Malibu Seen: A Hoard of Awards

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Co-stars Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke celebrate the buzz about “Boyhood” in Malibu last October.

Come this time of year, it’s all about the movies. Several locals, including Edward Norton, Patricia Arquette and Rory Kennedy, are Oscar contenders. 

Norton and Arquette find themselves on best supporting actor and actress ballots for “Birdman” and “Boyhood,” respectively, while Kennedy landed a best doc nod for “Last Days in Vietnam.” 

From SAG to DGA to PGA to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, thousands of other industry pros are in the throes of the voting process. 

Elaine Perkins is one of them. She’s not only a familiar face in Malibu, she’s also a member of the Directors Guild of America and looks at a film differently than most moviegoers. 

You’ll hear her talk about story lines and arcs and holes and if a feature is a big celluloid mess, you’ll know it. If it’s a winner from a technical or story point of view, you’ll know that, too. 

Now she’s on her annual blast of binge watching and she thinks carefully before casting her vote. “I’ve seen everything in terms of the director,” says this longtime DGA vet. 

Although she’s viewed many a fine film, it’s Alejandro G. Inarritu’s “Birdman” she likes best. “It’s like one long take,” she explains. “Of course there are tricks, but in reality, some of the takes were 10 minutes long. That puts a lot of pressure on everyone. If you screw up, you have to go to point one.” 

In her opinion, “The actors wanted you to feel like you were in this place with them and Inarritu found an incredibly clever way to do that. In my mind, he’s the best director I saw this year.” 

Inarritu is up against some stiff DGA competition with Richard Linklater and his 12-year-in-the-making, coming-of-age-drama “Boyhood.” 

Both men already received a coveted Golden Globe award. Linklater picked up the pre-Oscar prize for best drama (as did his best supporting co-star Arquette) while Inarritu walked away with best screenplay. 

The globe for best picture in a musical or comedy went to the “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” That ensemble film by DGA nominee Wes Anderson also got high marks from Perkins who says, “There are a lot of serious movies this year, but there aren’t a lot of movies where you just laugh. He (Anderson) pulls that off and makes everyone look like they’re having fun.” 

In addition to Inarritu, Linklater and Anderson, others in the DGA running include veteran moviemaker Clint Eastwood for “American Sniper” and Morten Tyldum for “Imitation Game.” 

The Directors Guild of America Awards takes place on Feb. 7. All of these films and more will be in the spotlight on the grandest stage of all — the Oscars on Feb. 22. 

But whether it’s “Birdman,” “Grand Budapest Hotel” or “Boyhood,” the director’s take or the academy’s POV, Perkins says there is a simple key to good movie making — “you feel like you are totally transported into another world and in the end, you are glad you went.”