The Producers Guild of America has just finished handing out there awards with an extremely disappointing result: Adam McKay’s forgettable, didactic banking manual of a film known as The Big Short has taken the top prize, meaning it is now the frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar.
As you know, the PGA and the Academy have agreed on the best film of the year 19 out of 26 times, including the last eight years in a row, but there’s still hope. The Big Short was only nominated for five Oscars, and is only in the lead for two of them, while the other three categories rest firmly with other frontrunners. The last film to win Best Picture with only five nominations was The Departed, but this is clearly not something of that caliber.
Then again, the Academy could just throw it something it doesn’t deserve, similar to when they stole Adapted Screenplay away from Lincoln and gave it to Argo to help justify their choice (and to give it three wins total). Again, we can only hope that the Academy has better sense and goes with something else, preferably The Revenant, which was the best film of the eight they nominated.
It could still happen, especially with Inarritu’s film being immensely popular with them as proven by the whopping 12 Oscar nominations. We’ll just have to wait and see how things go, but one thing’s for sure, if they should end up agreeing with the PGA, we’d be stuck with the worst choice for Best Picture since 2004’s Million Dollar Baby, and that’s something we’d all like to avoid.
Coming up next Saturday, we have the Screen Actors Guild awards, which will help us narrow down the acting categories for the Oscars. Then, a week after that, we’ve the extremely important Directors Guild awards, which could give us another big hint as to which way this race is headed. Be sure to join us on both occasions for a live-blogging of the winners as their announced.
In the meantime, please see below for a complete list of tonight’s winners:
Theatrical Motion Picture: The Big Short
Animated Theatrical Motion Picture: Inside Out
Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture: Amy
Episodic Television, Drama: Game of Thrones
Episodic Television, Comedy: Transparent
Long-Form Television: Fargo
Non-Fiction Television: The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
Competition Television: The Voice
Live Entertainment & Talk Television: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Sports Program: Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
Children’s Program: Sesame Street
Digital Program: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee