For the first couple weeks, The Social Network was an unstoppable behemoth. It was without question (and seemingly, without hesitation) the film that the critics wanted to honor as the best of 2010. And why not? It's a zeitgeist film, a beautiful and very troubling film about the way we use technology to live and create our lives. It takes no easy stances and give no easy answers, and its artistic merits are only bolstered by an easy identification many of us share with Facebook as a way to manufacture (or prove) our own identities (I for one will even be posting a link to this article on Facebook once I'm done writing it).
But the Academy? That group of industry insiders? Will THEY be so quick, so unanimous to pick a film whose main characters are all thoroughly unlikable, that grandstands lots of "big" questions about our society but packs its action so closely into deposition rooms. Ten years ago, I would have said, NO WAY! Today, I'm in "The Social Network's" corner not only because I want it to win and think it is the strongest American film of the year, but because I think it's emblematic of the direction the Academy is trying to go in its big choices.
I come back to this night many times in my writings on the Oscars, and this certainly won't be the last time you hear it between now and February 27: when "Crash" beat "Brokeback Mountain." It was (is) one of the most startling, and for a lot of people bigoted, decision the Academy made in a long time. They proved that they didn't like their melodrama served with a side of genre-busting provocation, but warmed up in a microwave: they wanted to feel good and not think. Well, "Slumdog Millionaire" aside (a movie that had "destiny" pervasively scrawled on its statues), "The Departed," "No Country for Old Men" and "The Hurt Locker" aren't exactly what people think of when they hear "Oscar Winner." They're all amazing films, but placed next to the likes of "The English Patient," "Shakespeare in Love" or "A Beautiful Mind," I personally think we're a part of an Oscar voting community that wants to make itself more embedded in visionary cinema.
And David Fincher is a visionary. But if not him, and if not "The Social Network," then what else is going to try and rattle the cage? We've now had three pretty significant nominations come up in the last week: the Critics Choice, the Golden Globes, and the Screen Actors Guild. The Critics Choice defied my expectations and lifted "Black Swan" through the rafters. That a film like "Black Swan" is even GETTING nominated for these awards is, frankly, something that astounds me. Logic says it shouldn't. It's a psychological horror movie, it's an independent movie, it's visceral and over-the-top and oppressive. But there it is: 12 Critics Choice nods, Golden Globe nom for Best Picture, Director, Actress, Screen Actors Guild nom for Best Ensemble... I wouldn't say it will win an Oscar, but I'd defy anyone who's seen this film to tell me it feels like an "Oscar movie." Which isn't to say it's great, mind you.
The real film to keep an eye on is "The King's Speech," which scored the most Golden Globe nominations and a SAG Ensemble nod (and nominations in three of four acting categories). I've yet to see it, but the reviews are through the roof. That, and it's a period piece with a vetted cast, a young director, and political themes that aren't dark and upsetting. There were plenty of people saying "King's Speech" was the film to beat when it was playing around the festival circuit. But there's also "The Fighter," a more American film with a director who's been slowly growing a reputation as a quirky mainstay of independent movies, featuring a genre the Academy usually loves (fighting movies). Its six Golden Globe nominations took a lot of fire out of "True Grit" and make it a potential threat all over the board. Were David O. Russell to get a Best Director nomination ahead of the Coen brothers, it could be a huge shake-up.
"The Social Network" has steam, but "The King's Speech" is darting around this first corner. It's a potent threat, and "The Fighter's" ability to jockey into the underdog slot has made this race all the more interesting. The Golden Globes, for all their wackiness, could actually be a turning point in this race, where something other than "Social Network" barrels ahead to take the momentum down the stretch. We're heading out of the predictable waters of the critics groups into batches of nominees, where the really loopy things start happening (like "The Tourist" being nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globes).
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