2014 Awards Season: PGA Buries the Lead

January 19, 2014

Producers Guild of America announce the winners tonight, but it seems I forgot to upload the story when they announced their nominations. In my defense, they announced them on January 2nd. You don't make an announcement on January 2nd, not unless you are trying to bury a story. As for the actual nominations, there are very few differences between this group and others, except when it comes to documentaries. Then again, that's been the norm this year. No one seems to agree on what the best documentaries were.

The categories and nominations are...

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURE

• 12 Years a Slave
• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Gravity
• Her
• Nebraska
• Saving Mr. Banks
• The Wolf of Wall Street

• The Croods
• Despicable Me 2
• Epic
• Frozen
• Monsters University

• A Place at the Table
• Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story
• Life According to Sam
• We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
• Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington

• Almost no surprises in the best Feature Film nominees. In fact, compared to the Oscars, there is only one change. Saving Mr. Banks is in and Philomena is out. I think the Oscars got it right there.
• I think 12 Years a Slave should win, but Dallas Buyers Club has been gaining ground, according to analysts.
• Frozen is the favorite to win here, but I'm glad Monsters University got some love. I believe if it weren't a Pixar film and weren't compared to other Pixar films, it would have performed better.
• On the other hand, The Croods and Epic were picked over The Wind Rises! Really?
• It seems no two groups of Awards Season voters can agree on what the best documentaries of the year were, but even so, this is a strange list. None of these were nominated for an Oscar. None of the clear favorites were included. Stories We Tell, 20 Feet from Stardom, Blackfish, The Act of Killing, and others are all missing.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Awards Season, The Croods, Monsters University, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf of Wall Street, Gravity, Despicable Me 2, Frozen, Epic, Captain Phillips, A Place at the Table, Stories We Tell, Saving Mr. Banks, 20 Feet From Stardom, We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, Blackfish, The Act of Killing, Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story, Her, Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington, The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ), Philomena