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Los Angeles - This Academy Awards season seems all over but the coronation.
The King's Speech won top prizes over the weekend from Hollywood actors and directors, securing its standing as the film to beat at the February 27 Oscars, whose winners mostly look like foregone conclusions.
The King's Speech also won the SAG award for overall acting ensemble. A day earlier, the film was an upset winner at the Directors Guild of America Awards, where its filmmaker Tom Hooper triumphed over David Fincher, who had been considered the favourite for The Social Network.
Front-runner status
While Fincher's Facebook chronicle dominated at the Golden Globes and critics' awards early in the season, momentum abruptly shifted to The King's Speech in barely a week.
"I'd like to thank security for letting me into the building," Firth said as he accepted his SAG trophy.
His joke points up how quickly The King's Speech usurped front-runner status from The Social Network, which appeared to have a smooth ride toward a best-picture and director win at the Oscars.
The previous weekend, The King's Speech was a surprise recipient for the top award from the Producers Guild of America. Last Tuesday, the film led Oscar contenders with 12 nominations.
Safe bets
The directors and actors guild honours, the last major ceremonies before the Oscars, may have sealed the deal for The King's Speech at Hollywood's biggest party.
Only six times in the 62-year history of the Directors Guild awards has the winner there failed to go on to claim the best-director Oscar. And whatever film claims best director at the Oscars usually takes best picture too.
All four Screen Actors recipients preceded their wins with Golden Globes and are safe bets to pick up Oscars. Firth and Bale have appeared unbeatable almost from the moment their films began screening for critics and Hollywood insiders.
‘The psyche of a country’
Predictable though the awards may be, there still was room for spontaneity on Sunday. As Bale came on stage to collect his SAG Award, his real-life counterpart - former boxer Dicky Eklund, whom he plays in The Fighter - popped up at his side.
Eklund's career unravelled amid drugs and crime, yet as Bale's exuberant performance makes clear, the man is an irrepressible showman.
The 6 000 Oscar voters probably will like Bale's Eklund, along with Firth, Portman and Leo's characters, and that grand, uplifting story The King's Speech lays out.
Geoffrey Rush, a supporting-actor nominee as the monarch's wily therapist in The King's Speech, said his film showcases momentous oratory for modern audiences accustomed to pithy sound bytes. The King's Speech builds tension as George VI struggles to find words to inspire his countrymen on the eve of World War II.
"It's so great to hear a speech that kind of galvanises the psyche of a country," Rush said backstage at the SAG Awards, alongside Firth and supporting-actress nominee Helena Bonham Carter, who plays the king's devoted queen.
The King's Speech won top prizes over the weekend from Hollywood actors and directors, securing its standing as the film to beat at the February 27 Oscars, whose winners mostly look like foregone conclusions.
The King's Speech also won the SAG award for overall acting ensemble. A day earlier, the film was an upset winner at the Directors Guild of America Awards, where its filmmaker Tom Hooper triumphed over David Fincher, who had been considered the favourite for The Social Network.
Front-runner status
While Fincher's Facebook chronicle dominated at the Golden Globes and critics' awards early in the season, momentum abruptly shifted to The King's Speech in barely a week.
"I'd like to thank security for letting me into the building," Firth said as he accepted his SAG trophy.
His joke points up how quickly The King's Speech usurped front-runner status from The Social Network, which appeared to have a smooth ride toward a best-picture and director win at the Oscars.
The previous weekend, The King's Speech was a surprise recipient for the top award from the Producers Guild of America. Last Tuesday, the film led Oscar contenders with 12 nominations.
Safe bets
The directors and actors guild honours, the last major ceremonies before the Oscars, may have sealed the deal for The King's Speech at Hollywood's biggest party.
Only six times in the 62-year history of the Directors Guild awards has the winner there failed to go on to claim the best-director Oscar. And whatever film claims best director at the Oscars usually takes best picture too.
All four Screen Actors recipients preceded their wins with Golden Globes and are safe bets to pick up Oscars. Firth and Bale have appeared unbeatable almost from the moment their films began screening for critics and Hollywood insiders.
‘The psyche of a country’
Predictable though the awards may be, there still was room for spontaneity on Sunday. As Bale came on stage to collect his SAG Award, his real-life counterpart - former boxer Dicky Eklund, whom he plays in The Fighter - popped up at his side.
Eklund's career unravelled amid drugs and crime, yet as Bale's exuberant performance makes clear, the man is an irrepressible showman.
The 6 000 Oscar voters probably will like Bale's Eklund, along with Firth, Portman and Leo's characters, and that grand, uplifting story The King's Speech lays out.
Geoffrey Rush, a supporting-actor nominee as the monarch's wily therapist in The King's Speech, said his film showcases momentous oratory for modern audiences accustomed to pithy sound bytes. The King's Speech builds tension as George VI struggles to find words to inspire his countrymen on the eve of World War II.
"It's so great to hear a speech that kind of galvanises the psyche of a country," Rush said backstage at the SAG Awards, alongside Firth and supporting-actress nominee Helena Bonham Carter, who plays the king's devoted queen.
