The Producers Guild of America has announced the 10 nominees for its annual awards and the results are… interesting. That’s all I can say.
See, the PGA usually nominates only FIVE films, and over the last decade or so, on average four of the PGA-nominated films go on to et best picture nominations from the Oscars. (Interestingly enough, though, winners in both are all over the place and don’t necessarily match up.) But this year the PGA went to 10, which is EXACTLY what the Oscars will due when they announce their nominees in about a month. So this is an insight into the thinking of the producers.
Keep in mind, though, that the PGA is made up of people who finance and produce films, so they tend to appreciate either (a) gigantic productions (especially ones that end up as financially successful) and (b) small indies (that end up as financially successful). See a pattern?
So this year’s nominees are all hits, from the biggest of the big to art house hits and some surprises … but mostly big, big hits. They are:
Avatar (big), Up (big), Up in the Air (headed toward big), Inglourious Basterds (big and kinda arty), Star Trek (big and a surprise), District 9 (pretty big and a surprise hit), The Hurt Locker (art hit), An Education (art hit), Precious (art hit) and Invictus (neither a hit nor arty nor actually any good, but made by Clint Eastwood, so no surprise). NOT on the list are A Single Man (best film of the year!), Nine (thank God), Sherlock Holmes or The Lovely Bones.
