DGA Winner And New Oscar Frontrunner: 'The King's Speech'

Yes, Tom Hooper wins the coveted DGA award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2010. This pretty much signifies that The King's Speech is now the film to beat at the Oscars, as DGA winners have also taken Best Director all but six times since the first DGA awarding in 1948. The film also took the top PGA prize, which, along with the DGA win, probably indicates a Best Picture/Best Director sweep. Is it game, set & match yet? Not necessarily, but it's getting close. The Social Network still has a shot, but ultimately it comes down to this: A Gen-Y film going up against crowd-pleasing British prestige -- the latter of which fits right in with the Academy's tastes. They're old and sentimental and are desensitized to the smell of innovation. How's that for a generalization?

Just two weeks ago, it seemed as if The Social Network was destined for greatness at the Oscars. It dominated the Critics' Choice Awards and Golden Globes on the same weekend, and was also the clear favorite among most critic groups. But the Academy is not comprised of critics, and the HFPA has lost much of its credibility, so all of these wins are impressive, but certainly not the most telling.

At this point in the Oscar race, there are three things that are most indicative of what film will win Best Picture: PGA results, DGA results, and the number of Oscar nominations a film receives. The King's Speech won the DGA and PGA awards, and leads the pack with twelve nominations -- four more than The Social Network. It's all but over.

Directors Guild Nominees: 2011

This morning, the Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced their five nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2010. For those who aren't aware, the DGA is a film and television labor union specializing in the interest of directors in the United States motion picture industry. This group is comprised of thousands of directors working in the film and television industry, including many big-name Hollywood directors and an overwhelming abundance of commercial & television directors. The DGA has been around since 1936, and this year marks the 75th anniversary of their annual awards ceremony.

To put this into some perspective, the DGA nominees are regarded by most Oscar pundits to be the biggest indicator of who and what films the AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts/Sciences, or simply Oscar voters) will recognize in the fields of Best Picture and Best Achievement in Direction. Historically, the AMPAS tends to mimic the DGA in their selections more so than any other guild, critics group, association, etc. In fact, over the years, DGA award winners have lined up with AMPAS directorial winners AND best picture winners at an astounding percentage (that of which I can't recall specifically, but i'm fairly positive that it's at least over 75%).

Both the DGA and AMPAS are comprised of industry professionals, though unlike the AMPAS, the DGA does not recieve DVD screeners from studios and distributors. This makes it a little less likely for small indie films to be recognized by the DGA, as voters might not get a chance to catch some of those films in theaters due to inadequate distribution.

More after the jump...