Daniel Day-Lewis to receive Montecito Award at Santa Barbara fest
Can anyone come between the man and his third Oscar?
Are you a fan of In Contention?
Sign up to get the latest updates instantly.
When you're winning, you're winning. Daniel Day-Lewis hasn't missed a stop on the awards circuit so far this season, and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival wasn't about to be the first. It was announced today that the two-time Oscar champ will receive one of the festival's loftiest honors, the Montecito Award, both in recognition of his work in "Lincoln" and his career as a whole.
The award, which will be presented to Day-Lewis at a tribute evening on January 26, recognizes "a performer who has given a series of classic and standout performances throughout his/her career," and has been presented to Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Javier Bardem, Kate Winslet, Julianne Moore and Geoffrey Rush since its instatement in 2005. I don't think many would deny that Day-Lewis meets the criteria.
SBIFF director Roger Durling stated, “Daniel Day-Lewis continues to inspire the industry and the public by his approach to tackling the most complex of characters and delivering brilliant performances time after time. He is indicative of what the Montecito Award represents and we are thrilled to be presenting this to him this year.”
I have to confess, a few months ago, I didn't believe that Day-Lewis could win his third Oscar this season, however remarkable his Abraham Lincoln turned out to be. As you probably know, nobody has ever won three Best Actor Oscars, much less from a more five nominations -- and all before the age of 60. (Just look how much longer they made Meryl Streep wait before granting her Golden Man #3 earlier this year.)
But precedent counts for little when it comes to Day-Lewis, an actor held in higher and more universal esteem than almost any of his peers. Furthermore, his personal mystique and infrequent work rate of late bestows a certain event status upon his screen appearances that may dissipate quickly in the case of a disappointment like "Nine" -- but only elevates performances that, like "Lincoln," live up to their on-paper promise.
Thus far, Day-Lewis has racked up wins from the New York Film Critics' Circle and Boston Film Critics' Society, in addition to countless smaller critics' honors, and is the only name in the race that hasn't been left off one applicable nominations list or another. It's not, I believe, that Day-Lewis's strong work in "Lincoln" is without peer in the field. Earlier in the season, I had entertained notions of either Joaquin Phoenix or John Hawkes taking the lead, but with their narratives (and films) having failed to catch fire, and "Lincoln" an ironclad Best Picture contender, I'm struggling to see any way the British genius doesn't make history this year. And if any actor at work today should, it's him.
I also find myself playing hypothetical mind games: if Day-Lewis had won the 2002 Oscar for "Gangs of New York," as he'd been widely expected to do before Adrien Brody's upset victory, would he be hurtling just as easily toward his fourth victory this year? Such are the questions that keep an Oscar geek awake at night.
2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
Latest Posts
-
Michael Douglas and Matt Damon award-worthy in Soderbergh's witty Liberace biopicTuesday, May 21, 2013
-
The actor-director gets all the best close-ups in his Faulkner adaptationMonday, May 20, 2013
-
'Traumatized critics exhale.'Monday, May 20, 2013
-
The prestige distributor also handled Asghar Farhadi's 'A Separation'Monday, May 20, 2013
Comments
Option 1
Comment instantly as a guest GuestOption 2
Option 3
Login or create a HitFix account Login Signup/3rt
December 18, 2012 at 5:08PM EST Reply to CommentIs Gary Oldman the Glenn Close to Day-Lewis' Meryl Streep? Would the Academy dare give Sally Field a third statuette and incur the wrath of Streepers? Could Chastain and Lawrence split the vote for a Cotillard victory?
Paul Outlaw
December 18, 2012 at 5:12PM EST Reply to Comment"...if Day-Lewis had won the 2002 Oscar for 'Gangs of New York,' as he'd been widely expected to do before Adrien Brody's upset victory, would he be hurtling just as easily toward his fourth victory this year?"
Nah, in that case they would have given it to Viggo or Clooney in '08. ;-)
John G. It's hard to imagine any of the '07 nominees winning besides Daniel Day-Lewis.
December 18, 2012 at 5:26PM ESTGuy Lodge What John G. said. I have a feeling that even with two wins under his belt in 2007, his third would have felt as undeniable as it does now.
December 18, 2012 at 8:32PM ESTJohn G.
December 18, 2012 at 5:27PM EST Reply to CommentYou and I have followed the exact same trajectory on Day-Lewis this season, Guy.
CaptainCanada
December 18, 2012 at 5:34PM EST Reply to CommentDDL's borden mystical reputation at this point counters the fact that he doesn't get nearly as many nominations as you might expect would be necessary for a third Oscar.
Seems like, between him and possibly Tommy Lee Jones (who sits atop his category for the moment, but that field is far less defined), Spielberg will finally be rid of the distinction of never having directed an Oscar-winning performance.
Ladesh
December 18, 2012 at 5:40PM EST Reply to CommentThe National Board of Review is somethnig Day Lewis didn't win.
But this:
"if Day-Lewis had won the 2002 Oscar for "Gangs of New York," as he'd been widely expected to do before Adrien Brody's upset victory, would he be hurtling just as easily toward his fourth victory this year?"
is downright weak coming from someone who *already* considers a 3rd lead acting Oscar win something unprecedented. In other words, you'd established that the performance had to transcend previous Oscar wins. So if you have to resolve to artificially upping the stakes like that in an attempt to (what else?) artifically weaken DDL's chances than you are a making a lot of things plainly clear.
And you may realize this or do this unconsciously but by asking people to consider a scenario in which a non-winner wins and a likely winner doesn't you are the same time force an that he can be weaker than a non-winner. That's a real psychological trick and it's pretty manipulative (just like the words "countless smaller critics" are almost engenieered to be a slight). That's why I wanted to call it out.
Also, at no point above did you reflect on exactly why the non-overdue uber-awarded Day Lewis may actually win for this particular performance. Where's the actual insight? Sure, DDL is widely respected, but, it's not like he wins 'em all.
It just may be that a lot of people may, in fact, consider the performance here to be somewhat peerless, even within his own filmography. There's certainly a sense of this not being the same character as any others he had done. That's my stub at insight, anyway.
I don't know why "Lincoln" is an ironclad best picture contender either. Not as a value judgement ('ello!) but for what kind of film it is. It's not very rousing, not particularly happy and mainly celebrates the abolition of slavery through a private moment of one of the characters. It shows the unknown rather than famous moments of history and ends on a reflective rather than a climbing note. Thinking back on it, it almost seems black and white.
It's got an amazing sense of directorial and narative identity but isn't showy. I have a hard time thinking of another "biopic" or "historical film" quite like it.
Maybe the fact that it's liked as it is it's true sign of strengh. But is that the current face of an iron-clad Oscar contender?
Guy Lodge You're quite right about the National Board of Review, thanks. My brain slipped there.
December 18, 2012 at 8:41PM ESTAs for the rest of what you wrote, I honestly can't make head or tail of it, but I think your irrational personal issue with me is drawing you into some very curious delusions. I'm not going to engage any further, and I politely suggest you find an awards news site that doesn't get you riled up on a daily basis. There are many to choose from.
Kristopher Tapley I couldn't even get through this comment.
December 18, 2012 at 8:52PM ESTVargha
December 19, 2012 at 3:32AM EST Reply to CommentI think the exceptional direction of Spielberg in Lincoln should not be ignored; and part of the success of Daniel Day-Lewis should be attributed to Spielberg and his team (including the great dialogues written by Tony Kushner). As Guy mentioned about some of the forgettable performances of Day-Lewis (e.g. in 'Nine'), we see that not every film and every director can provide an actor with a space and form to manifest his capabilities in such a great way.
As you can see, almost all of the performances in Lincoln are exceptional, not only Daniel Day-Lewis. As many critics pointed out, in Lincoln Spielberg has provided a form in which the performances and the screenplay are able to manifest heavily, unlike most of his previous films.