THE OSCAR ISSUE / HUFFINGTON / 02.10-17.13
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behind the scenes
STRDEL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The production crew
on the set of Zero Dark
Thirty, shot in Manimajra,
in the Chandigarh
territory in India.
the actors branch, a group
made up of famous faces
like Warren Beatty, Jennifer Lawrence and even
Beyonce. That means Argo could have
a leg-up on the competition given its
behind-the-scenes team: In addition to
Ben Affleck, the film was produced by
George Clooney, the unofficial king of
Hollywood. If Argo gets a wave of support from the actors branch, it could
wind up with the necessary first, second
and third place votes to defeat Lincoln.
(With Best Picture being voted on with
a preferential ballot, a film
that receives a lot of second place votes could wind
up winning.)
So, could Argo or Zero Dark Thirty
win Best Picture? Films like Lincoln,
Silver Linings Playbook and Life of Pi
— the only Best Picture nominees with
both Best Director and Best Editing
nods — are clearly in better historical
position, but it would be foolish to discount either film, even if the AMPAS
already discounted Affleck
and Bigelow.