Duncan Houst
Normally I’d have been ecstatic to see underexposed gems like Emelie Dequenne (Our Children) and Keira Knightley (Anna Karenina) on a nominations lineup, but when the Satellite nominations hit two weeks ago, their inclusions felt rather secondhand. Certainly because they came at the expense of more buzzworthy candidates like Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone). Such willy-nilly choices have made the Satellite awards appear as an absurd afterthought, though it did admittedly amount to a relatively diverse slate of winners.
Chief amongst the winners was David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, which took Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Film Editing though missed out on Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay. The former of those two fell to audience favorite Javier Bardem for his chipper sociopath in Skyfall. As for Adapted Screenplay, it went curiously to Life of Pi, a film whose plot and dialogue are nearly identical to those in the book. If were continuing the trend of inexplicable choices, Ang Lee’s visual extravanganza managed Best Cinematography, but not Visual Effects. Of all things to conquer Life of Pi, the all too short plane crash sequence in Flight took it.
The International Press Academy must have a curious comprehension of sound, as the musically-dominant Les Miserables took their award for sound design. As for specialty categories, Chasing Ice, Rise of the Guardians, The Intouchables, and Pieta brought the trend of inexplicable winners full circle in their respective wins. Don’t say the Satellite awards aren’t surprising, though it wouldn’t be a stretch to call them obscure. You can see the full list of winners below, courtesy of In Contention. You can also take a look at the nominations list here.
Best Picture
Silver Linings Playbook
Best Director
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Adapted Screenplay
David Magee, Life of Pi
Best Foreign Language Film(TIE) The Intouchables; Pieta
Best Documentary
Chasing Ice
Best Animated or Mixed-Media FilmRise of the Guardians
Best Cinematography
Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
Best Art Direction
Rick Carter, Lincoln
Best Costume Design
Manon Rasmussen, A Royal Affair
Best Film Editing
Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Best Original Song
Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boubil and Herbert Kretzmer, “Suddenly” from Les Misérables
Best Sound
Les Miserables
Best Visual Effects
Flight
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Is this the first example of Harvey Weinstein wielding his influence ove the awards race? Perhaps. Or perhaps these critics just really liked ‘Silver Linings Playbook.’