Friday, December 6, 2024

“La La Land” Wins Directors Guild for Wunderkind Damien Chazelle, Oscar Is Inevitable

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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.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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