Secondly, this past week the Academy announced that in addition to giving out the Irving G. Thalberg Award this year, there will be not one but two Honorary Oscars given out, so with all that, and the regular awards, performances, etc, get comfy folks, because Oscar Night 73 is going to be a long one! Which is perfectly fine with me, I always love the show, and I'm never one of those who complains at the length of the telecast, but prepare to hear the complaints.
But yes, the Academy announced this week that they will be presenting two Honorary Academy Awards for lifetime achievement this year, and both are very well deserved. One Honorary Oscar will be going to Ernest Lehman, who has worked primarily as a screenwriter, but also has credits as a film producer and director. He has six Oscar nominations to his credit, including four for his screenplays to Sabrina, North by Northwest, West Side Story, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. You can just look at those four films, and realize what an incredibly gifted screenwriter he has been.
The other Honorary Academy Award voted by the Academy's Board of Governors will be going to a cinematographer, amazingly, it will be the first time that a cinematographer has been given an Honorary Oscar for cinematography. Jack Cardiff will receive this honor, and just look at the films that have passed through his lens ... The African Queen, War and Peace, Fanny, The Diary of Anne Frank, Black Narcissus, The Barefoot Contessa, and The Vikings. The Academy has made two good choices for honorary awards this year, along with the announcement last week of the Thalberg award going to Dino de Laurentiis.
Also announced this week by the Academy is the recipient of the Gordon E. Sawyer Award ... it will be given to Irwin W. Young, but that will be presented at the separate Scientific and Technical Awards dinner on March 3.
Along with the Academy announcements coming out right and left (the presenters for the telecast are also starting to be announced already -- Jennifer Lopez and Kate Hudson are confirmed so far to present), there were also a couple of major precursor award nominations announced this week. Both of the major precursors announced this week are usually good predictors as to who will be up for Oscars in just a couple of weeks. First up, the American Society of Cinematographers announced their choices for Best Cinematography in Film , and these may be the top contenders for the Cinematography Oscar.
