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SALT LAKE CITY - Academy Award nominations have been announced and the true story of a stuttering monarch, ‘The King's Speech,' has run away with 12 nominations, but will it win big? And if so, who's voting and why have they made that choice? Well, ksl.com had those same questions and decided to find some answers.
Local filmmaker Craig Clyde has been in the business for more than 40 years and has written and directed 18 feature films. Clyde is on the Academy Awards panel this year and ksl.com had the chance to talk with Clyde to find out more about this year's nominees and why they're considered the "best" of 2010.
Clyde is one of the founding members of the Screen Actors Guild branch in Utah and has been a member of the union since 1976. He says the films up for best picture this year are a good crop, "They're all exceptional films."
Clyde is one of over 2,000 jury members who vote on the awards. "I'm really a nobody," says Clyde. But put this in perspective: I wasn't asked to be on the panel, neither was the person who sits next to me or anyone who lives in my neighborhood. Millions of people "work" in the film industry. Just go to L.A. and every waiter and doorman you meet is an actor who happens to have a day job. So Clyde is one of just 2,000 nobodies whose names probably include Spielberg and Scorsese. So let's keep that in perspective.
(The King's Speech) is a perfect character study. It's the kind of films Hollywood use to make.
–- Craig Clyde, filmmaker
Out of the 10 films nominated Clyde says there's one that changed his mind about the whole race, ‘The King's Speech.'
"(The King's Speech) is a perfect character study," said Clyde. "It's the kind of films Hollywood use to make."
While ‘Speech' may be his favorite film, Clyde says ‘Inception' was hands down the most entertaining film of the year, but it wasn't worthy of being crowned "best" picture.
"It's more about cleverness than overcoming great odds," Clyde said of ‘Inception.' That's why, he said, he loved ‘Speech' so much: "It's an incredible true story of overcoming great odds."
Clyde also shared with us what five films he thought would and should have been nominated if the academy still chose five instead of 10.
Obviously he picked ‘The King's Speech', but others included ‘The Social Network' for its impeccable dialogue and ‘127 Hours' for inspiring others, much like ‘Speech.' He also thought the lesbian family drama ‘The Kids Are All Right' would have been nominated, one, because "Hollywood loves edgy films that push the envelope," and two, because "it's a great film." He rounded out his five with ‘Inception' for being a near flawless film.
Clyde can't reveal who he voted for, but we can share with you who he thinks will walk away with the hardware at the end of the evening.
Let's start off with best picture. It's pretty obvious considering the first question I asked Clyde was, "How do these films add up to best pictures nominees of recent years?" Clyde's response: "I'm a big believer in ‘The King's Speech.'"
So, yes he clearly likes ‘Speech' for best picture and he thinks it will win the top prize of the night.
Clyde likes Colin Firth to win best actor for his role in ‘Speech' and he thinks he's the man that will bring home the bacon, if you will. If you won't, he thinks he'll win.
He has confidence supporting actor will to Christian Bale for his portrayal as Dicky Eklund in ‘The Fighter.'
He says Natalie Portman is a strong candidate for best actress for ‘Black Swan.' But he thinks Annette Bening may be the victor for ‘The Kids Are All Right.'
Clyde said he was floored by the performance of then-13-year-old Hailee Steinfeld from ‘True Grit,' and he thinks she has an excellent shot at winning for best supporting actress.
For adapted screenplay Clyde says Aaron Sorkin for ‘The Social Network' should win. As for best original screenplay, Clyde said it "literally came down to the flip of a coin" between David Seidler for ‘The King's Speech' and Christopher Nolan for ‘Inception.' We're not sure which way the coin tipped, but he thinks the gold statue will probably end up in Seidler's hands.
Clyde said he really likes director Tom Hooper for ‘Speech' but thinks David Fincher, director of the ‘The Social Network' will probably be the spotlighted director of the night.
Clyde was also on the panel in 2005 when he voted on best picture nominees 'Brokeback Mountain', 'Crash', 'Munich', 'Good Night, and Good Luck' and 'Capote.' He said as good as many of those films were they can't hold a candle to this year's nominees, and leading that pack... 'The King's Speech.'
E-mail: jclyde@ksl.com
