War may be hell, but “1917” is having a heavenly Oscar season. Its director, Sam Mendes, dedicated the award to his grandfather, a World War I veteran whose stories helped inspire the film. And the film’s producer, Pippa Harris, drew a line directly from “1917” to the current climate of global tension. For Oscar watchers, the Producers Guild trophy is considered a significant bellwether, including last year, when “Green Book” took the top prize weeks before winning the Academy Award for best picture. If these big-budget, widely seen films couldn’t score with the guild — an organization that contains a significant number of Oscar voters and uses the same sort of preferential ballot — they may be bypassed by the academy as well.

Source: New York Times January 19, 2020 09:11 UTC