, and “Veep.” Kudos to Derek Cianfrance, whose movies include “Blue Valentine” and “The Place Beyond the Pines,” who won Best Commercial Director for a Nike Golf ad.
