Another day, another "tribute" announcement as legions of luminaries ready themselves at the starting line waiting for that Oscar gun to sound. We've talked about this twice before (focusing on Streep & Spielberg) but "tributes" and "lifetime achievements" are as common during Oscar season as superheroes are during the summer. Even moreso! The Gotham Awards, which happen here in NYC in November, will be honoring four recipients: Director David Cronenberg, Actor Gary Oldman, CEO Tom Rothman and Actress Charlize Theron.
Obviously Gary (never nominated) and Charlize (2 nominations, 1 win) are aiming for Lead Acting nominations for the spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the comedy Young Adult respectively. Rothman, announced previously, is an industry power and you have to bow down to those men/women once in awhile. Meanwhile Cronenberg has A Dangerous Method to push. Though awards traction will be hard to come by for such a subtle and talky film, it's still worth campaigning for because here's the thing: If you're still fighting for your first nomination (insanity given that filmography!) you've got to lay plentiful groundwork and build momentum so that eventually they (awards groups) catch up. I don't mean to be morbid as I hope this is a long time away but can the 68 year old Cronenberg at least get an Honorary Oscar before he dies? I mean... The Fly, Dead Ringers, A History of Violence, etcetera...
The Gotham Awards, which celebrated their 20th anniversary last season, have definitely been picking up steam as a valuable Oscar stop, regularly giving boosts to smaller films like Winter's Bone, The Hurt Locker and Frozen River.
The "career tribute" portion of their ceremony has included at least one future Oscar nominee every year since 2004. With so little information (i.e. clips or photos) on Charlize's work in Young Adult, we have to assume that Gary Oldman is in the best position currently to continue that trend. But it would be awfully sweet to see Charlize Theron work a role worthy of her gifts again... and work it all the way to the shortlist. She's one Oscar winner whose career, filmography, and popularity have never properly reflected her talent. I mean she even made the most of that way too standard role in North Country for which she received one of those disposable "after glow" nominations.
For now, we have to just enjoy Charlize in her glamour spokesmodel roles and hope she finds a signature screen role while she's still in the age range in which that happens. Yes, yes, I hear your screams of "Monster (2003)!" But however strong that work was... it doesn't properly reflect Charliziciousness (Charlizionomy?) now does it. THIS does...
COMMENT ASSIGNMENT: (What? I'm bossy!)
If you were paying tribute to Cronenberg, Charlize, and Oldman and could only thank them for one thing, what would it be? Get as specific as such tributes should be!