Aside from a surprisingly bland Oscar presentation show, the Academy revealed their true colors last night: it chose to go with their hearts instead of their brains. While “The King’s Speech” was my pick as the best film of the year, I couldn’t imagine a better nominated performance by a director than that of David Fincher for his work on “The Social Network.” But alas, tradition remained unbroken once again and the director of the year’s Best Picture was awarded an Oscar as well.
While participating in a live blog with Michael Dunaway and others over at Paste Magazine, there were grumblings about director Tom Hooper. One comment was that they loved “The King’s Speech” but thought that the direction was bad. I can’t imagine calling Hooper’s work “bad,” especially since the film turned out so good. But compared to the skill and craftsmanship of Fincher, Hooper’s more traditional approach seems a bit antiquated. And maybe the cutting edge nature of what Fincher achieved with “The Social Network” was what Oscar voters, may of which are older, couldn’t quite get their heads around. It was their heads that were left deeply in the sand both when they voted and even before when the nominations were compiled again lacking a nomination for Christopher Nolan.
The 38 year old Hooper has won with just his third theatrical feature. His work in television is extensive including the mighty good “John Adams” mini-series. But he’ll have to work for years to do anything as advanced as Fincher has achieved in his 48 years over 7 features. And it seems that Hooper is determined to take his new-found fame and parlay that into something literate instead of just profitable. A report on the Los Angeles Times blog said that he had been offered and declined a chance to helm “Iron Man 3” when Jon Favreau stepped aside. Hooper’s eyeing a new version of “Les Miserables” according to several reports on the web. Now, there’s a story that could be updated and given something more than just traditional treatment.
The next phase in Hooper’s career could be marked by a shift away from the traditional directing jobs that he’s delivered to date. Given the fact that he has the Oscar before age 40, he’s got a chance to take risks, create art, and who knows maybe win another before age 80.
For complete list of Oscar winners, visit: http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/83/nominees.html
