Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Jaap Buitendijk / Warner Bros.)
Below is a partial list of film award announcements to come out in the next week. The most important among those six announcements is the People's Choice Awards — well, at least in terms of populist appeal. Among this year's nominees are Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek, The Hangover, The Proposal, Twilight, Robert Pattinson, Johnny Depp, Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock, Ben Stiller, Miley Cyrus, Hugh Jackman, and Ryan Reynolds. (Avatar isn't listed because it opened in mid-December. But it'll be there when the 2010 nominations come out later this year; also, I couldn't quite figure out if the shortlisted Twilight is the 2008 release or The Twilight Saga: New Moon.)
But the most important announcements when it comes to the Oscars are, you guessed it, both the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) nominations. Ten films will be shortlisted by the producers; five directors will be in contention for the DGA Award. Who do I think will be nominated by the DGA? Let's see: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, Jason Reitman for Up in the Air, Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds, Lee Daniels for Precious, and James Cameron for Avatar.
Of those five, I'd say Lee Daniels is the iffiest. If not Daniels, then Pete Docter for Up or Joel and Ethan Coen for A Serious Man. I don't believe that Lone Scherfig for An Education, Olivier Assayas for Summer Hours, Rob Marshall for Nine, Nancy Meyers for It's Complicated, or Michael Haneke for The White Ribbon have much of a chance here, but who knows?
Remember, a DGA nod doesn't necessarily mean an Oscar nod. According to online reports, the DGA has about 13,000 members, including thousands of television directors and assistant directors (some are both). The Directors Branch of the Academy has less than 400 members.
Jan. 5 – Producers Guild of America nominations
Jan. 5 – USC Scripter Awards nominations
Jan. 6 – Online Film Critics (winners)
Jan. 6 – People's Choice Awards (winners)
Jan. 7 — Directors Guild of America nominations
Jan. 8 – Art Directors Guild nominations